http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/wwii-movie-stars.html
Don Abney (1923-2000) [Pete Kelly's Blues (1955); Cindy (1978) (TV)] was born in Baltimore, Maryland and
became a jazz pianist accompanist to Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Thelma Carpenter, and the Billy Williams
Quartet. He studied music privately in Baltimore and later at the Manhattan School of Music. While serving in the
US Army Band during World War II he played French horn and later performed with the orchestras of Bubby
Johnson, Eddie Gibbs, Snub Mosely, Wilbur De Paris, Chuck Wayne, the Bill Harris-Kai Winding combo, Sy
Oliver, and Louie Bellson.
Don Adams (1923-2005) [Get Smart, tv] served with the U.S. Marine Corps during WW II in the Pacific. He
was wounded during the Battle of Guadalcanal and he contracted malaria, nearly dying of blackwater fever.
Upon his recovery and return to the States, he served as a drill instructor.
Charles Aidman (1925-1993) [Pork Chop Hill (1959); Uncommon Valor (1983)] originally planned a career as an
attorney, but was sidetracked during World War II and naval officer training at DePaul university. During a
speech class the instructor, who also headed the drama department, saw Aidman as ideal for a role in an upcoming
play. "I did the play and enjoyed it. It was the first play I was in, in my life...I've been acting ever since."
John Agar (1921-2002) [The Woman on Pier 13 (1949); Chisum (1970); Fear (1990)] was born in Chicago, the
eldest of four children. In World War II, Sgt. John Agar was a United States Army Air Force physical
instructor. His 1945 marriage at the Wilshire Memorial Church to "America's Sweetheart" Shirley Temple put him
in the public eye for the first time, and a movie contract with independent producer David O. Selznick quickly
ensued. Agar debuted opposite John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple in John Ford's Fort Apache (1948),
initial film in the famed director's "Cavalry Trilogy".
Claude Akins (1926-1994) [From Here to Eternity (1953); The Killers (1964) -- tv, The Night Stalker (1972);
Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979)]. Served with the US Army Signal Corps in World War II in Burma and
the Philippines.
Eddie Albert (1906-2005) [tv: Green Acres; Film: The Longest Day]. Served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast
Guard in the Pacific during WW II. A genuine war hero, he was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during
the Battle of Tarawa in Nov. 1943, when, as a landing ship pilot, he rescued several hundred wounded Marines
while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.
Robert Altman (1925-2006) [The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947); co-wrote screenplay: Bodyguard (1948)] was
born in Kansas City, Missouri, to B.C. (an insurance salesman) and Helen Altman. He entered St. Peters Catholic
school at the age six, and spent a short time at a Catholic high school. From there, he went to Rockhurst High
School. It was then that he became interested in the art of exploring sound with the cheap tape recorders available at
the time. He was later sent to Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri where he attended through
Junior College. In 1945, he enlisted in the Air Force and became a B-24 co-pilot with the 307th Bomb Group..
After his discharge from the military, he became fascinated by movies and he and his first wife, LaVonne Elmer,
moved to Hollywood.
Michael Joseph Anderson (1920- ). [Director: Around the World in 80 Days (1956); Logan's Run (1976)]. After
serving in World War II (he was with The Royal Corps Of Signals), Anderson first developed his career in
British films, becoming a director in 1949 and enjoying his first success with the war movie The Dam Busters
(1954). The Dam Busters made good use of limited special effects and is often cited as an inspiration for the climax
of the first Star Wars film. Anderson directed the first cinema adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 (1956) and
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe
for his direction. He also directed the 1968 film The Shoes of the Fisherman starring Anthony Quinn, Laurence
Olivier and John Gielgud. He settled in Hollywood, California, making such science fiction offerings as Doc
Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975) and Logan's Run (1976). Logan's Run was an expensive box-office success,
contributing a box office of $50 million worldwide and boosting sales for its distributor, Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
Keith Andes (1920-2005) [Project X (1949); Back From Eternity (1956); ...And Justice for All (1979)] was born
John Charles Andes in Ocean City, New Jersey. While serving with the Air Force during World War II, he
performed in the patriotic 1943 Broadway stage show Winged Victory and, after being seen by studio mogul
Darryl F. Zanuck, was given a minor part in the film version the following year. Andes returned to Hollywood in the
post-war years and won the role of one of Loretta Young's brothers (the others being Lex Barker and James Arness)
in the classic film The Farmer's Daughter (1947). In Clash by Night (1952), one of his best roles, he dallied hot and
heavy with a young Marilyn Monroe and in Blackbeard, the Pirate (1952) he demonstrated some expert
swashbuckling skills.
James Arness (1923-2011) [Island in the Sky (1953); tv Gunsmoke (1955-1975)]. Served in the U.S. Army during
WW II and was severely wounded in the Battle of Anzio, leading to a lifelong limp. His military awards and
medals include: the Bronze Star; the Purple Heart; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with
three bronze star devices; World War II Victory Medal; and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
Richard Attenborough (1923- ) ["Big X" in The Great Escape (1963); Jurassic Park (1993)], actor, director,
producer, was born in Cambridge, England. Attenborough was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in
Leicester and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). His film career began in 1942 as a deserting sailor in
In Which We Serve, a role which would help to type-cast him for many years as a coward in films like London
Belongs to Me (1948), Morning Departure (1950), and his breakthrough role as a psychopathic young gangster in
the film of Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock (1947). During World War II Attenborough served in the
Royal Air Force. Lord Attenborough was appointed a CBE in 1967, knighted in 1976 and created a life peer in
1993.
Gene Autry (1907-1998) [singing cowboy in westerns] joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and became Sgt.
Gene Autry. During the war he ferried fuel, ammunition, and arms in the China-India-Burma theater of war
and flew over the Himalayas, the hazardous air route known as "The Hump." When the war ended, Autry was
reassigned to Special Services where he toured with a USO troupe in the South Pacific before resuming his movie
career in 1946.
Lew Ayres (1908-1996) [Young Dr. Kildare (1938); Johnny Belinda (1948)]. Star of the 1930 antiwar film All Quiet
on the Western Front, he was so affected by the film's message he became a conscientious objector. Ayres' star
status was boosted in 1938 when he was hired to play Dr. Kildare in MGM's long-running series of Kildare Bpictures. After appearing in nine Kildare films, he declared himself a conscientious objector and refused to bear
weapons when called to duty in World War II. He was publicly perceived to be a coward and MGM dropped his
contract. After the war, the public learned of Ayres' bravery under fire as a non-combatant medical corpsman
and he was permitted to resume his career.
Parley Baer (1914-2002) [Comanche Territory (1950); Last of the Dogmen (1995)] was born Parley Edward Baer
in Salt Lake City, Utah and became a hefty balding character actor of mostly comedy hijinks who, during his sixdecade career, proved a durable, hot-headed foil for TV's top sitcom stars such as Lucille Ball, Ozzie Nelson and on
The Andy Griffith Show as Mayor Roy Stoner replacing Dick Elliott (Mayor Pike) who died in December of the
second season. Earlier he had played "Chester" on the Gunsmoke radio series which ran from 1952 to 1961 (Dennis
Weaver played the Chester role in the Gunsmoke TV series). Baer was the voice of Ernie Keebler on the Keebler
cookies commercials. Served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific theater in World War II, earning seven
battle stars and a presidential citation. Attained rank of captain.
Conrad Bain (1923- ) [A Lovely Way to Die (1968); Postcards from the Edge (1990)] was born Conrad Stafford
Bain in Lethbridge, Alberta. He is a Canadian-American television actor, best known for his tv roles of Dr. Arthur
Harmon in Maude (1972-1978) and Phillip Drummond in Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986). He enjoyed typically
Canadian sports growing up (ice hockey, speed skating), but picked up an interest in acting while in high school,
electing to train at Alberta's Banff School of Fine Arts after graduating. He subsequently joined the Canadian
Army during World War II, then proceeded to pick up from where he left off following his discharge and study at
New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Marrying Monica Marjorie Sloane, an artist, in 1945, the actor
became a naturalized U.S. citizen the following year. The couple went on to have three children.
Bob Baker (1910-1975) [Courage of the West (1937); Wild Horse Stampede (1943)] was home on the Hollywood
range only a few years but Bob "Tumbleweed" Baker (nee Stanley Leland Weed) still made his mark by the time he
rode off into the sunset. Born in Forest City, IA, his family eventually moved to Colorado and then to Arizona
during his growing years. He enlisted in the Army when he was 18 and earned the nickname "Tumbleweed" while
also learning how to play the guitar. He later served during World War II and the Korea War. Baker made an
initial name for himself on radio. A chance audition for Universal Pictures, which was on the lookout to groom a
new singing cowboy star after the meteoric success of Gene Autry, was his big break, beating out such other
sagebrush hopefuls as Roy Rogers.
Martin Balsam (1914-1996) was an American character actor. He studied dramatics at the New School in New
York City and then served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. In 1947 he was selected by Elia Kazan
and Lee Strasberg to be a player in the Actors' Studio television program and went on to appear in a number of
television plays in the 1950s and returned frequently to television as a guest star on numerous dramas. Balsam
appeared in such film as On the Waterfront (1954); as Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men (1957); Psycho (1960); as the
police chief in Cape Fear (1962); Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961); Seven Days in May (1964); Catch-22 (1970); and
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). In 1967 he won a Tony Award for his appearance in the 1967 Broadway production of
You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running.
John Baragrey (1918-1975) [The Loves of Carmen (1948); Pardners (1956)] was a "tall, dark and handsome"
variety on 50s Broadway and in Hollywood. He found steady work on TV soaps and in guest spots, but found
regrettably few film offers...and those he did find were for the most part highly unmemorable. Born in Haleyville,
Alabama in 1919, he attended the University of Alabama and decided to make a go of it in acting, moving to New
York for study. He toured the South Pacific with the USO play "Petticoat Fever" from 1943 to 1945 and met
actress Louise Larabee, whom he later married. From 1962 to 1964 he appeared on the daytime soap The Secret
Storm (1954).
Eric Barker (1912-1990) [Tom Brown's Schooldays (1916); Carry on Emmannuelle (1978)] was born Eric Leslie
Barker in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England, and became one of the most familiar faces in British comedy. He got his
start in show business during World War II, when he was part of the armed forces radio show Merry Go
Round. After the war the show continued, though renamed The Waterlogged Spa, with Barker and his wife, Pearl
Hackney. The show's success led to Barker's starring in other radio shows, where he achieved a rather sizable
following due to his versatility at doing voices. By the mid-1950s Barker had made the move to films, and found his
niche in playing variations on the busybody sticking his nose in everyone's business, or, in the case of the Carry On
comedies, the gang's boss or some other authority figure who was usually on the receiving end of their shenanigans,
most memorably in Carry on Constable (1960).
Lex Barker (1919-1973) [The Farmer's Daughter (1947); Away All Boats (1956)] was born Alexander Crichlow
Barker Jr. in Rye, New York. He is best known as the tenth actor to play Tarzan in the movies, and starred in nearly
thirty movies in the 1940s and 1950s. During this time he enlisted as a private to fight in World War II and
eventually rose to the rank of Major. In 1957, as he found it harder and harder to find work in American films,
Lex moved to Europe and found popularity and starred in over forty European films, especially in Germany.
Richard Barthelmess (1895-1963) [Just a Song at Twilight (1916); The Mayor of 44th Street (1942)] was born in
Southampton, New York into a theatrical family in which his mother was an actress. While attending Trinity
College in Connecticut, he began appearing in stage productions. While on vacation in 1916, a friend of his mother,
actress Alla Nazimova, offered him a part in War Brides (1916), and Richard never returned to college. Barthelmess
made 75 films in the twenty years between his first feature in 1916 and his semi-retirement from the screen in 1936.
He appeared in only six more films between 1936 and 1942. His silent films number 57. His early talkies number
19. Richard joined the Navy Reserve in 1942 and served for the duration of World War II. When the war
ended he retired to Long Island and lived off his real estate investments.
Benny Bartlett (1924-1999) [Timothy's Quest (1936); Dig That Uranium (1955)] was not only an actor but also an
accomplished musician. In fact, he was such a child prodigy on the piano that, at eight years of age, he appeared in
an RKO musical, Millions in the Air (1935), playing the piano. The next year he appeared in a short for Paramount,
performing a composition he had written at the age of nine! The studio signed him to a contract soon afterwards.
Bartlett began appearing with many of Paramount's biggest stars, and became such a hot property that he was often
loaned out to other studios. By the early 1940s, though, he had reached the awkward age where he couldn't play
juveniles anymore but wasn't quite ready for adult roles. The problem was solved when he joined the military
and served in World War II. After his enlistment was over he resumed his acting career, and was cast as a member
of the gang in the Bowery Boys comedies. He exited the series in 1955, and shortly afterwards left the film business
entirely.
Alan Baxter (1909-1976) [Thirteen Hours by Air (1936); South Pacific (1957)] was born in East Cleveland, Ohio,
the son of a Cleveland Trust Company VP. Following high school he studied drama at Williams College in
Massachusetts, where he forged a strong friendship with fellow collegiate and future directing icon Elia Kazan.
Once they graduated in 1930, the pair went on to attend the Yale School of Drama. He was too old for the draft in
World War II but following a series of films including the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller Saboteur (1942), in
which he appeared as the meek-voiced, mustachioed, bespectacled, peroxide blond Nazi spy Freeman, Alan, at age
35, signed up for the Army Air Force in 1943, and made an appearance in the Broadway production of Moss
Hart's Winged Victory, which later was turned into the 1944 movie version of the same name, also featuring
Alan.
Geoffrey Bayldon (1924- ), a British actor, was born in Leeds, Yorkshire. He served in the Royal Air Force prior
to training to be an actor. He trained at Old Vic Theatre School, 1947-1949. After playing roles in dramas of
Shakespeare, he became famous with the role of Catweazle in the early 1970s and also played the Crowman in
Worzel Gummidge. Bayldon made several film appearances in the 1960s and 1970s, including King Rat (1965),
Casino Royale (1967) and the film version of the television series Porridge (1979). He also had a guest appearance
in the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Organon in The Creature from the Pit.
More recently, he has also performed in two audio plays based on the Doctor Who television series by Big Finish
Productions in the Doctor Who Unbound series - Auld Mortality and A Storm of Angels.
Don Beddoe (1891-1991) [Dear Old Dad (1938); Nickel Mountain (1984)] was an American character actor. Raised
in New York City and Cincinnati, Ohio, Beddoe was the son of a professor at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
who happened also to be the world-famous Welsh tenor, Dan Beddoe. Although Don Beddoe intended a career in
journalism, he took an interest in theatre and became involved first with amateur companies and then with
professional theatre troupes. He debuted on Broadway in 1929 and kept up a decade-long career on the stage.
Although said to have made some minor appearances in silent films, Beddoe made his real transfer to film work in
1938. He appeared in a wide range of supporting roles in literally scores of films, often as either a fast-talking
reporter or as a mousey sort. He became one of the most readily familiar faces in Hollywood movies, despite
remaining almost unknown by name outside the industry. Following service in the Army Air Corps during World
War II, he continued to work steadily in small roles, complementing them with television work. Despite advancing
(and very ripe old) age, he remained quite active, supplementing his acting work with a second career in real estate.
Harry Belafonte (1927- ) [Carmen Jones (1954); Uptown Saturday Night (1974)] was born in New York City. He
attended George Washington High School, where he was on the track team. In 1944 he left high school and joined
the Navy and served during World War II. His wife, Julie Robinson, was a featured dancer in Katherine
Dunham's dance troupe. Both Harry and Julie were, and still are, extremely active fighting for civil rights for blacks
by abasing, demeaning and devaluing other races. Belafonte is a communist sympathizer. He is an admirer and
personal friend of Fidel Castro, the tyrant that has ruled Cuba since 1959. Belafonte was a close friend of Burt
Lancaster and the other U.S. haters that penetrated and took control of Hollywood political thought after the Korean
War.
Tony Bennett (1926- ) [The Oscar (1966); Christmas Dream (2000, TV)] was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto
in the Astoria section of Queens in New York City. His father was a grocer and his mother a seamstress. By age 10
the young Benedetto was already singing, performing at the opening of the Triborough Bridge. He attended New
York's High School of Industrial Arts where he studied music and painting (an interest he would always return to as
an adult), but dropped out at age 16 to help support his family. He then set his sights on a professional singing
career. This was interrupted when Benedetto was drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World
War II. He served in a combat position in the 63rd Infantry Division in France and Germany, until some
remarks he made against racial segregation led to his being reassigned. Subsequently he sang with the Army
military band and studied music at Heidelberg University. [Text excerpted from filmbug.com]
John Beradino (1917-1996) [The Kid from Cleveland (1949); Seven Thieves (1960)] was born in Los Angeles. He
was a major league baseball player from 1939 to 1953, except for three years of military service in WW II (19421945). He played second base and shortstop for the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates. His
team, the Indians, won the World Series in 1948. After injuring his leg in 1953, he retired from baseball and
returned to acting. He had appeared in his first film in 1948, The Winner's Circle. After appearing in more than a
dozen B-movies, as well as the espionage series I Led Three Lives (1953-1956), he was offered the role of Dr. Steve
Hardy on the soap opera General Hospital. He played the role from the show's inception in 1963 until his death. -[Excerpted from IMDB]
Carl Betz (1921-1978) [Inferno (1953); That Lady from Peking (1975)] was born in Pittsburgh, PA. He formed a
repertory theatre company while still in high school, then worked in summer stock. He served in the U.S. Army
during World War II, then attended Carnegie Tech. (Was tailback in the 1938 Sugar Bowl of Carnegie Institute of
Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) versus Texas Christian University.) Following graduation, he
worked as a radio announcer. He made his Broadway debut in The Long Watch. He was given a contract at
Twentieth Century-Fox and appeared in supporting roles in a number of films before moving to TV. After a brief
period working in soap operas, he was cast as Dr. Alex Stone on the popular "The Donna Reed Show" (1958) and
spent eight years there. He followed that show with another series, "Judd for the Defense" (1967), in which he
played a masterful attorney. He worked primarily in TV, in both guest appearances and TV movies, throughout the
1970s, though he continued to work on stage in the U.S. He fought a gallant fight against early cancer but died in
1978. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Jack Beutel (1915-1989) [The Outlaw (1943); Best of the Badmen (1951)]. No, contrary to what you see on the
Web, it is not spelled Buetel. The credits on The Outlaw is Beutel. Born Warren Higgins in Dallas, Texas, Beutel
moved to Los Angeles, California in the late 1930s with the intention of establishing a film career. Unable to find
such work, he was employed as an insurance clerk when he was noticed by an agent who was impressed by his
looks. Introduced to Howard Hughes, who was about to begin filming The Outlaw, Beutel was signed to play the
lead role as Billy the Kid. Beutel served in the Navy during WWII. -- [Text excerpted from Wikipedia and IMDB]
Bruce Cabot (1904-1972) [The Roadhouse Murder (1932); The Undefeated (1969)] was born with the unlikely
name Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the son of French Colonel Etienne de Bujac and
Julia Armandine Graves, who died shortly after giving birth. Although Cabot was prominently featured in the
blockbuster King Kong in 1933, he never did make the step to stardom, though he enjoyed a thriving career as a
supporting player. He was a heavy in the '30s, playing a gangster boss in Let 'Em Have It (1936) and the revengeminded Native American brave Magua after Randolph Scott's scalp in The Last of the Mohicans (1936). Over at
MGM, he ably supported Spencer Tracy as the instigator of a lynch mob in Fritz Lang's indictment of domestic
fascism, Fury (1936). A freelancer, he appeared in movies at many studios before leaving Hollywood for military
service. Cabot worked for Army intelligence overseas during World War II; after the war, he continued to work
steadily, with and without his friend and frequent co-star, John Wayne.
Sebastian Cabot (1918-1977) was a British-born film and television actor, known for his portly figure and deep,
melodious voice. Born in London, he began his acting career in Alfred Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936), and
continued to star in British films before moving to Hollywood. His best-known film work was in Ivanhoe (1952),
but he was generally typecast as an Englishman in America. Cabot is best remembered for his television role as Mr.
French, the butler who cares for three orphans in the comedy series Family Affair (1966-1971) starring Brian Keith,
and for his role as the narrator in the Disney animated Winnie the Pooh series (1966). He was also featured as a
voice actor in Disney's Jungle Book (1967). Cabot travelled to battle fields to entertain troops during World
War II.
Frank Cady (1915- ) [Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); Hearts of the West (1975)] was born in Susanville,
California. Although his most famous role would be that of general-store owner Sam Drucker, one of the less nutty
residents of Hooterville in both Green Acres (1965-TV) and Petticoat Junction (1963-TV), he had a history as a
film, stage and television actor long before those shows. The acting bug bit him when he sang in an elementary
school play, and after graduating from Stanford University he headed to London, England, to train in the theater.
When World War II broke out he was already in Europe, so he enlisted in the Army Air Force and spent the
next several years in postings all over the continent. After his discharge he returned to the US and headed for
Hollywood.
Sid Caesar (1922- ) has conquered every medium. A multiple emmy award winner, Sid went on to win the Tony
Award for the Broadway production, Little Me, and starred in such classic films as Grease and It's a Mad, Mad,
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. During World War II Caesar was assigned as a musician in the Coast Guard,
taking part in the service show Tars and Spars, where producer Max Liebman overheard him improvising
comedy routines among the band members, and switched him over to comedy. Sid later made his film debut in
the adaptation of his stage hit Tars and Spars. Later, as super-hip jazz musician "Cool Cees" in television skits, he
played tenor saxophone, and sang with the satirical trio "The Hair Cuts" (with Carl Reiner and Howard Morris).
Joining ASCAP in 1955, his popular song compositions include "I Wrote This Song for Your Birthday" and "Was
That You?".
Joseph Campanella (1927- ) [The Young Lovers (1964); Steele Justice (1987)] is an American character actor who
has appeared in over 200 TV and film roles since 1955. During World War II Campanella served in the U.S.
Navy and became one of the youngest-ever skippers in the wartime navy. He graduated from Manhattan College
in the Bronx, NY and went on to attend Columbia University, then began his acting career on the New York stage
and in TV soap operas. His father, a Sicilian immigrant, was an early member of the American Federation of
Musicians. As a result, Campanella remained active in liberal "underdog" political causes all his life. He is the
honorary sheriff of Toluca Lake, California.
J.D. Cannon (1922-2005) [Cool Hand Luke (1967); Heaven with a Gun (1969)] was born John Donovan Cannon in
Salmon, Idaho and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He graduated from the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts. He may be best remembered as Dennis Weaver's NYPD chief on the "McCloud" series in the 1970s.
He retired in 1991 following an appearance on "Law & Order" and then died only one day before Stephen Elliott
who he appeared with in the "Law & Order" episode "The Secret Sharers". Cannon wore a toupee in most of his
later roles. The exception was an episode of Remington Steele (TV series 1982-86) from "McCloud" producer
Michael Gleason. Here Cannon played a TV news anchor who only wore his toupee while broadcasting. The rest of
the time, he gloried in his dome. The toupee showed up when it shouldn't have, solving the case.
Yakima Canutt (1895-1986) [The Oregon Trail (1936); The Showdown (1950)] was born on a ranch on Penewawa
Creek in the Snake River Hills, 16 miles from Colfax, Washington. Canutt grew up riding and roping. He entered his
first rodeo at 16 and proved to be a natural bucking-bronc rider and bulldogger. After a brief stateside stint in the
navy during World War I, he continued a record-breaking career as a saddle-bronc rider and picked up the
nickname "Yakima." Canutt's skill as a rider and stunt fighter led to a contract starring in a series of western silents.
However, a case of flu had damaged his vocal cords, and when sound came into vogue, his raspy voice was unsuited
to the heroics performed by cowboys in sound films. He focused on stunt work and, although he continued to play
roles as heavies, quickly became known as Hollywood's premier stuntman during the 1930s. He and John Wayne
created a new technique for filming screen fights more believably, and Canutt created or refined most of the stunt
techniques used in westerns and action films for years to come. Too old to serve in World War II he continued to
work in film. He was severely injured performing stunts in Boom Town (1940) and again in In Old Oklahoma
(1943), and after that film retired from active stunting and concentrated on directing second units, the crews
responsible for filming stunts, action sequences and other scenes not necessarily requiring the principal cast
members. He created some of the most dynamic and memorable action sequences in film history, culminating in the
famed chariot race in Ben-Hur (1959). He was awarded a special Oscar in 1966 for his contributions to film.
Harry Carey Jr. (1921-2012) [Red River (1948); The Searchers (1956); Tombstone (1993)] was a reliable character
actor for decades, mostly in Westerns. He is the son of the actor Harry Carey and the actress Olive Carey. He was
born on his parents' 1000-acre ranch near Saugus, in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, which is now
next door to Santa Clarita, a large town that certainly did not exist in 1921 or for decades longer. Thus young Harry
Carey, Jr. grew up among cattle and horses at the ranch. Because of a large group of Navajo Indians that worked on
his parents' ranch, he learned to speak the Navajo language at the same time that he was learning to speak English.
During the World War II, Carey enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and served in the Pacific Theater, first as a Navy
medical corpsman. However, he was transferred back to the United States (against his wishes) to serve under
his father's good friend, the director John Ford, in making Navy training films and films for the O.S.S. After
World War II, Carey tried to make a career in singing, but he was not successful. Hence, he moved to acting, and
after a couple of small acting parts, he was given a chance to work in a motion picture, the John Wayne classic, Red
River (1948). After that he was frequently called to appear in John Ford movies.
Philip Carey (1925-2009) was a fan favorite as One Life to Live's wheeler-dealer business tycoon, Asa Buchanan
from 1979 till Carey's death. One of daytime television's most-married men, Asa, a towering Texan, is a man with
little conscience, but he will always protect his family, no matter what the cost. Mr. Carey, a former U.S. Marine in
World War II and the Korean War, spent a large portion of his professional career starring in motion pictures.
His first feature film, Operation Pacific (1951), starred John Wayne and led to a long-term contract with Warner
Bros. During his time at Warner's and later at Columbia Pictures, Mr. Carey starred with some of Hollywood's
legendary actors, including Gary Cooper in Springfield Rifle (1952), Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak in Pushover
(1954), Tyrone Power in The Long Gray Line (1955), Henry Fonda in Mister Roberts (1955) and Peter Fonda in
Fighting Mad (1976).
Richard Carlson (1912-1977) [The Young in Heart (1938); King Solomon's Mines (1950)]. Has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6333 Hollywood Blvd. Served in WWII. After the war, it was hard for him to find
a job. His early ambition was to be a playwright, but his first paying job was as an English Instructor at the
University of Minnesota. He was active in television becoming nationally famous for I Led 3 Lives (1953), which
was about an FBI agent infiltrating Communist cells in the United States.
Ian Carmichael, CBE, (1920- ). Unassuming, innocent-eyed and always ingratiating, Brit comedy actor Ian
Carmichael was quite the popular chap in late 50s and early 60s film. He was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, the
son of Arthur Denholm Carmichael, an optician, and his wife Kate (Gillett). After receiving his schooling at
Bromsgove High School and Scarborough College, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and
trained there, making his stage debut as a mute robot in RUR (1939). That same year he also appeared as Claudius in
Julius Caesar and was appearing a revue production of Nine Sharp (1940) when his young career was interrupted
by World War II. He served in Europe for many years with the Royal Armoured Corps as a commissioned
officer in the 22nd Dragoons. Ian returned to the theatre in 1947 with roles in four productions: She Wanted a
Cream Front Door, I Said to Myself, Cupid and Mars and Out of the Frying Pan.
Art Carney (1918-2003) was born Arthur William Matthew Carney in Mount Vernon, NY. He gained lifelong fame
for his portrayal of sewer worker Ed Norton opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the popular television
comedy show The Honeymooners (1955-1956). Carney also had many screen and stage roles, including the
portrayal of Felix Unger in The Odd Couple. He was nominated for seven Emmy Awards. In 1973 he won the
Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as an elderly man going on the road with his pet cat in Harry
and Tonto. He appeared in such films as W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), The Late Show (1977), House
Calls (1977), Movie Movie (1978) and Going in Style (1979). He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6627
Hollywood Blvd. A World War II veteran, he was stationed in France as an infantryman and wounded in leg
by shrapnel. He was hospitalized for nine months and walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
John Carroll (1906–1979) [Hi, Gaucho! (1935); Ride in a Pink Car (1974)] was born Julian LaFaye in New
Orleans, Louisiana. He died of leukemia in Hollywood, California. Carroll was 6' 5" tall and was married to Steffi
Duna for two years, 1935-1936. They had 1 daughter, Julianna Benito. He later married Lucille Ryman Carroll and
that lasted till his death on 24 April 1979. As did so many other actors, Carroll interrupted his movie career
during World War II and served as an Air Force pilot in North Africa. He broke his back in a crash. He had
appeared in several Western films in the 1930s, including the role of Zorro in Zorro Rides Again (1937). Probably
his best known role was as Woody Jason in the movie Flying Tigers (1942) with John Wayne. He was also notable
as a Cajun soldier, aptly nicknamed "Wolf", in the comedy A Letter for Evie (1945). Carroll worked steadily through
the mid-1950s, but his work began to fade out in the latter half of the decade. His last role was in Ride a Pink Car
(1974). -- Trivia: He studied opera in Italy and drove racing cars before turning to acting. His cousin, Rayel "Jack"
LaFaye is the grandfather of filmmaker Troy Antoine LaFaye. He was a friend of Erroll Flynn and gained a
reputation as an adventurous playboy, even joining Flynn in a trip in which they lived with Fidel Castro in Cuba's
Sierra Maestra. In 1956 he became the first actor to be paid a percentage of his film's gross. In 1959, he agreed to
pay a settlement of $176,000 to an 81 year old widow who alleged he had romanced her out of her fortune. In 1965,
he gave up a position on the Louisiana Tourist Development Commission amid allegations of improprieties.
Jack Carson (1910-1963) was born in Carman, Manitoba, Canada. When he arrived in Hollywood in 1937, he
found work at RKO as an extra. After a few years he developed into a popular character actor who would be seen in
a large number of comedies, musicals and a few westerns. Not happy with the direction his career was heading, he
went to Warner Brothers in 1941, where the quality of his supporting roles improved. It also did not hurt to be in
films that starred James Cagney, such as The Strawberry Blonde (1941) and The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941). After
three years he starred with Jane Wyman in Make Your Own Bed (1944) and again in The Doughgirls (1944).
Carson was a pilot and during World War II volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps but was rejected due
to his height. He was turned down by the Army because he had flat feet but he later entertained Gen. Douglas
MacArthur's troops in the South Pacific. Was writing a book about religion when he died of stomach cancer in
Encino, California.
Johnny Carson (1925-2005, photo c.1966) [TV: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992)] was born
in Corning, Iowa, to Homer "Kit" Lloyd Carson, a power company manager, and Ruth Hook Carson. He lived in
southwest Iowa until age 8, then the family moved to Norfolk, Nebraska where he grew up. There he learned to
perform magic tricks, debuting as "The Great Carsoni" at 14. After HS he joined the Navy and served 1943-1946.
He was sent to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he received V-12 officer training. In the final
months of World War II Ensign Carson served on the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) which was underway to a
combat station when the A-bombs ended the war. After discharge, Carson attended the University of Nebraska in
Lincoln where he joined Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in radio and speech
with a minor in physics in 1949. [Excerpted from Wikipedia.]
Jeff Chandler (1918-1961) [Broken Arrow (1950); Raw Wind in Eden (1958); A Story of David: The Hunted
(1961)]. was born in Brooklyn, NY and attended Erasmus High School. After HS, he took a drama course and
worked in stock companies for two years. His next role would be that of an officer in World War II. He enlisted
the day after Pearl Harbor and saw 4 years of service. After discharge he became busy acting in radio dramas
and comedies until he was signed by Universal. It was in the fifties that he became a star making westerns and
action pictures. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950) and
followed that by playing the role of Cochise in two sequels: The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and Taza, Son of
Cochise (1954). His premature gray hair and tanned features served him well in his westerns and action pictures but
the studio erred by putting him in soaps and costume movies. In his films, his leading ladies included Maureen
O'Hara, Rhonda Fleming, Jane Russell, Joan Crawford, and June Allyson. Shortly after his last film, Merrill's
Marauders (1962), Jeff died, at 42, in Culver City, California, of blood poisoning following surgery for a disc
herniation.
Sydney Chaplin (1926-2009) [Limelight (1952); Satan's Cheerleaders (1977)] was born in Beverly Hills, California
as Sydney Earle Chaplin. He bore a similar, slightly forlorn facial resemblance of his famous dad, Charlie Chaplin.
Drafted into the infantry at age 18, a new sense of purpose took over him when he was sent to Europe to serve
in World War II as a bazooka man in the Third Army under General George Patton.
Lonny Chapman (1920-2007) [Young at Heart (1954); Reindeer Games (2000)] was born Lon Leonard Chapman
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but grew up in the city of Joplin, Missouri. His interest in acting started while fairly young.
Following his graduations from Joplin High School (1938) and Joplin Junior College (1940), the athleticallyinclined Lonny attended the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, however,
interrupted his college studies, joining the Marines the very next day. He saw major action in the South Pacific,
including Guadalcanal. During his 5-year tour of duty, he contracted malaria; frequent recurrences would
plague him the rest of his life. The track star returned to his Oklahoma college following war duty and graduated
with a BFA in Drama in 1947.
Julia Child (1912-2004). After Pearl Harbor she tried to join the Navy but was rejected as too tall. She joined the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) instead and began her WWII career in Washington working directly for Gen
William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, the OSS chief. In 1944 she was posted to Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where
she handled highly classified communications for the OSS's clandestine stations in Asia, and where she met her
future husband, a high-ranking OSS cartographer. She was later posted to China where she received the Emblem of
Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.
Fred Clark (1914-1968) [White Heat (1949); Move Over, Darling (1963)] was born Frederick Leonard Clark on
March 19 1914, the son of Frederick Clark, a county agriculture commissioner, and Stella (née Bruce) Clark, in
Lincoln, California, Fred's initial interest was in medicine and he pursued his pre-med studies at Stanford
University. A chance role in the college play Yellow Jack change the coarse of his destiny. Earning a scholarship to
the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he paid his dues performing in local community theater and summer
stock. By May of 1938, at age 24, he was making his Broadway debut with the short-lived comedy play
Schoolhouse on the Lot. He then returned to Broadway a few months later to appear in the melodrama Ringside Seat,
which also closed early. Fred's nascent career was interrupted when America entered World War II. He served
as a Navy pilot in 1942 but later joined the Army and spent nearly two years with the Third Army in Europe.
-- [Excerpted from Wikipedia and IMDB]
Robert Clary (1926- ), born in France, early suffered the pangs of war, being interned in a Nazi concentration
camp as a child. After World War II he became a singing star in France, and in 1949 came to the United States to
promote his career. He appeared on "The Ed Wynn Show" (1949); still learning English he performed in a French
language comedy skit. His comedic skills were recognized by Broadway, where he appeared in several revues,
including one which moved from theater to film, New Faces (1954). In the 1950's he was a game show regular, and
then in 1965 he became Corporal Louis LeBeau in "Hogan's Heroes" (1965-1971). Later film roles were based
around WWII, such as Remembrance of Love (1982, TV) about Holocaust survivors. More recently he returned to
television series, joining "Days of Our Lives" (1965) and appearing in "The Young and the Restless" (1973). [Text
excerpted from IMDB]
Lee Van Cleef (1925-1989) started out as an accountant. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers and
subchasers during World War II. After the war he worked as an office administrator, becoming involved in
amateur theatrics in his spare time. An audition for a professional role led to a touring company job in Mr. Roberts.
His performance was seen by Stanley Kramer, who cast him as henchman Jack Colby in High Noon (1952), a role
that brought him great recognition despite the fact that he had no dialogue. For the next decade he played a string of
memorably villainous characters, primarily in westerns but also in crime dramas such as The Big Combo (1955). His
hawk nose and steely, slit eyes seemed destined to keep him always in the realm of heavies, but in the mid-'60s
Sergio Leone cast him as the tough but decent Col. Mortimer opposite Clint Eastwood in For A Few Dollars More
(1965). A new career as a western hero (or at least anti-hero) opened up, and Van Cleef became an international star,
though in films of decreasing quality. In the 1980s he moved easily into action and martial-arts movies, and starred
in "The Master" (1984), a TV series featuring almost non-stop martial arts action. He died of a heart attack in
December 1989, and was buried at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was rejected for service in World War II by the military due to chronic
dysentery and colitis, conditions he suffered all of his life. Also he had pill problems and he was alcoholic. At 13,
Clift appeared on Broadway (Fly Away Home), and chose to remain in the New York theater for over ten years,
where he met wealthy former Broadway star Libby Holman, before finally leaving for Hollywood. Holman
developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican
Mural," for him. In Hollywood his film debut was Red River (1948) with John Wayne, quickly followed by his early
personal successes: The Search (1948); A Place in the Sun (1951); From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgment at
Nuremberg (1961). Along the way, Holman would wield considerable influence over his film career. On her advice
he turned down William Holden's role in Sunset Boulevard (1950, originally written specifically for him) and Gary
Cooper's role in High Noon (1952). His friend Marilyn Monroe described him as "the only person I know who is in
worse shape than I am."
Lee J. Cobb (1911-1976) [The Vanishing Shadow (1934); How the West Was Won (1962)]. Cobb's film career
proper began with the westerns North of the Rio Grande (1937) (in which he was billed as Lee Colt) and Rustlers'
Valley (1937) and spanned nearly 40 years until his death. After a hiatus while serving in the Army Air Force
during World War II, Cobb's movie career resumed in 1946. He continued to play major supporting roles in
prestigious A-list pictures. His movie career reached its artistic peak in the 1950s, when he was twice nominated for
Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards, for his role as Johnny Friendly in On the Waterfront (1954) and as the
father in The Brothers Karamazov (1958). Other memorable supporting roles in the 1950s included the sagacious
Judge Bernstein in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), as the probing psychiatrist Dr. Luther in The Three
Faces of Eve (1957) and as the volatile Juror #3 in 12 Angry Men (1957).
Steve Cochran (1917-1965) [Wonder Man (1945); White Heat (1949)]. Born in Eureka, California but raised in
Laramie, Wyoming, the son of a lumberman. His early work included that of a cowboy and railroad station hand.
Was rejected for World War II military service because of a heart murmur. Instead he organized and
directed shows for Army camps on the West coast. On June 15, 1965, at the age of 48, Cochran died on his yacht
off the coast of Guatemala of an acute lung infection. His body, along with three alive but upset female assistants,
remained on board for ten days until the boat drifted to shore and was found by authorities. His death was apparently
a mystery, surrounded by various rumors about foul play and poisoning. Merle Oberon tried to use her influence to
push for further police investigations.
Nicholas Colasanto (1924-1985) was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso on
the long-running sitcom Cheers (1982-1993). Feature films include Fat City (1972) and Raging Bull (1980). A
decorated veteran of World War II, he also directed various television series, such as Starsky and Hutch and
CHiPs. Colasanto died of a heart ailment at the age of 61, just as Cheers was achieving its greatest success. He was
replaced by Woody Harrelson. After his death, his presence on the show was represented by the placing of a picture
of Geronimo on the wall of the show's primary set. The photo had previously hung in Colasanto's dressing room and
was said to hold a special meaning to the actor. The picture remained on the set for the rest of the series' run. Eight
years after Colasanto's death, the show offered a subtle but important nod to him in its final scene: star Ted Danson
walks up to and straightens the Geronimo picture before walking off stage for the last time.
Kenneth Connor (1916-1993) MBE, was a British comedy film and TV actor, best known for the Carry On films.
Born the son of a naval officer in London, England, Connor first appeared on the stage at the age of 2 and by 11 had
his own act. After a period at drama school and six-years in the army, he returned to the stage, but found success in
radio comedy. He had a small role in The Ladykillers (1955). In 1958 he was cast in the first Carry On film, Carry
On Sergeant. He became one of the key regulars of the series, initially being cast as a romantic lead, appearing in 17
of the 29 original films. He was married to the Carry On actress Dilys Laye, until their divorce, and his son Jeremy
Connor appeared in four of the series. In contrast with some of his Carry On co-stars, Connor found further success
in television after the series ended, appearing in the children's show Rentaghost (1983–1984), as Monsieur Alphonse
in 'Allo 'Allo! (1984–1992) and Hi De Hi (1986–1988). He also made a memorable cameo in an episode of
Blackadder the Third in 1987, alongside fellow veteran comic star Hugh Paddick. He was in over fifty movies and
received an MBE in 1991. Connor died of cancer in London and was survived by his wife Margaret.
Chuck Connors (1921-1992) [Trouble Along the Way (1953); The Big Country (1958); TV: The Rifleman (19591961)] was an actor and professional baseball player. He was born Kevin Joseph Connors to Irish-American parents
in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up with a sister named Gloria. He attended a private high school and later
attended Seton Hall in South Orange, New Jersey. He then dropped out in 1942 to join the army at Camp
Campbell, Kentucky and next went to West Point. After his discharge in 1946, he joined the Boston Celtics and
left the team for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He played for numerous minor league teams before
joining the Dodgers in 1949 for a few weeks. Later, in 1951 he also played for the Chicago Cubs. He was then sent
to the minor leagues again, in 1952, and there he was spotted by an MGM casting director for an upcoming TracyHepburn film Pat and Mike, in which he played a state police captain. He died of lung cancer in Los Angeles,
California.
Mike Connors (1925- ) is best known for playing the title role in "Mannix," a two-fisted TV detective show with a
snappy theme song. Mannix had a knack for one-liners, and a bad habit of getting pistol-whipped by thugs when he
came too close to unraveling each week's mystery. In high school Connors played basketball, receiving the
nickname "Touch" for playing tight defense. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He
attended UCLA on a basketball scholarship, and was approached after a ball game by William A. Wellman, who
told him he had an actor's expressive face and suggested he call RKO. Billed as Touch Connors, his first film was
the noir classic Sudden Fear (1952) with Joan Crawford and Jack Palance. He made several films with low-budget
master Roger Corman, including Swamp Woman (1955) with Marie Windsor, and Five Guns West (1955) with
Dorothy Malone. In 1967 Connors began playing Mannix. Like Connors, Mannix was of Armenian extraction, and
would occasionally offer pithy sayings in fluent Armenian. Gail Fisher played Mannix's secretary, winning an
Emmy in the role, the first black actress so honored.
William Conrad (1920-1994), born William Cann, was an American actor in radio, film and television noted for his
gifted use of a marvelous baritone voice, as well as for his sizable girth. He was born in Louisville, KY. He started
in radio in the late 1930s in California. He served as a fighter pilot in World War II and returned to the
airwaves after the war, going on to accumulate over 7,000 roles in radio by his own estimate. Conrad's deep,
resonant voice led to a number of noteworthy roles in radio drama, most prominently his originating the role of Matt
Dillon on the old-time radio program Gunsmoke (1952-1961). He was considered for the role when the series was
brought to television in 1955, but his increasing obesity led to the casting of James Arness. Other series to which
Conrad contributed his talents included Escape, Suspense and The Damon Runyon Theater. Among his various film
roles, where he was usually cast as threatening figures, perhaps his most notable role was his first credited one, as
one of the gunmen sent to eliminate Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film The Killers. He also appeared in Body and Soul
(1947), Sorry, Wrong Number, Joan of Arc (both 1948), and The Naked Jungle (1954).
Russ Conway (1913-2009) [Trapped (1949); Tomahawk (1951); Fort Osage (1952); Guns of Diablo (1964)] -sometimes appeared as Russell Conway -- played father Fenton Hardy to Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk's Hardy
Boy sleuths in the Mickey Mouse TV series. He served in the U.S. Army's Special Services Unit during World
War II. He was entertainment director at Ft. Ord before serving in the Philippines and, at the end of the war,
in Japan, where he served as producer and announcer for Armed Forces Radio before beginning his Hollywood
career in 1947. He earned a Bachelor's Degree from the U. of California at Los Angeles in 1937, and a Master's
Degree in theater arts from UCLA, as well as teaching credentials.
Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) [Tom Sawyer (1930); The Joker Is Wild (1957)]. Coogan enlisted in the US Army in
March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he requested a transfer to US Army Air Forces as a glider pilot
because of his civilian flying experience. After graduating from glider school he was made a Flight Officer and
volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In December, 1943 the unit was sent to India.
He flew British troops, the Chindits, under General Orde Wingate on 5 March, 1944 landing them at night in a small
jungle clearing 100 miles behind Japanese lines in the Burma campaign.
Elisha Cook Jr. (1903-1995) [The Maltese Falcon (1941), Shane (1953)] was an established character actor when
WWII broke out. He nevertheless enlisted in U.S. Army on 15 August 1942. Height and weight at enlistment given
as 5' 5" and 123 lb. Education given as 3 years of high school. He died of a stroke on his ranch at Big Pine,
California in 1995 at the age of 91.
Jackie Cooper (1922- ) is an American actor and director, one of the few child actors who managed to transition
into an adult career. Born in Los Angeles, California the nephew of director Norman Taurog, Cooper first appeared
in the movies in Boxing Gloves in 1929, one of the Our Gang child actors. His first non-Our Gang role was in 1931,
when his uncle Norman Taurog hired him to star in Skippy, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for
Best Actor (the youngest actor ever to receive the nomination). The movie catapulted young Jackie into
superstardom. He began a long on-screen relationship with actor Wallace Beery in such films as The Champ (1931),
The Bowery (1933), Treasure Island (1934), and O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935). Cooper had problems finding roles as
he became an adolescent, and he served in World War II, so his career was at a nadir when he starred in two
popular television series, The People's Choice and Hennesey. It was his television acting that convinced him that he
could become a director, and he successfully moved behind the camera, to become one of the busier television
directors, for which he won Emmy Awards.
Jeff Corey (1914-2002) [My Friend Flicka (1943); Joan of Arc (1948); Home of the Brave (1949)]. He was born in
Brooklyn, New York and became a film and television character actor as well as one of the top acting teachers in
America. He joined the U.S. Navy Photographic Service in 1943 and was assigned to the aircraft carrier
Yorktown as a motion picture combat photographer. He earned three citations while serving during the War,
including one for shooting footage on the Yorktown during a kamikaze attack on the ship. The citation, which
was awarded in October 1945, read: "His sequence of a Kamikaze attempt on the Carrier Yorktown, done in
the face of grave danger, is one of the great picture sequences of the war in the Pacific, and reflects the
highest credit upon Corey and the U.S. Navy Photographic Service." [Text excerpted from IMDB]
Patrick Cranshaw (1919-2005) had a lengthy career in the motion picture industry that included such features as
Arthur Penn's classic Bonnie And Clyde (1967), Tim Burton's Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985), Christopher Guest's
Almost Heroes (1998) and Joel and Ethan Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). Most recently Cranshaw starred in
Everyone Says I Love You (1996) as Drew Barrymore's grandfather. He has also had an extremely prolific career on
the small screen, with recurring roles on such popular series as Mork And Mindy, The Ted Knight Show, Dukes Of
Hazzard and Alice. He has guest starred on everything from Little House On The Prairie and Highway To Heaven to
Three's A Crowd and Growing Pains. He became interested in acting while entertaining American troops
before World War II.
Eddie Craven (1909-1991) [Million Dollar Melody (1933); Down Missouri Way (1946)] was an American stage
actor from a well-known theatrical family, who appeared in a few films. His parents, 'Edward Craven' and 'Maude
Patterson', were actors, and his uncle was the renowned playwright/actor Frank Craven. Although a New York
native, Eddie Craven was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended the Wharton School of Finance at the
University of Pennsylvania, but followed his schooling with a turn toward the profession of his family. He made his
Broadway debut in 1932, and his film bow three years later. Following military service during World War II,
Craven wrote a comic strip, Dimestore Daisy.
Broderick Crawford (1911-1986) [All the King's Men (1949); Down Three Dark Streets (1954); tv, 156 episodes of
Highway Patrol (1955-1959)]. After many supporting roles (including a memorable turn as a big but kind-hearted
lug in the comedy Larceny, Inc. (1942)) and a stint in the military during World War II, Crawford had his
breakthrough role in Robert Rossen's adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All the
King's Men. Crawford gave a masterful performance as the Southern politician modeled on Louisiana's Huey Long.
In addition to the Oscar, he also won the New York Film Critics' Award as Best Actor.
Richard Cromwell (1910-1960) [Fifty Fathoms Deep (1931); Jezebel (1938)] was born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh
(nicknamed "Roy") in Long Beach, California. After filming Baby Face Morgan (1942), he joined the Coast
Guard in 1942 and served for two years. When he returned to civilian life, he did not seek out Hollywood, but
settled comfortably into his art work -- ceramics and pottery, in particular.
Robert "Bob" Cummings (1910-1990) [Saboteur (1942); Dial M for Murder (1954)] was a pilot during WW II,
once stationed at Oxnard, California. According to an article in Flying Magazine, when the government began
licensing flight instructors, Cummings received flight instructor certificate number "1", the first instructor to receive
a license. He was a godson of Orville Wright, an old family friend, who also taught him to fly. Cummings piloted
his own plane most of his life. He was chosen by producer John Wayne as his co-star in The High and the Mighty
(1954), though director William A. Wellman replaced him with Robert Stack.
Tony Curtis (1925-2010) [Trapeze (1956), The Boston Strangler (1968)]. Joined the Navy at age 17 in 1943 and
served on a submarine tender during World War II. In Tokyo Bay in 1945 he watched the surrender
ceremonies from the signal bridge of the USS Proteus. After the war he enrolled in drama school on the G.I. Bill.
Peter Cushing (1913-1994) [The Man in the Iron Mask (1939); Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1959)]. Contributed to the war effort during World War II by joining the Entertainment National Services
Association. Born in Kenley, Surrey, England, he and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a
south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey by his mother Nellie Marie and father George Edward.
Dan Dailey (1913-1978) [Dizzy Dean in The Pride of St. Louis (1952); The Wings of Eagles (1957)]. Born in New
York City, Dailey started his career in vaudeville, later making his Broadway debut in the stage version of Babes in
Arms. When signed to MGM, the studio initially casted him as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm (1940). The studio
realized their mistake and cast him in musical films thereafter. Then, after serving in World War II, Dailey later
returned to acting to make more musicals.
Bill Dana (1924- ) [The Busy Body (1967); Lena's Holiday (1991)] was born in Quincy, Massachusetts and educated
at Emerson College. He became a comedian, actor, author and composer. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry
during World War II. Later, he was part of the team "Dana and Wood" on television and in supper clubs. As a
single, he appeared on television with Martha Raye and Imogene Coca and was a writer for Steve Allen, and he also
appeared in night clubs and on records. His most popular-song compositions include "My Name Jose Jimenez", "All
About Love" and "Big Bells and Bongo Drummers".
Royal Dano (1922-1994) was born in New York. He ran away from home at age 12 and lived in such states as
Texas, Florida and California. He struck a deal with his father to continue his education, but still be able to travel
around the country. Dano eventually attended NYU. His performing career began as part of the 44th Special
Service Provisional Company during World War II. A few of Dano's more memorable roles include the Tattered
Soldier in The Red Badge of Courage, a sickly bookworm bad guy in Johnny Guitar, Elijah in Moby Dick, Peter in
King of Kings, a cattle rustler in The Culpepper Cattle Company, a coroner in Electra Glide in Blue, a profanityspewing preacher in Big Bad Mama and Ten Spot in The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Helmut Dantine (1917-1982) [The Pied Piper (1942); The Fifth Musketeer (1979)] was an actor/ director/ producer
born in Vienna, Austria. He made a name for himself as an actor during World War II playing German soldiers and
Nazi villains in Hollywood films, most notably, Mrs. Miniver (1942). The young Dantine was a fervent antifascist/ anti-Nazi activist in Vienna. As a leader in the anti-Nazi youth movement the 19-year old was
summarily rounded up and imprisoned at the Rosserlaende concentration camp. Family influence persuaded a
physician to grant him a medical release that June and he was immediately sent to Los Angeles to stay with a family
friend and he quickly found work in movies.
Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) [Sweet and Low (1947) (as Will Maston Trio); The Cannonball Run (1981)] was an
American all-around entertainer. He danced, sang, played vibraphone and drums, did impressions, and acted. He
was born in Harlem, New York City to a Puerto Rican mother and an Afro-American father who were vaudeville
dancers. As an infant, he was raised by his paternal grandmother. When he was three years old, his parents split up.
His father, not wanting to lose custody of his son, took him on tour. As a child he learned how to dance from his
father, Sammy Davis, Sr. and his uncle Will Mastin, who led the dance troup his father worked for. Davis joined the
act as a young child and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his long career, Davis included the Will
Mastin Trio in his billing. Mastin and his father had shielded him from racism. Snubs were explained as jealousy,
for instance, but during World War II, Davis served in the United States Army, where he was first confronted by
strong racial prejudice. While in the service, however, he joined an entertainment unit, and found that the spotlight
removed some of the prejudice. "My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I
might hope to affect a man's thinking," he said.
Dennis Day (1916-1988) [Buck Benny Rides Again (1940); The Girl Next Door (1953)] was born Owen Patrick
McNulty in the Bronx, New York, the son of an Ireland-born stationary engineer. The strength and promise of his
lilting tenor voice was first discovered while performing with his glee club at St. Patrick's Cathedral High School.
Graduating from Manhattan College, he first had designs on a law career and starting singing in order to earn money
for tuition. Jack Benny gave him a break in 1939 and kept him employed as a singer and naive comic sidekick until
Benny's death. His "Gee, Mr. Benny!" became a well-known catchphrase on the show. Dennis in fact would play
second-banana to the comedian until Benny passed in 1974. He served as a Lieutenant (j.g.) in the Navy during
World War II from 1944-1946.
Doris Day (1922- ) [Calamity Jane (1953); Love Me or Leave Me (1955); Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)] was
born, Doris Mary Ann Von Kapplehoff, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents divorced when she was about 10 and she
lived with her mother. She liked to dance and aspired to become a professional ballerina, but an automobile accident
that crushed a leg ended whatever hopes she had of dancing on stage. It was a terrible setback, but after taking
singing lessons she found a new vocation, and began singing with local bands. Day's agent talked her into taking a
screen test at Warner Bros. and she starred in her first film, Romance on the High Seas (1948). To this day she has a
fear of flying that stemmed from tours with Bob Hope to entertain the troops during World War II that resulted
in some close calls in impenetrable winter weather. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George
W. Bush in 2004 but could not attend the White House award ceremony because of her intense fear of flying. She
called President Bush with an apology. She almost turned down her role in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew
Too Much (1956) because it was to be filmed in London and Marrakesh. Her husband and manager, Martin Melcher
talked her into accepting the role. Devoted to the well being of pets, she has spent her years in retirement running pet
shelters in Carmel, Calif.
John Dehner (November 23, 1915-February 04, 1992). [Sheriff Pat Garrett in The Left-Handed Gun (1958);
Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971).] Tall, distinguished-looking character actor usually cast as villain or
humorless authority figure. Began career as an animation assistant at Walt Disney Studios, worked as an Army
publicist during WWII and, as a Los Angeles radio news reporter, editor and announcer. Netted his station a
Peabody Award for his coverage of the first UN conference in San Francisco in the late 1940s. Dehner started acting
in films in 1945, eventually appearing in over 100 features, mostly westerns or action films.
Gabriel Dell (1919-1988) [Dead End (1937); The Escape Artist (1982)], the son of an Italian immigrant doctor,
"Gabe" Dell began his career singing in a boys church choir and then on a children's radio show. He made his stage
debut in the play Dead End and, with the other juvenile members of the cast, was called to Hollywood for the film
version and became a regular member of the East Side Kids/ Dead End Kids/ Bowery Boys. Dell took a leave from
the film business during World War II and served in the Merchant Marine for 3-1/2 years. When he returned
he played in a few more of the Bowery Boys series, but made his final film with them in 1950 and struck out on his
own.
Richard Denning (1914-1998) [An Affair to Remember (1957); Some Like it Hot (1959)]. He was born in
Poughkeepsie, New York, as Louis Albert Denninger Jr. After graduating from Woodbury College in Los Angeles,
California he joined his father in the garment business and worked his way up from office boy to vice president. He
never liked accounting and looked for diversions in little theater groups as a hobby. Acting suited him so well he
switched careers. He starred in such movies as Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) but he's most famous for his
role as Governor of Hawaii Paul Jameson in the CBS television network series Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980). During
World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on a submarine as Yeoman 1st Class.
Andy Devine (1905-1977) [The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931); Myra Breckinridge (1970)] was born Andrew Vabre
Devine in Flagstaff, Arizona. The later-to-be Rotund comic character actor was raised in nearby Kingman, Arizona,
the son of Irish-American hotel operator Thomas Devine and his wife Amy. Devine was an able athlete as a student
and actually played semi-pro football under a phony name Jeremiah Schwartz, often erroneously presumed to be his
real name. Devine used the false name in order to remain eligible for college football. At 36 when the Japanese
bombed Pearl Harbor he was too old for active duty but he was an avid pilot and owned a flying school that
trained flyers for the government during World War II.
Brad Dexter (1917-2002) an American actor, was born Boris Milanovich. He is best known for his role as Harry
Luck in The Magnificent Seven (1960). He was born in Goldfield, Nevada of Serbian parentage. Burly, dark and
handsome, Brad Dexter was usually given supporting roles of a rugged character. Early in his acting career, he went
by the name of Barry Mitchell. After having a stint as an amateur boxer, Dexter attended the Pasadena Playhouse
where he studied theatre. He joined the Air Corps during World War II and was assigned to the troupe
performing the Moss Hart Broadway tribute to the Corps, Winged Victory, acting under his first chosen stage
name, Barry Mitchell. His career in Hollywood spanned over four decades. Other films Dexter appeared in include
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959), Kings of the Sun (1963), and Johnny Cool (1963). Dexter's relationship with singer
and actor Frank Sinatra began in 1964 when he saved him from drowning. Sinatra was swimming at the beach while
on location and began to be pulled into the undertow along with his female co-star. Dexter immediately sprang to his
aid and was able to save them both. He was awarded by the Red Cross for his heroism. Dexter appeared in a few
movies with Sinatra, including Von Ryan's Express (1965) as Sgt. Bostick and None But the Brave (1965). The two
later had a falling out and Dexter complained of Sinatra's pettiness and the fact that he never thanked him or gave
him credit for saving him. Dexter helped produce Skag with fellow American-Serb actor Karl Malden. He died in
Rancho Mirage, California from emphysema.
John Dierkes (1905-1975) [Three Husbands (1951); The Hanging Tree (1959)] was a tall and gaunt American
character actor prominent in a number of classic American films. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended Brown
University and subsequently went to work as an economist for the United States Department of State. In 1941, he
joined the American Red Cross and served in Great Britain during World War II. There he met director John
Huston, who took a liking to Dierkes and recommended that he try Hollywood after the war. Instead, Dierkes went
to work for the U.S. Treasury Department, which, coincidentally, sent him to Hollywood to function as technical
adviser on the film To the Ends of the Earth (1948). Orson Welles cast him as Ross in his adaptation of Macbeth
(1948). Dierkes returned to the Treasury Department, but two years later, Huston called on him to play the tall
soldier in The Red Badge of Courage (1951). Dierkes took a leave of absence from his job, a leave which lasted for
the rest of Dierkes's life. His quiet dignity and distinctive appearance led him to dozens of roles in film and on
television. In John Wayne's The Alamo (1960), Dierkes plays a Scot, "Jocko Robertson", named after Dierkes's own
maternal grandfather. He died in 1975, and was survived by his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) [Destry Rides Again (1939); The Flame of New Orleans (1941)]. Best remembered
during WWII, Dietrich -- a German who had renounced her country following the rise of the Nazis and
rejected Hitler's request that she return -- became an ardent and fearless supporter of the Allied Forces,
performing hundreds of times for the troops as near the war zone as she could get.
James Doohan (1920-2005) ["Scotty" on Star Trek]. Landed in Normandy with the U. S. Army on D-Day.
Landed on Juno Beach on D-Day as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery. Soon after, while walking across a
mine field, he and his unit were attacked by enemy fire, as the Germans shot at them with machine guns. He was hit
by four bullets to the leg, his middle finger of his right hand was shot off, and a bullet struck his chest. His life was
saved when it hit a silver cigarette case which had been given to him by his brother.
Roy Dotrice (1923- ) [The Heroes of Telemark (1965); Amadeus (1984)] is a British actor born on the Island of
Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of France, which is part of the UK. He was the first-born child of
Louis and Neva Dotrice who prospered as bakers. The Germans occupied the island in 1940 and he and his mother
and brother escaped to England. Advancing his real age, Roy joined the Royal Air Force at age 16 and was
trained as a wireless operator and air gunner. In 1942 his plane was shot down and he was captured where he
served out the remainder of World War II (over three years) as a prisoner of war in Germany. He was
introduced to the idea of performing when he took part in various makeshift concerts in order to raise the spirits of
his fellow captives.
Kirk Douglas (1916- ) [Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957); In Harm's Way (1965)]. He only appeared in a handful
of minor Broadway productions before joining the U.S. Navy in 1941, and then after the end of hostilities in
1945, returned to the theater and some radio work. On the insistence of ex-classmate Lauren Bacall, movie producer
Hal B. Wallis screen-tested Douglas and cast him in the lead role in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). His
performance received rave reviews and further work quickly followed, including an appearance in the low-key
drama I Walk Alone (1948), the first time he worked alongside fellow future screen legend, Burt Lancaster.
[Lancaster and Douglas acted together in 7 movies: Victory at Entebbe (1976) (TV); Tough Guys (1986); Seven
Days in May (1964); The List of Adrian Messenger (1963); I Walk Alone (1948); Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
(1957); and The Devil's Disciple (1959)]
Charles Drake (1917-1994) [Winchester '73 (1950); To Hell and Back (1955)] was born Charles Ruppert. He
graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939 he turned to acting and signed a contract with
Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful. World War II interrupted his career; soon after his
military service was complete, Drake returned to Hollywood in 1945 but his contract with Warner Brothers ended.
In the 1940s, he did some freelance work, like A Night in Casablanca. In 1949 he moved to Universal Studios. In
1955, Drake turned to television as one of the stock-company players on Robert Montgomery Presents and three
years later he became the host of the British TV espionage weekly Rendezvous. He played in 83 films between 1939
and 1975. Over fifty of them were dramas, but he also acted in comedies, science fiction, horror and film noir.
Howard Duff (1913-1990) [The Naked City (1948); While the City Sleeps (1956)]. His full name was Howard
Green Duff and he was born in Bremerton, Washington. Growing up in and around the Seattle area, he attended
Roosevelt High School where he played basketball. It was here that he also found an outlet acting in school plays
and, following graduation, studied drama. He eventually became an acting member of the Repertory Playhouse in
Seattle. Military service interrupted his early career and he served with the U.S. Army Air Force's radio
service from 1941 to 1945. Upon his discharge, he returned to his acting pursuits and won the role of Sam Spade on
NBC Radio in the role Humphrey Bogart made famous in The Maltese Falcon (1941). -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Andrew Duggan (1923-1988) [Patterns (1954); A Return to Salem's Lot 1987] was born in Franklin, Indiana on
December 28, 1923, he was raised in Texas and went to college at Indiana University. There, on a speech and drama
scholarship, he began to act and perform however this was interrupted by being called into the service. In World
War II where he saw action overseas, he was befriended by actor Melvyn Douglas who led his division. With
such encouragement, as well as meeting and becoming familiar with some Broadway folks, Duggan went into
acting. From 1953 through practically the time of his death in 1988, he was a fixture in both movies and television.
It is impossible to list all the different shows this prolific actor was part of either as support, guest or star. But to give
an idea, he was General Ed Britt on Twelve O'Clock High, he was Cal Calhoun in Bourbon Beat and his most
famous role as Murdoch Lancer in Lancer and the original John Walton opposite Patricia Neal in The Homecoming,
A Christmas Story. Many people will remember him as "Howitzer" Al Hoolihan, the father of Hotlips in MASH. It
was in 1954 that he married the Broadway actress Elizabeth Logue whom he always called "Betty". Both Andrew
Duggan and his wife were cremated, their ashes scattered at Lake Arrowhead, California.
Charles Durning (1923-2012) [Dog Day Afternoon (1975); The Choirboys (1977)]. A genuine World War II
hero, Durning served in the U.S. Army in WW II. Drafted early in the war at age 21, he was first assigned as
a rifleman with the 398th Infantry Regiment, and later served overseas with the 3rd Army Support troops
and the 386th Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion. He participated in the Normandy Invasion of France
on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and was among the first troops to land at Omaha Beach. For his valor and the
wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Heart medals.
Dick Van Dyke (1925- ) was born in West Plains, Missouri but grew up in Danville, Illinois with brother Jerry Van
Dyke and fellow celebrities Gene Hackman and Bobby Short. Was a graduate of Danville High School, where he
was in the drama club. He was launched to stardom in the 1960 musical Bye-Bye Birdie, for which he won a Tony
Award, and then later in the movie based on that play, Bye Bye Birdie (1963). He has starred in a number of films
throughout the years including Mary Poppins (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Fitzwilly (1967), as well
as a number of successful television series which won him no less than four Emmys and three made-for-CBS
movies. He enlisted to be a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, but initially did not make the
cut because he failed to meet the weight requirement, as he was underweight. He tried 3 times to enlist, before
barely making the cut. He actually served as a radio announcer during the war, and he did not leave the U.S.
-- Text excerpted from IMDB
Richard Eastham (1916-2005) [Man on Fire (1957); Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)] was originally
headed for a musical career. He was born Dickinson Swift Eastham in Opelousas, Louisiana. A student at
Washington University, he was gifted with a fine sturdy baritone and performed with the St. Louis Grand Opera in
the days before World War II. After finishing his wartime four-year army service, Eastham moved to New
York and studied at the American Theatre Wing. His musical peak came after understudying singer Ezio Pinza as
plantation owner Emile DeBecque in South Pacific, sharing the stage in the role with the likes of Mary Martin and
(later) Janet Blair while using the name Dickenson Eastham. He also co-starred in an Ethel Merman production of
Call Me Madam in the early 1950s and made his minor non-singing film bow with Merman in the Fox film musical
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). His TV debut came with a musical appearance on Toast of the
Town (1948) (aka The Ed Sullivan Show) in 1949.
Charles Eaton (1910-2004) [Forever (1921); Under Your Hat (1940)] was born in Washington D.C., the youngest
scion of a one-time respected family of stage and film actors. He was certainly the most prominent male performer
of a clan that was once referred to as "The Seven Little Eatons." In 1940, he went into business with his sister Doris,
who operated a thriving Arthur Murray Dance Studios franchise in Detroit. The franchise eventually grew to 18
studios. He served as a captain in the Army Air Corps and it may be that the service was during World War II.
Sam Edwards (1915-2004) [East Side Kids (1940); The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)] was born in Macon,
Georgia, and grew up in a show business family, having made his debut on stage while he was just a baby (his
mother, the actress Edna Park, was holding him). With his family, he acted on radio in The Adventures of Sunny and
Buddy, and on his family's show, The Edwards Family. He worked in radio drama throughout the 1930s and 1940s
and entertained troops in Africa, Italy, and Asia during his three-year tour of service during World War II.
Richard Egan (1921-1987) was an American actor. Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United
States Army during World War II. A graduate of the University of San Francisco and Stanford University, he
studied and taught at Northwestern University for a time. Having studied theatre, he took a bit role in the 1949
Hollywood film The Story of Molly X. This start would lead to his signing of a contract with 20th Century Fox
where his rugged physique and good looks made him an early 1950s leading man in mainly B-movies. In 1956, he
starred as Elvis Presley's older brother in Presley's first film, Love Me Tender and in 1959 was the male lead
opposite Dorothy McGuire in A Summer Place. In 1960, Egan appeared in such films as Pollyanna and with Joan
Collins in Esther and the King.
Robert Ellenstein (1923- ) [The Garment Jungle (1957); Love at First Bite (1979)] is an American TV and film
actor. The son of a Newark dentist, Robert grew up in that New Jersey city and saw his father go on to become its
two-term mayor. He got his feet wet as an actor prior to serving the Air Corps during World War II. He was
awarded a Purple Heart. After service, he began acting, directing and teaching in Cleveland, Ohio. A veteran of
the Golden Age of live TV (he played Quasimodo in a live Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) version of The
Hunchback of Notre Dame), Ellenstein made his first movie in 1954 (MGM's Rogue Cop) and is still going strong
with jobs in TV and regional theater. He played the Federation President in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
Leif Erickson (1911-1986) [Ride a Crooked Mile (1938); Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)] was born William Y.
Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California and died of cancer at age 74 in Pensacola, Florida. He was a brawny,
blond second lead and had the looks of a Viking god. He worked as a band vocalist and trombone player, then
gained a small amount of stage experience before debuting onscreen in a bit part (as a corpse) in Wanderer of the
Wasteland (1935). Billed by Paramount as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns.
Because of his Nordic looks he was renamed Leif Erikson, which he later changed to Erickson. He played intelligent
but unexciting second leads and supporting parts in many films. Erickson took four years off to serve in World
War II and was twice wounded. He made few films after 1965 and retired from the screen after 1977. Also
working on Broadway and in TV plays, he played the patriarch Big John Cannon in the TV series High Chaparral
(1967-1971). From 1934 to 1942, he was married to actress Frances Farmer, with whom he co-starred in Ride a
Crooked Mile (1938); later, he was briefly married to actress Margaret Hayes (aka Dana Dale). ~ Rovi (Edited to
insert other info.)
Gene Evans (1922-1998) began his acting career while serving in World War II and performing with a
theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. [He served as a combat engineer and was awarded the Purple Heart and
the Bronze Star for bravery in action.]. Evans, raised in Colton, California, made his film debut in 1947 and
ended up appearing in dozens of movies and television programs. He specialized in playing tough guys like
cowboys, sheriffs, convicts and Army sergeants. The near-sighted actor rarely wore his thick glasses in films, he did
wear them while playing a doctor in the B-movie Donovan's Brain (1953).
Michael Evans (1920-2007) [The Six Men (1951); Olivia (1983)] was born John Michael Evans in Sittingbourne,
England, to A.J. Evans, who wrote the 1926 novel The Escaping Club about his escape from a WWI prisoner of war
camp, and the former Marie Galbraith, a concert violinist. Michael decided to become an actor at the age of 12 after
seeing the great John Gielgud in one of his signature roles, Shakespeare's King Richard the Second (1978) (TV).
Evans served as a navigator in the Royal Air Force during World War II. After studying acting at the Old Vic
School in London, he made his theatrical debut on in the West End in 1948. By 1962 he was in Hollywood working
in both tv and film and eventually died in Woodland Hills, California.
Jason Evers (1922-2005) [House of Women (1962); Dawn of Victory (1966)] was born Herb Evers in New York,
New York. Although most of us know him as playing Dr. Bill Corter in the cult film The Brain That Wouldn't Die
(1962), Evers has done much more than meets the eye. Originally quitting school to join the Army during World
War II, Evers later decided to act after seeing many Hollywood stars like John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart. His
first big break was in 1960 in a TV series called Wrangler followed by several roles in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960),
House of Women (1962) and another TV series called Channing (1963).
Tom Ewell (1909-1994) was born Samuel Yewell Tompkins in Kentucky. His family tried to steer him towards a
law career but he chose the path of acting instead after becoming involved in college productions at the University
of Wisconsin. Ewell made an inauspicious film debut with an unbilled bit in the comedy They Knew What They
Wanted (1940) and continued that same year just as bleakly in the westerns Back in the Saddle (1941), Desert
Bandit (1941) and The Kid from Kansas (1941). Better suited for Broadway, he found more challenging roles back
East in Suzanna and the Elders (1940), Liberty Jones (1941) and Sunny River before his career was suddenly
interrupted by World War II service. A return to The Great White Way happened almost immediately upon his
discharge and Tom scored with the comedy hits Apple of His Eye (1946) and John Loves Mary, the latter earning
him the Clarence Derwent Award.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909-2000) [Gunga Din (1939); The Fighting O'Flynn (1949)]. During World War II
Fairbanks became a lieutenant in the British Navy (where he made his way up to captain in 1954). He was posted
to Lord Louis Mountbatton's staff where he devised gadgets to confuse the Germans. He later led a commando
assault on the Casquet lighthouse on the coast of France. Two months later he conducted a desert raid on Sened
Station in North Africa. He took part in the Allies' landing in Sicily and Elba in 1943. He also commanded a
detachment of PT boats that sailed toward the coast of France to deceive the Germans about an invasion. He was
awarded the Silver Star and the British Distinguished Service Cross.
Peter Falk (1927- ) [Murder, Inc. (1960); Columbo (tv 1971~)]. Falk lost his right eye as a child due to a tumor. In
1945 he tried to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps by memorizing the eye chart so that he could pass the physical. The
examiner became suspicious since his right eye didn't move. The Marines would not let him join so he became a
cook in the Merchant Marine.
Norman Fell (1924-1998) [Inherit the Wind (1960); The Naked Truth (1992)] was an American TV & film actor
most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the popular sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.
Fell was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied drama at Temple University after
serving in the Pacific as a tail gunner in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Though he
mostly acted on television he also had small roles in several motion pictures including Ocean's Eleven (1960), It's a
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Graduate (1967), in which he also played a landlord, and Catch-22 (1970).
He appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in Reagan's last film, The Killers (1964). Norman Fell died of cancer at the
age of 74 in Los Angeles, California, and was interred there at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.
Cliff Ferre (1920-1996) [About Face (1952); The Helen Morgan Story (1957)] was born in Waitsfield, Vermont as
Clifford R. Ferre and became an actor, composer, dancer, singer and author, educated at Deerfield Academy. He was
a singer and dancer in Billy Rose's Aquacade and in many other Broadway musicals. He served in the U.S. Army
during World War II, and appeared in the service show This Is the Army. After his Army service he joined The
Dunhills, and appeared in nightclubs and on television throughout 1949. He also was a staff announcer for a Miami
television station between 1957 and 1962, and was program director for WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio.
John Fiedler (1925-2005) served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. A versatile actor on stage, in film and
television, Fiedler is perhaps most recognized for his recurring roles on television's "The Bob Newhart Show" and
"The Odd Couple." He also performed in the Broadway, film and TV productions of A Raisin in the Sun. He made
his Broadway debut in The Seagull with Montgomery Clift, and since appeared there in Our Town, The Crucible and
Little Hotel on the Side. His first feature film was opposite Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men (1957). Other film
roles among his 37 features include That Touch of Mink (1962), The World of Henry Orient (1964), True Grit (1969)
and Sharkey's Machine (1981). His television credits include the series Star Trek, Cheers, The Golden Girls, L.A.
Law, Buffalo Bill and the soap opera One Life to Live.
Joe Flynn (1924-1974) [The Babe Ruth Story (1948); The Strongest Man in the World (1975)] was born in
Youngstown, Ohio and after attending Northwestern University, Flynn began his entertainment career as a
ventriloquist and as a radio performer. During World War II, he served in the Army's Special Services Branch
(formerly the Morale Branch) entertaining the troops in the United States. After the war, Flynn moved to
Hollywood. He made his film debut as Joseph Flynn in the bottom-of-the-barrel, beneath-B-picture potboiler The
Big Chase (1954), which co-starred Lon Chaney Jr., which he followed up with a part as a priest in The Seven Little
Foys (1955) starring Bob Hope.
Henry Fonda (1905-1982) [12 Angry Men (1957); On Golden Pond (1981)]. Fonda enlisted in the U.S. Navy in
August 1942. He was stationed on the destroyer USS Satterlee as a quartermaster third class. He was later
commissioned a Lt.(j.g.) in Air Combat Intelligence in the Central Pacific.
Glenn Ford (1916-2006) [Blackboard Jungle (1955); The Fastest Gun Alive (1956); Cade's County (tv 1971-72)].
Ford's career was interrupted when he volunteered for duty in WW II with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. On
Dec 13, 1942 he became a photographic specialist with the rank of Sergeant. In March 1943 he went to active
duty at the Marine Corps Base in San Diego and later served at Quantico, Virginia and in Europe. During his
service he helped build safe houses in France for those hiding from the Nazis. He was honorably discharged
from the Marines on Dec 7, 1944. In 1958, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and was commissioned as a
lieutenant commander. He was promoted to commander in 1963 and captain in 1968. Ford went to Vietnam
in 1967 for a short tour as a location scout for combat scenes in a training film entitled Global Marine. He
traveled with a combat camera crew from the demilitarized zone south to the Mekong Delta. For his service
in Vietnam, the Navy awarded him a Navy Commendation Medal. His WW II decorations are: American
Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Rifle Marksman Badge,
and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Medal. He retired from the Naval Reserve in the 1970s with the rank of
captain. In 1992 France awarded him the French Legion of Honor Medal for his WW II service.
John Ford (1894-1973) (Movie Director) [My Darling Clementine (1946), many John Wayne movies]. Ford
enlisted in U.S. Navy and became head of photograpic unit with the rank of commander. He was on the USS
Hornet and filmed the departure of Doolittle's Raiders for their Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Ford was
wounded during the Battle of Midway and received a Purple Heart. He moved to the ETO as head of the
photographic unit for the Office of Strategic Services. In preparation for D-Day he crossed the English
Channel on the USS Plunkett (DD-431) and anchored off Omaha Beach at 0600. He observed the first wave
land on the beach from the ship, landing on the beach himself later with a team of US Coast Guard
cameramen who filmed the battle from behind the beach obstacles with Ford directing operations. After the
war, Ford became a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy Reserve. -- Ford's war-time footage was used for many of
the action scenes in Midway; Tora, Tora, Tora; In Harm's Way; The Longest Day; as well as other films about
WWII.
Phil Ford (1919-2005) [The World Premiere of Finian's Rainbow (1968); Fake-Out (1982)]. Comedian Phil Ford
was the epitome of the never-say-die entertainer who, over the course of a seven-decade-long career, played every
place there was to play--from the most obscure dives to the top Vegas showrooms. The wily, energetic vaudeville
performer was born in San Francisco and started out young (age 12) playing "big band" clarinet. A college student at
the University of California at Berkeley, Phil joined the Army during World War II and, at one point, served as
the military band leader while also seeing action. Following his discharge he returned to show business and hit
the boards as a song-and-dance man and musician.
Steve Forrest (1924- ) [Take the High Ground! (1953); The Wild Country (1970); tv -- S.W.A.T.] is the younger
brother of actor Dana Andrews. Forrest was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II while his
brother (17 years Steve's senior) was starring in such films as The Purple Heart (1944) and Laura (1944). Upon his
return to America, Steve went to Hollywood to pay a social call on Dana, decided he liked the movie colony, and
opted to stick around for a while. Though he'd previously played bits in such films as Crash Dive (using his given
name of William Andrews), Forrest never seriously considered acting as a profession until enrolling at UCLA. He
tried regional theatre work and scriptwriting then received a brief but showy bit part in MGM's The Bad and the
Beautiful (1952). This led to further film work in second leads then several years' worth of villainous roles. When
asked why he accepted so many bad-guy assignments, Forrest would cite the comment once made to him by Clark
Gable: "The hero gets the girl but the heavy gets the attention". [Text excerpted from Answers.com]
John Forsythe (1918-2010) [The Captive City (1952); ...And Justice for All (1979)] was born John Lincoln Freund
in Penn's Grove, New Jersey. He is probably best known for his role of Blake Carrington on the ABC prime-time
soap opera, Dynasty (1981-1989). He attended the University of North Carolina, after graduation he moved to New
York City and studied with the Actor's Studio. He began his career as an announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers,
quickly moving on to radio soap operas. He eventually drifted towards Broadway. Prior to the war he had a
contract with Warner Brothers studio but he left his movie career for service in the US Army Air Corp
during World War II. He made his first film during this time, Destination Tokyo (1943) with Cary Grant. In 1957
he moved to Hollywood to star in the television program, Bachelor Father (1957-1962).
Preston Foster (1900-1970) [Heads Up (1930); You've Got to Be Smart (1967)] was born in Pitman, New Jersey,
and died in La Jolla, California. He was an actor, composer, songwriter, guitarist and author. He moved from
Broadway acting (1928-1932) into films, touring America with his wife and daughter, and did some recordings. He
was the executive producer at the El Camino Playhouse in California. Joining ASCAP in 1953, his chief musical
collaborator was Perry Botkin. His popular-song compositions include "Good Ship Lalapaloo" and "Two Shillelagh
O'Sullivan." He held the honorary rank of Commodore in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Douglas Fowley (1911-1998) ['Kipp' Kippton in Battleground (1949); the judge in Walking Tall (1973)] was born in
the Bronx, New York. As a young man, he moved to Los Angeles and studied at Los Angeles City College. He
served in the Navy during World War II. Fowley played everything from cowboys to gangsters, appearing
alongside stars like Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. He debuted in The
Mad Game (1933), with Spencer Tracy and Claire Trevor. In his best-known performance, the 1952 musical Singin'
in the Rain, he played a film director trying to ease a silent-film star into her first talking picture. His best-known
television role was as Doc Holliday in the popular ABC western series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" during
the 1950s and early '60s. His last film was The North Avenue Irregulars (1979). He played Grandpa Hanks in the
CBS comedy "Pistols 'n' Petticoats" in 1966-67. Other television credits included "The Streets of San Francisco"
(1972), "Perry Mason" (1957) and "The Rockford Files" (1974). He died at the Motion Picture and Television
Country House and Hospital, aged 86. [Excerpted from IMDB]
Arthur Franz (1920-2006) [Submarine Command (1951); The Young Lions (1958); That Championship Season
(1983)] was born in Perth Amboy, NJ and died of heart failure in Oxnard, CA. During World War II, Franz
served as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He was shot down over Romania and incarcerated in a
POW camp, from which he escaped. Franz's interest in acting had developed in high school so after the war he
pursued his dream and became a reliable character actor in many '50s B pictures, often cast as a friendly small-town
businessman or professional (as in The Doctor and the Girl (1949)) or the lead's sympathetic friend (as in Invaders
from Mars (1953)). However, in The Sniper (1952), he turned in an outstanding performance as a mentally unstable
ex-soldier who, after being rejected by a woman he was interested in, snaps and terrorizes the city of San Francisco
by stalking and picking off women. He lived in New Zealand for many years but wished to return to California
during the last stages of his illness: emphysema.
Paul Frees (1920-1986) [Red Light (1949); Twice Upon a Time (1983) (voice) .... Narrator/ Chief of State/ Judges/
Bailiff] was born in Chicago, Illinois, as Solomon Hersh Frees and became an actor, composer, songwriter,
voiceover artist and author. His early radio career was cut short when he was drafted into World War II. He was
at Normandy on D-Day. He was wounded in action and was returned to the United States for a year of
recuperation. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute under the G.I. Bill. His first wife's failing health forced him
to drop out and return to radio work. Portrayed the title role on CBS Radio's The Green Lama (1949). His character's
real name was Jethro Dumont, a crimefighter with special powers. He provided voices for well over 300 movies and
TV shows.
Clark Gable (1901-1960) [Gone with the Wind (1939); Command Decision (1948)]. Was already a mega-movie
star when WWII broke out. Although he was beyond draft age when the U.S. entered the war, Gable enlisted as a
private in the AAF on Aug. 12, 1942 at Los Angeles. He attended Officer's Candidate School in Miami Beach,
Fla. and graduated as a second lieutenant on Oct. 28, 1942. He then attended aerial gunnery school and in Feb. 1943
was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook, England, where he flew operational missions over Europe in
B-17s making film records of the missions. Capt. Gable was rotated back to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 because he was
over-age for combat. At his request he was relieved from active duty as a Major on Jun. 12, 1944.
James Garner (1928- ) born James Baumgarner, dropped out of high school at 16 to join the Merchant Marine in
the closing year of World War II. Later, in the Army, he received the Purple Heart when he was wounded
during the Korean War. He had his first chance to act when a friend got him a non-speaking role in the Broadway
stage play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954)." Part of his work was to read lines to the lead actors and he
began to learn the craft of acting. The play led to small TV roles, TV commercials and eventually a contract with
Warner Brothers. Director David Butler saw something in Garner and gave him all the attention he needed when he
appeared in The Girl He Left Behind (1956). After co-starring in a handful of films during 1956-57, Warner Brothers
gave Garner a co-starring role in the the TV western series "Maverick" (1957). The series was highly successful, and
Garner continued in it into 1960 when he left in a dispute over money. Garner returned to films, often playing the
same type of character he had played on "Maverick". His successful films included The Thrill of It All (1963); Move
Over, Darling (1963); The Great Escape (1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). Amiable and handsome
James Garner has obtained success in both films and television, often playing variations of the charming anti-hero
con-man persona he first developed in Maverick. [Excerpted from IMDB].
Michael V. Gazzo (1923-1995) [On the Waterfront (1954); Nothing to Lose (1994)] was born in Hillside, New
Jersey. He attended Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at the New School on the GI Bill after being
demobilized from the US Atmy Air Force after World War II. Gazzo's first major success was as a playwright.
His play about drug addiction, A Hatful of Rain, was a success on Broadway, running for 389 performances in 1955
and 1956 and winning Ben Gazzara and Anthony Franciosa Tony award nominations as Best Actor and Best
Featured Actor, respectively.
Leo Genn (1905-1978) [Immortal Gentleman (1935); Cover Up (1974)] was born in London, England, the son of a
jewelry merchant Woolfe (William) Genn and his wife Rachel Asserson. He attended the City of London School as
a youth and went on to study law at Cambridge. He began to practice law in 1928 but soon began acting on the side.
He joined the Royal Artillery and received a rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1943 and served for the duration
of World War II. In 1944 he was given leave for two movies - the second a most unusual and significant cinematic
event. For Genn, it was a small part, but it was part of a glorious celebration of England and English history during
the crisis of World War II - the Henry V of Laurence Olivier. Genn was the Constable of France, and though the
lines were few, Shakespeare infused them with a sardonic wink that Genn delivered perfectly in an understated style
that became one of his hallmarks. This part brought him to notice as a film actor, but he did not entertain its fruits
until later 1946, for with the end of the war Genn, who had been awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1945, went
back to law counseling. He volunteered his legal knowledge to the British army unit involved in the investigation
and prosecution of Nazi war crimes perpetrated at the Belsen concentration camp near Luneburg, Germany. And in
the subsequent tribunals, Genn served as assistant prosecutor.
Lewis Gilbert (1920- ) is a British film director born in London, England. Gilbert got his start starring in silent
movies as a child until 1938's The Divorce of Lady X. Afterwards he started shooting documentaries of the
Royal Air Force during World War II. In 1966 Gilbert directed Alfie starring Michael Caine. The film was
nominated for five Academy Awards including best picture. Gilbert was nominated for a Golden Globe for best
director. However, Gilbert is most famous for directing three James Bond films: You Only Live Twice (1967); The
Spy Who Loved Me (1977); Moonraker (1979).
George Gobel (1919-1991) [The Birds and the Bees (1956); tv, Harper Valley P.T.A. (1981-1982)]. Squat,
easygoing, brushcut-blond George Gobel first won Midwest attention singing as "Little Georgie Gobel" on radio. He
also toured with country music bands while billed as "The Littlest Cowboy." His career was interrupted by
WWII, in which he served as a pilot instructor. He also began doing standup for his fellow servicemen and took
to the nightclub, hotel and county fair circuit in subsequent years.
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (1925-2006) [Wings of the Hawk (1953); Rio Bravo (1959)] was born in Aguilares,
Texas, and had only the most elemental schooling as a youngster. He remained functionally illiterate for much of his
life. One of his early talents was making musical instruments out of tangible items such as hubcaps, water-filled
bottles and frying pans. During World War II he was a driver in the Army. First came to notice as a contestant
on Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life (1950). His highly amusing personality won him bit parts in films,
and he continued to work as a minor supporting player for years. He is the brother of Jose Gonzales Gonzales.
Don Gordon (1926- ) was good friends with Steve McQueen. They appeared together in three films: Bullitt (1968),
Papillon (1973), and The Towering Inferno (1974). He also made guest appearances with McQueen on the show
"Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958). Joined the U.S. Navy during World War II following the bombing of Pearl
Harbor in 1941; he served on board both the USS Saratoga and the USS Yorktown.
Harold Gould (1923- ) [The Yellow Canary (1963); English as a Second Language (2005)] was born Harold
Goldstein in Schenectady, NY. He worked as a professional actor while still in high school, playing several roles in
each episode of a local radio station's The FBI In Action. But his high school guidance counselor advised him that
very few actors earn a decent living, and suggested he teach instead. He went to college with a career in education in
mind, but left to join the Army during World War II. Assigned to a mortar platoon, he saw combat in eastern
France. After the war, he earned his PhD in Theatre, and taught drama for many years, spending his summers as a
part-time actor. He made his professional stage debut playing Thomas Jefferson in a Virginia production of The
Common Glory in 1955, and he won an Obie in 1969 for his first New York stage appearance, The Increased
Difficulty of Concentration. Gould is best known as Rhoda's father on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and
Rhoda (1974-1978), and as Betty White's boyfriend on The Golden Girls (1985-1992).
Betty Grable (1916-1973) [By Your Leave (1934); Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943)] was born Elizabeth Ruth Grable in
St. Louis, Missouri. She became a big star in the 1930s and the public was enchanted with Betty. Her famous pinup pose to console homesick GIs was easily the most popular pinup girl of World War II. A rearview
swimsuit shot, in which she smiled invitingly over her shoulder adorned barracks all around the world. With
that pin-up, the public buzz over the $1 million insurance policy on her legs, and as the star of lavish musicals, Betty
became the highest-paid star in Hollywood. After the war, her star continued to rise.
Farley Granger (1925-2011) was born in San Jose, CA and right out of high school was brought to the attention of
movie producer Samuel Goldwyn who cast him in a small role in The North Star (1943). He followed it up with a
much bigger part in The Purple Heart (1944) and then joined the army and served for the duration of World
War II. After his release, he had to wait until Nicholas Ray cast him in the low-budget RKO classic They Live by
Night (1948) with Cathy O'Donnell and then he was recalled by Goldwyn who signed him to a five-year contract.
He then made Rope (1948) for Alfred Hitchcock and followed up for Goldwyn with Enchantment (1948) with David
Niven, Evelyn Keyes and Teresa Wright. Other roles followed in films including Roseanna McCoy (1949) with Joan
Evans, Our Very Own (1950) with Ann Blyth and Side Street (1950), again with Cathy O'Donnell. He returned to
Hitchcock for the best role of his career, as the socialite tennis champ embroiled by the psychotic Robert Walker in
Strangers on a Train (1951).
Stewart Granger (1913-1993) [So This Is London (1939); Hell Hunters (1986)] was born James Leblanche Stewart
in London, the grandson of the actor "Luigi Lablache". He attended Epsom College but left after deciding not to
pursue a medical degree. He decided to try acting and attended Webber-Douglas School of Dramatic Art, London.
By 1935, he made his stage debut in The Cardinal at Hull. He was with the Birmingham Repertory Company
between 1936 and 1937 and, in 1938, he made his debut in the West End, London in The Sun Never Sets. He had
been gradually rising through the ranks of better stage roles when World War II began, and he joined the British
Army in 1940. However, he was eventually disabled (1942) which brought his release from military service.
Ironically, Stewart did his own stunt work.
Peter Graves (1926- ) [Fort Defiance (1951); Stalag 17 (1953); Number One with a Bullet (1987)] excelled at
sports and music (as a saxophonist) while growing up in Minnesota and by age 16 he was a radio announcer at
WMIN in Minneapolis. After two years in the U.S. Air Force in World War II, he studied drama at the
University of Minnesota and then headed to Hollywood, where he first appeared on television and later made his
film debut in Rogue River (1951). Numerous film appearances followed, especially in Westerns. Graves is primarily
recognized for his television work, however, particularly as Jim Phelps in "Mission: Impossible" (1966). Graves is
younger brother of James Arness, star of the long-running "Gunsmoke" (1955-1975) TV series. [Text excerpted
from IMDB]
James Gregory (1911-2002) [The detective out to get Capone in Al Capone (1959); Played JFK's Commanding
Officer in PT-109 (1963); Inspector Frank Luger for the TV series Barney Miller (1975-1982)]. New York-born
Gregory performed in drama groups and achieved pro status as a summer stock player in 1935. He made his film
debut in 1948. Gregory specialized in playing loud, brash, tough cops or businessmen. He played Dean Martin's
boss in three of the four "Matt Helm" spy films. His acting career was interrupted by WW II and he served 3 years
in the Navy and Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days in Okinawa.
Merv Griffin (1925-2007) [Cattle Town (1952); One Trick Pony (1980)], born Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr., was an
American television host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to
appear in movies and on Broadway. During the 1960s, Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show,
and created the game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. A billionaire at his death, he is considered an
entertainment business magnate. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Griffin started singing in his church choir as a boy,
and by his teens was earning extra money as a church organist. This is one of the reasons he got into show business
early; he was considered a piano prodigy. He attended San Mateo High School, class of 1942, and continued to aid
in financing the school. During World War II, Merv was declared 4F after failing several military physical
exams due to increased weight and having a slight heart murmur. Drafted for service during the Korean War, he
was slimmed down and passed the physical, but was deemed too old as the draft limit was 26 and he had just turned
27.
James Griffith (1916-1993) [Red Skies of Montana (1952); Heaven with a Gun (1969)] American character actor,
musician and screenwriter. Born in Los Angeles, Griffith aspired to be a musician rather than an actor. Instead, he
managed to find work in little theatres around Los Angeles, where the budding musician eased into a duel career of
acting. He found success in the production They Can't Get You Down in 1939, but put his career on-hold during
World War II to serve with the U.S. military. Following the war, Griffith switched from the stage to films when
he appeared in the 1948 film noir picture Black Ice. From then on he enjoyed a lengthy -- albeit sometimes
uncredited -- career of supporting and bit roles in westerns and detective films.
Alec Guinness (1914-2000) [The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)]. Operated a British Royal Navy landing craft
on D-Day. While working in advertising, he studied at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art, debuting on stage
in 1934 and played classic theater with the Old Vic from 1936. In 1941, he entered the Royal navy as a seaman
and was commissioned the next year.
Fred Gwynne (1926-1993) [On the Waterfront (1954); My Cousin Vinny (1992)] was an enormously talented
character actor most famous for starring in the television situation comedies Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) (as
"Officer Francis Muldoon") and The Munsters (1964) (as the Frankenstein clone, Herman Munster). He was very
tall and had a resonant, baritone voice that he put to good use in Broadway musicals. Born Frederick Hubbard
Gwynne in New York City to a wealthy stockbroker father, he attended the exclusive prep school, Groton, where he
first appeared on stage in a student production of William Shakespeare's Henry V. After serving in the United
States Navy as a radioman during World War II, he went on to Harvard, where he majored in English and was
on the staff of the Harvard Crimson student newspaper.
Hugo Haas (1901-1968) [Days of Glory (1944); Paradise Alley (1962)] was born in Brünn, Moravia, AustriaHungary (now Brno, Czech Republic). A portly, somewhat grubby and bohemian-looking character star, Hugo Haas
was one of the most celebrated Czech actors back in the 30s, a comic star who only grew in stature as he delved
creatively into writing, directing and producing. The Nazi invasion forced him to leave his beloved country and
come to the United States. Like a fish out of water, he had to start small. Beginning as an announcer on US
broadcasts to the Eastern Europe underground, he also offered his talents as a narrator of propaganda films.
Buddy Hackett (1924-2003) [The Music Man (1962); It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)] was an American
comic born Leonard Hacker in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Public School 103 and New Utrecht High School.
While still in high school, he began appearing in nightclubs, beginning with the "Borscht Belt," the Catskills resorts.
He served three years with an antiaircraft unit during World War II. His first job after the war was at the Pink
Elephant, a Brooklyn club. He made appearances in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and the Catskills. He appeared on
Broadway in Lunatics and Lovers, where Max Liebman saw him and put him in two television specials. A television
series, Stanley, was developed for him, which helped start Carol Burnett's career.
Albert Hague (1920-2001) [Fame (1980); The Story of Us (1999)] was born into a Jewish family in Berlin but was
raised as a Lutheran to protect him from Nazi persecution. He fled Germany to Italy in 1937 as he was about to be
inducted into the Hitler youth movement. After attending a music conservatory in Rome, he obtained a scholarship
to the University of Cincinnati and immigrated to the United States in 1939 penniless to avoid being conscripted by
German military authorities. Arriving at age of 18 and unable to speak a word of English, he took the last name of
his adopted father, Elliott B. Hague, an eye surgeon with close ties to the university. He graduated in 1942 and
served in the U.S. military for more than two years during World War II before embarking on a career as a
composer. He celebrated his first Broadway success with the opening of the hit 1955 musical Plain and Fancy, an
Amish-themed show that featured Barbara Cook and the popular song Young and Foolish.
Alan Hale Jr. (1921-1990) [Music Man (1948); The Red Fury (1984)] was an American movie and television actor,
famously known for his role as the Skipper on the cult sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964-1972), as well as for his many
supporting roles in movies. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr.. After his father's death, he was credited in roles
as simply Alan Hale. He was born in Los Angeles, California, after his father had already begun a career in silent
movies in Hollywood. He peformed in his first movie as a baby, performing as child actor. In adulthood, he made a
smooth transition to a full career and continued to act until his death. In his adult career he was noted for his
supporting character roles in such movies Up Periscope (1959), The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958), and The West Point
Story (1950). He also appeared in many westerns. He died in Los Angeles from respiratory failure due to cancer.
During World War II Served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Huntz Hall (1919-1999) was a radio, theatrical and motion picture performer perhaps best known for his portrayal
of the Dead End Kids in movies such as Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). Hall appeared in a total of 81 East Side
Kids/Bowery Boys features and serials, more than any other actor. In 1940 he married 18-year-old dancer Elsie May
Anderson (they divorced in 1944). During World War II Hall enlisted in the Army, and after his discharge
returned to Hollywood, where his first jobs were in war films playing soldiers (for his impressive work in A Walk
in the Sun (1945) he received the New York Theatre Critics Circle Blue Ribbon Award).
Murray Hamilton (1923- ) [Anatomy of a Murder (1959); Amity Island's mayor in Jaws (1975)] was born in
Washington, Beaufort County, in eastern North Carolina. Hamilton displayed an early interest in performing during
his days at Washington High School just before the outbreak of World War II. Bad hearing kept him from
enlisting, so he moved to New York City as a 19-year-old to find a career on stage.
Jimmy Hanley (1918-1970) was groomed by the Rank Studio system during his teen years and earned stardom as
the "boy next door" type in exuberant musicals and likeable comedies. He was commissioned into the King's Own
Yorkshire Light Infantry at the start of World War II. He was wounded on a commando raid on Norway and
was invalided out in 1942. He married actress Dinah Sheridan in 1942 and they appeared together in a number of
featherweight war-era films, including Salute John Citizen (1942) and For You Alone (1945). He tried everything
from The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944) with
Laurence Olivier to The Huggetts film series. But radio and TV were his forte and it was those two mediums which
revived his star in the late 50s, becoming a familiar face on a number of TV series, notably Jim's Inn co-starring
second wife Maggie Hanley, which ran from 1957-1963.
Jonathan Harris (1914-2002) [Botany Bay (1953); tv, Lost in Space (1965-1968)]. He was born Jonathan
Charasuchin in the Bronx, NY. Harris worked as a box boy in a pharmacy at age 12 and later earned his pharmacy
degree at Fordham University. The desire to act proved overwhelming, however, and he forsook this promising trade
for the theater, shaking off his thick Bronx accent and changing his surname to one easier to pronounce. After
performing in over 100 plays in stock companies nationwide, he made his Broadway bow in 1942 with Heart of a
City. He entertained World War II troops in the South Pacific.
Jack Hawkins (1910-1973) [Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger (1932); The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957);
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)]. During the 30s, Hawkins took his roles in plays more seriously than the films he made.
In 1940, his wife Jessica Tandy accepted a role in America and Jack volunteered to serve in the Royal Welch
Fusiliers. He spent most of his military career arranging entertainment for the British forces in India. One of
the actresses who came out to India was Doreen Lawrence who became his second wife after the war.
Sterling Hayden (1916-1986) [The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Godfather (1972)] served in the Marines for 5
years. He ran guns and supplies to Yugoslav Partisans through a German blockade of the Adriatic. Also, he
parachuted into Croatia for guerilla activities. Won Silver Star and citation from Tito of Yugoslavia.
Bill Hayes (1925- ) [Stop, You're Killing Me (1952); Little Women (1958, TV)]. Throughout the 70s and a good part
of the 80s, Bill Hayes and his second wife, Emmy-winning Susan Seaforth Hayes, reigned as the Lunt and Fontanne
of daytime soaps. Prior to this he had become a noted singer/ actor on the Broadway stage and in night clubs. Born
William Foster Hayes III in Harvey, Illinois and raised in the Midwest, his father was a bookseller (for 41 years). He
got his talent from his dad who enjoyed singing and local community theater performing on the sly. Bill entered
World War II as a naval airman, then studied at De Pauw University where he met first wife Mary. They went on
to have five children. He later received his master's degree at Northwestern. Blessed with a sturdy tenor, his interest
in a professional career was piqued after happening upon a tour of Carousel in 1947.
Peter Lind Hayes (1915-1998) [Maid for a Day (1936); Lookin' to Get Out (1982)] was born in San Francisco,
California. He became an actor, entertainer, songwriter and author, educated in high school and a vaudeville trouper
with his mother, Grace Hayes. During World War II, he served with valor in the United States Air Force. With
his wife Mary Healy he appeared in films, night clubs, theatres, and on radio and television. He died of a vascular
disorder in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Myron Healey (1923-2005) [Hidden Danger (1948); Ghost Fever (1987)] was an American actor and occasional
screenwriter. One of the most frequently seen heavies in films and television programs of the 1950s, his name is
nevertheless well known only to buffs. Occasionally he played minor leads and sympathetic characters, but his stern
good looks and rich deep voice made him a memorable villain, particularly in Westerns. During World War II
Healey joined the US Army Air Corps and was a navigator and bombardier, flying many bombing missions
over Germany.
Van Heflin (1910-1971) [Santa Fe Trail (1940), Shane (1953)] was born in Waters, Oklahoma. His favorite past
time was sailing. He served as a combat cameraman in the Ninth Air Force in Europe during WWII. The heart
attack that killed him happened while he was swimming. He managed to get to the pool's ladder, where he held on
until found hours later, unconscious but still alive. He died 17 days later, never having regained consciousness. He
once said, "I just didn't have the looks and if I didn't do a good acting job I looked terrible."
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) [Roman Holiday (1953); My Fair Lady (1964)] was born in Brussels, Belgium. She
really was blue-blood from the beginning with her father, a wealthy English banker, and her mother, a Dutch
baroness. After her parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls
school. Later, when her mother moved back to the Netherlands, she attended private schools as well. While
vacationing with her mother in Arnhem, Holland, Hitler's army took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard
times during the Nazi occupation. Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition but found the strength to
serve as a child courier for World War II resistance fighters in Holland.
Charlton Heston (1923-2008) [The Ten Commandments (1956); Ben-Hur (1959)]. Left college in 1944 and
enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He served for two years as a B-25 radio operator / gunner stationed at
Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska with the Eleventh Air Force, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Arthur Hill (1922-2006) [The Ugly American (1963); Death Be Not Proud (1975)] was born and raised in the
Saskatchewan town of Melfort. The son of a lawyer, he served with the Royal Candian Air Force during World
War II before receiving his college education at the University of British Columbia. Intending on following in his
father's footsteps in the field of law, he supported himself in school with a job doing radio theater with the Canadian
Breoadcasting Co. Continuing to pursue his interest in acting for a time in Seattle, he married fellow actress Peggy
Hassard and subsequently made a major move in 1948, at age 26, to England where he slowly built up a fine,
steadfast theatre reputation for himself along with occasional radio, film and TV roles.
George Roy Hill (1922-2002) was an American film director. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hill got his start on
television, directing such episodic series as Kraft Television Theatre. He served in the United States Marine
Corps as a fighter pilot during World War II and the Korean War. His first films were versions of such
Broadway plays as Period of Adjustment in 1962 and Toys in the Attic (1963). Hill is most noted for directing such
films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973). Other films are Slaughterhouse-Five
(1972), The World According to Garp (1982), Hawaii (1966), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), The Great Waldo
Pepper (1975), Slap Shot (1977) and The Little Drummer Girl (1984).
Pat Hingle (1924-2009) [Hang 'Em High (1968); Sudden Impact (1983); appeared in all of the first four Batman
movies]. Versatile stage, big screen and tv character actor. He was born in Miami, Florida but attended high school
in Texas. In 1941 entered the University of Texas, majoring in advertising. After serving in the Navy during WW
II, he went back to the university and got involved with the drama department as a way to meet girls.
John Hodiak (1914-1955) [Stranger in Town (1943); Lifeboat (1944); A Bell for Adano (1945); Somewhere in the
Night (1946)] was born the eldest of four (one daughter was adopted). John was eight years old when his middleclass family moved to a thriving Polish community in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Hodiak was one of several upand-coming male talents who managed to take advantage of the dearth of WWII-era movie stars because most were
off serving their country. Hodiak was not able to enlist for World War II because of chronic high blood
pressure. John's early death at age 41, however, robbed Hollywood of a strong player and promising character star.
Hal Holbrook (1925- ) [The Group (1966); Midway (1976); That Evening Sun (2009)] is an Emmy- and TonyAward winning actor who is one of the great craftsman of stage and screen. He is best known for his performance as
Mark Twain, for which he won a Tony and the first of his ten Emmy Award nominations. Aside from the stage,
Holbrook made his reputation primarily on television, and was memorable as Abraham Lincoln, as Senator Hays
Stowe on "The Bold Ones" and as Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo (1973, TV). All of these roles brought him Emmy
Awards, with Pueblo bringing him two, as Best Lead Actor in a Drama and Actor of the Year - Special. On January
22, 2008, he became the oldest male performer ever nominated for a an Academy Award, for his supporting turn in
Into the Wild (2007). He was born Harold Rowe Holbrook, Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio. His mother was the former Eileen
Davenport, a vaudeville dancer. Raised primarily in South Weymouth, Mass., Holbrook attended the Culver
Academies. During World War II, Holbrook served in the Army in Newfoundland. After the war, he attended
Denison University, graduating in 1948. While at Denison, Holbrook's senior honors project concerned Mark Twain.
He'd later develop "Mark Twain Tonight," the one-man show in which he impersonates the great American writer
Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens.
William Holden (1918-1981) [Stalag 17 (1953); The Towering Inferno (1974)] was born William Franklin Beedle
Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois but his well-to-do family moved to Pasadena, California, when he was three. He joined the
Army Air Forces and served during World War II. His younger brother, Robert Beedle, was actually a Navy
fighter pilot who was killed in action in World War II, and after The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) was released, Robert
was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character of Lt. Harry Brubaker in
that movie. Holden, shown with Grace Kelly, was best man at the wedding of his close friends, Ronald Reagan and
Nancy Davis, in 1952.
Sterling Holloway (1905-1992) [Casey at the Bat (1927); Thunder and Lightning (1977)] was a popular American
character actor of amusing appearance and voice whose long career led from dozens of highly enjoyable onscreen
performances to world-wide familiarity as the voice of numerous Walt Disney animated films including Winnie the
Pooh. Born in the American deep South to grocer Sterling P. Holloway Sr. and Rebecca Boothby Holloway, he had
a younger brother, Boothby. Holloway spent his early years as an actor playing comic juveniles on the stage. His
bushy reddish-blond hair and trademark near-falsetto voice made him a natural for sound pictures, and he acted in
scores of talkies, although he had made his picture debut in silents. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 19 July 1942
and served the duration of World War II. His height and weight were given on his army papers as 5' 9" and 124
lb. His physical image and voice relegated him almost exclusively to comic roles, but in 1945, director Lewis
Milestone cast him more or less against type in the classic war film A Walk in the Sun (1945), where Holloway's
portrayal of a reluctant soldier was quite notable. He played frequently on TV, becoming familiar to baby-boomers
in a recurring role as Uncle Oscar on Adventures of Superman (1952), and later in television series of his own.
Phillips Holmes (1907-1942) [Broken Lullaby (1932); Housemaster (1938)] was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
the eldest of three children. A future in movies for this fair-haired, fresh-faced young adult of the 1930s was by no
means certain at the time of his untimely death in a mid-air plane collision. Hints of the All-American leading man
promise Phillips Holmes managed to convey during the early to mid decade, particularly in the film adaptation of
Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy (1931), had faded significantly. In the meantime he was maintaining
with stage work and had just graduated from Air Ground School of the Royal Canadian Air Force as an
aircraftsman when he suddenly died at age 35 on August 12, 1942.
Jack Holt (1888-1951) [The Master Key (1914); Crash Donovan (1936); They Were Expendable (1945); Cameo:
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); ]. Staunch, granite-jawed American leading man of silent and early talkie
films, much associated with Westerns. A native of New York City, Holt often claimed to have been born in
Winchester, Virginia, where he grew up. While looking for work as a surveyor in San Francisco in 1914, he
volunteered to ride a horse over a cliff in a stunt for a film crew shooting in San Rafael. In gratitude, the director
gave him a part in the film. Holt followed the movie people to Hollywood and began getting bits and stunt jobs in
the many Westerns and serials being made there. He impressed a number of co-workers at Universal Pictures,
among them Francis Ford and his brother John Ford, and Grace Cunard. Holt soon became a frequent supporting
player in their films, and then a star in serials. A move to Paramount studios in 1917 cemented his leading man
status, and he became one of the studio's great stars, particularly in a very successful series of Westerns based on the
novels of Zane Grey. Talkies proved no problem for Holt, and his career thrived, although mostly in run-of-the-mill
adventure films. At the outbreak of World War II, Holt entered the U.S. Army at the age of 54, serving at the
request of General George C. Marshall as a horse buyer for the cavalry.
Tim Holt (1918-1973) [Stagecoach (1939); The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)] was born Charles John Holt Jr. in
Beverly Hills on February 5, 1918, to Jack Holt and his wife Margaret Woods, at a time when Jack was just making
a dent in silent films. Nicknamed "Tim", he was raised on his father's ranch in Fresno where he performed outside
chores and learned to ride a horse. Tim, in fact, made his debut at age 10 in one of his father's westerns The
Vanishing Pioneer (1928), based on a Zane Grey story. He played Jack's character as a young boy. World War II
interrupted his thriving career. He was a decorated hero (Dintinguished Flying Cross, Victory Medal and
Presidential Unit Citation among them) while serving in the Air Corps and discharged with the rank of
Second Lieutenant. Wounded in Tokyo on the last day of the war, he was also given the Purple Heart. [His
full bio reveals a lot more about his WWII experiences.] He returned to films auspiciously with the role of Virgil
Earp in Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946), then continued in a somewhat lesser vein with "B"-level oaters. He
came to the forefront one more time co-starring with gold prospecting rivals Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston in
John Huston's masterpiece The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), arguably the hallmark of Tim's entire film
career and which rightfully earned him the best notices he ever received. After his father died in 1951, Tim became
less interested in making films. His contract with RKO had ended and for the first time in his adult life didn't have to
answer to anyone (his parents, RKO, the military, then RKO again). He also felt the business was changing and left
Hollywood behind and moved to Oklahoma to ranch full time while traveling for rodeos. Like Randolph Scott, Tim
was able to walk away from Hollywood, only working on a handful of projects usually being encouraged by a
friendship or public service. He was diagnosed with bone cancer in August of 1972, and passed away rather quickly
on February 15, 1973, shortly after his 55th birthday. Buried in Oklahoma, he was posthumously inducted into the
Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1991 and was a recipient of the "Golden Boot" award in 1992.
Bob Hope (1903-2003) [Road to Morocco (1942), The Paleface (1948)]. No entertainer is more associated with the
USO than Bob Hope, who first appeared with the USO in 1942 and spent the following decades entertaining U.S.
servicemen and women around the globe. With the fundraising help of Prescott Bush -- father of the 41st president
and grandfather of the 43rd president -- Hope was a vital morale booster for servicemen in WW II. An act of
Congress in 1997 made Hope an "honorary veteran." Upon receiving the award, he said: "I've been given many
awards in my lifetime, but to be numbered among the men and women I admire most is the greatest honor I have
ever received."
William Hopper (1915-1970) [Rebel Without a Cause (1955); The Bad Seed (1956); tv: Paul Drake in the Perry
Mason series, 1957-66] was born William DeWolf Hopper, Jr. in New York, New York, the only child of actor/
matinee idol DeWolf Hopper and actress/gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. Prior to being a Navy frogman doing
underwater demolition in the pacific during WWII his hair was dark blonde, the stress of the danger turned it
permanently white.
Quote: "I didn't dislike movie people, but they were nothing special to me. I'd been around them all my life. My
mother's [Hedda Hopper] the kind who could say "Howdeedo" to the king of England and feel perfectly at home.
But I couldn't."
John Howard (1913-1995) [Annapolis Farewell (1935); Love from a Stranger (1947)], born John Cox, was an
American actor, usually a leading man in smaller-budgeted films and sometimes second lead in larger pictures. His
greatest fame came as the brother of Ronald Colman's character in Frank Capra's Lost Horizon (1937) and as suave
detective Bulldog Drummond in a series of films starting that same year. During World War II Howard served as
Executive Officer of the USS YMS-24, a minesweeper. During the invasion of southern France the ship was
severely damaged by a mine that killed her captain. Howard took command and fought valiantly to save his
ship and crew, even jumping into the sea to rescue a wounded sailor. For his gallantry he was awarded the
Navy Cross (the second highest military award of the U.S. Navy) and the French Croix de Guerre. His return
to Hollywood after the war was welcomed, unfortunately, with diminishing opportunities. The quality of his films
fell and he was one of the first screen actors to commit to working in the new field of television. He continued to
make occasional film appearances after the '60s, but gradually moved into academia. He became headmaster of the
prestigious Highland Hall, a private high school where he taught and administered for nearly 20 years. He also gave
private lessons in celestial navigation. He died in 1995, survived by his actress-ballerina wife Eva Ralf and their four
children.
Leslie Howard (1893-1943) [The Petrified Forest (1936); "Ashley" in Gone With The Wind (1939)]. Howard and
others died June 1, 1943, on a flight from Lisbon to London (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777) when
their aircraft was shot down by a German Junkers Ju 88 over the Bay of Biscay. Howard had been engaged in
secret war work and the Germans believed that Winston Churchill, who had been in Algiers, might also be on
board. The Allies knew from Ultra that the plane was going to be shot down so Howard's life, as well as the others
on board, were sacrificed to preserve the Allies' most important secret.
Frankie Howerd (1917-1992) [That Was the Week That Was (1962); The House in Nightmare Park (1973)] was
born Francis Alick Howerd and became a popular British comedian. At 19 he put together revues for music halls
that included monologues, impressions, jokes and comic songs. This was not easy since he suffered from major
stage fright, a life-long debilitation. Following service in World War II, Frankie refocused on his career with radio
and theatre appearances. In the 1950s he finally earned his own TV variety shows, but his burgeoning reputation
coupled with a lack of self-confidence led the painfully shy man to suffer severe emotional conflicts with this
newlyfound success. Nevertheless, Frankie was awarded the OBE in 1977.
Rock Hudson (1925-1985) [Winchester '73 (1950); A Gathering of Eagles (1963); Ice Station Zebra (1968)] was
the son of an auto mechanic and a telephone operator who divorced when he was eight years old. He failed to obtain
parts in school plays because he couldn't remember lines. After high school he was a postal employee and during
WW II served as a Navy airplane mechanic. After the war he was a truck driver. His size and good looks got him
into movies. His name was changed to Rock Hudson, his teeth were capped, he took lessons in acting, singing,
fencing and riding. One line in his first picture, Fighter Squadron (1948), needed 38 takes. In 1956 he received an
Oscar nomination for Giant (1956) and two years later Look magazine named him Star of the Year. He starred in a
number of bedroom comedies, many with Doris Day, and had his own popular TV series "McMillan & Wife"
(1971-1977). He had a recurring role in TV's "Dynasty" (1984-1985). He was the first major public figure to
announce he had AIDS, and his worldwide search for a cure drew international attention. After his death his longtime lover Marc Christian successfully sued his estate, again calling attention to the homosexuality Rock had hidden
from most throughout his career.
Barnard Hughes (1915- ) [The Young Doctors (1961); The Fantasticks (1995)]. Born in Bedford Hills, N.Y.,
Hughes held jobs as a dock checker in New York harbor, a Macy's salesman and a Wall Street copyreader before
auditioning for the stage on a dare from a friend. His career, which began in 1934 with one line in a repertory
production of The Taming of the Shrew, has since spanned broadway, television and films. Hughes made his
Broadway debut in 1935 in Herself Mrs. Patrick Crowley. Until 1942 he toured the eastern United States performing
in stock theatrical shows until World War II side-tracked him. In 1945 he resumed the stage career which had
been interrupted by the war. While on tour, he met actress Helen Stenborg, whom he married in 1950. In the
1950s, Barnard branched into television work with roles in Playhouse 90, Kraft Theater and Armstrong Circle
Theater. His first feature film role was in the 1969 hit Midnight Cowboy. Subsequent screen credits include The
Hospital, Oh, God! and First Monday in October.
Jeffrey Hunter (1926-1969) [The Searchers (1956) scene above with Vera Miles; King of Kings (1961); The
Longest Day (1962); Super Colt 38 (1969)] was born an only child in Louisiana as Henry Herman McKinnies Jr. His
parents met at the University of Arkansas, and when he was almost four his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In his teens he acted in productions of the North Shore Children's Theater, and from 1942 to 1944 performed in
summer stock with the local Port Players, along with Eileen Heckart, Charlotte Rae and Morton DaCosta, and was a
radio actor at WTMJ, getting his first professional paycheck in 1945 for the wartime series "Those Who Serve."
While in Spain to film the Chicago Mafia story Viva America (1969), Hunter was injured in an on-set explosion,
suffering facial lacerations from broken glass and powder burns. Later an old friend, a former British commando,
accidentally hit him on the chin with a karate chop when Hunter, who knew judo, failed to defend himself in time,
banging the back of his head against a door. Then, while on the plane with his wife returning to the United States,
Hunter's right arm suddenly became semi-paralyzed and he lost the power of speech, two signs of a stroke. In 1969
he suffered another stroke, took a bad fall and underwent emergency surgery, but died from complications of both
the fall and the surgery. He served in the U.S. Navy, under the service number 960 39 80, from May 28, 1945 to
May 25, 1946; Received a Medical Discharge as a Seaman First Class and was awarded the World War II
Victory Medal.
Tab Hunter (1931- ) enlisted in the Coast Guard at age 15 (he lied about his age) and so served just after
World War II. At 18 made his film debut in The Lawless (1950). He had no previous acting experience. Though his
acting was stiff and unimaginative, 1950s teenagers adored his blond, boy-next-door appearance and physique. His
best-known early film was Battle Cry (1955). The role most remembered today is the part of Joe Hardy in Damn
Yankees! (1958). In 1960-1 he had his own TV series The Tab Hunter Show (1960), and he appeared regularly as
George Shumway in TV's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976). He co-starred three times with female
impersonator Divine: Polyester (1981), Out of the Dark (1989), and Lust in the Dust (1985). He wrote the story for
his most recent (his 32nd) movie Dark Horse (1992), directed by David Hemmings.
John Huston (1906-1987) [Wrote screenplay and directed The Maltese Falcon (1941); Wrote screenplay, directed
and had cameo role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)] was born in Neveda, Missouri. His father was
Walter Houston. John was a man of many interests - painting, boxing, sculpture, gambling, fox-hunting, a licenced
pilot and more. During World War II he served as a Signal Corps lieutenant and went on to helm a number of
film documentaries for the U.S. government including the controversial Let There Be Light (1946), which was
narrated by his father, Walter. A short excerpt like this can't do justice to his remarkable career. IMDB has more.
Richard Jaeckel (1926-1997) was born Richard Hanley Jaeckel in Long Beach, New York. A short, but tough guy,
he played a variety of characters in his 50 years in movies and television and became one of Hollywood's best
known character actors. Jaeckel got his start in the business at the age of 17 while working as a mailboy at 20th
Century Fox studios in Hollywood. A casting director audtioned him for a key role in the 1943 film Guadalcanal
Diary, Jaeckel won the role and settled into a lengthy career in supporting parts. He served in the US Navy from
1944 to 1949, then starred in two of the most remembered war films of 1949, Battleground and Sands of Iwo Jima
with John Wayne. Jaeckel's other films include The Gunfighter (1950); Come Back, Little Sheba (1952); 3:10 to
Yuma (1957); The Gallant Hours (1960); Town Without Pity (1961); The Dirty Dozen (1967); Chisum (1970); Pat
Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973); Grizzly (1976); Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977); The Dark (1979); Cold River
(1982); Starman (1984); Black Moon Rising (1986) and The Delta Force 2 (1990). The highlight of Jaeckel's career
was in 1971, when he recieved an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sometimes
a Great Notion (1970). In his later years, Jaeckel was known to TV audiences as Lt. Ben Edwards on the series
"Baywatch". Jaeckel died in 1997 after a three year battle with melanoma cancer at the Motion Picture and
Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.
Clifton James (1921- ). He perfected a convincing Southern drawl, however Clifton James was actually born in
New York. He graduated from the Actors Studio and regularly appeared in guest roles on 1950's-60's TV shows
including Gunsmoke (1955), Bonanza (1959) and The Virginian (1962). Blustery, stocky, loud although often genial
character actor that created a niche for himself playing fast talking Southern characters, noticeably as "Sheriff J.W.
Pepper" alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond spy adventure Live and Let Die (1973), plus his character
returned to assist 007 again in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). He graduated from the University of Oregon.
He served five years with the U.S. Army during World War II.
Sid James (1913-1976) [The Lavender Hill Mob (1951); The 39 Steps (1959)] was born Sidney Joel Cohen in Natal,
South Africa. During World War II, he enlisted in an entertainment unit which led to acting as a career. He
went to Britain in 1946 on the back of his service gratuity. Initially he worked in repertory theater where he was
later discovered by the nascent British post-war film industry.
Rick Jason (1923-2000) [This Is My Love (1954); Illegally Yours (1988)] was born Richard Jason in New York
City, the only child of a stockbroker and well-to-do mother. Jason often described himself as "second-generation
nouveau riche" and a born romantic. Friends say he was affable, charming, driven and a real Renaissance man. A
good student, popular with classmates and teachers, Jason's hellish behavior got him expelled from eight prep
schools before he managed to graduate from Rhodes School. His father bought him a seat on the New York Stock
Exchange, but Rick sold the seat and enlisted in the Army Air Corps; serving 1943-1945. After the war he
attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts on the GI Bill. While attending a New York play actordirector Hume Cronyn spotted him and immediately cast him in Now I Lay me Down to Sleep. The role earned Rick
a Theater World Award and a Hollywood contract with Columbia Pictures. In 1962 he exploded onto prime-time
TV screens as the cool, calm and collected Lt. Gil Hanley in ABC's hit series Combat!. Five seasons and 152
episodes later, Jason was a household name. After Combat! Rick returned to the theater but he also made films in
Japan and Israel. His TV career remained strong, and in the '70s and '80s he was guest star on numerous TV shows.
He appeared as a regular on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973). After retirement he kept busy doing
voice-overs for commercials and ran the Wine Locker, a 4,000-square-foot facility used to store fine wines under
optimal conditions. Sadly, in October 2000 he died of a self-inflicted gunshot in Moorpark, California. [Excerpted
and edited from IMDB]
Roy Jenson (1927-2007) [Law of the Lawless (1964); Will Penny (1968); Paint Your Wagon (1969)] was born in
Calgary, Alberta, Canada but moved to Los Angeles with his mother and brother, George, at age 7. He attended
South Gate High School. He played football for UCLA, then professionally for the Calgary Stampeders and the
Montreal Alouettes. He was the first man beaten up by Caine on "Kung Fu" (1972). He often doubled for Robert
Mitchum. His first wife, Barbara Dionysius, was his college sweetheart. They had three children: Martin, Morgan
and Sasha. He met his second wife, European actress Marina Petrova (aka Marina Petrowa), while filming The
Great Escape (1963) in Germany. He had an affinity for the ocean -- fishing, camping, diving. In addition to his
second wife, three sons and brother, he was survived by seven grandchildren and a great granddaughter. He played
Roman Polanski's henchman in the famous knife-to-the-nose sequence with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974).
Joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 during World War II and served on a destroyer in the Pacific.
Richard Johnson (1927- ) was born in Upminster, Essex, England. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Art in London and then performed in John Gielgud's repertory company until joining the navy during World War
II. After the war, he appeared successfully in the West End and made his film debut in the early 1950s. The
debonair and handsome Johnson was a natural to portray playboy type characters, perhaps the most memorable
being "Bulldog Drummond" in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and Some Girls Do (1969). Later in his career, he
turned to more serious roles, such as "Marc Antony" in Antony and Cleopatra (1974, TV), and also tried his hand at
producing in the late 1980s. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Russell Johnson (1924- ) [The Professor on Gilligan's Island]. Earned a Purple Heart for injuries during battle
when his B-24 Liberator bomber was shot down during a bombing run against Japanese targets in the Philippine
Islands in March 1945.
Van Johnson (1916-2008) [A Guy Named Joe (1943); Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944); Battleground (1949)] was
born Charles Van Johnson. He was an American character actor that starred in such films as Command Decision
(1948) and The Caine Mutiny (1954). He did guest appearances on such TV shows as Batman during the 1960s. He
had a road accident which left him with a metal plate in his head and the injury exempted him from military
service. His acting career began in earnest in 1942, just as the United States was fully entering World War II.
Buck Jones (1891-1942) [A Rough Shod Fighter (1917); Dawn on the Great Divide (1942)], one of the greatest of
the B-Western stars, was born in Indiana but reportedly (but disputedly) grew up on a ranch near Red Rock in Indian
Territory (now Oklahoma), and there learned the riding and shooting skills that would stand him in good stead as a
hero of Westerns. He joined the army as a teenager and served on US-Mexican border before seeing service in the
Moro uprising in the Philippines. He was wounded but recuperated and reenlisted, hoping to become a pilot. He was
not accepted for pilot training and left the army in 1913. He took a menial job with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch
Wild West Show and soon became champion bronco buster. He moved on to the Julia Allen Show, but with the
beginning of the First World War, Jones took work training horses for the Allied armies. After the war, he and his
wife, Odelle Osborne -- whom he had met in the Miller Brothers show -- toured with the Ringling Brothers circus,
then settled in Hollywood, where Jones got work in a number of Westerns starring Tom Mix and Franklyn Farnum.
William Fox put Jones under contract and promoted him as a new Western star. He used the name Charles Jones at
first, then Charles Buck Jones, before settling on his permanent stage name. He quickly climbed to the upper ranks
of Western stardom and at one point was receiving more fan mail than any actor in the world. Months after
America's entry into World War II, Jones participated in a war-bond-selling tour. On November 28, 1942, he
was a guest of local citizens in Boston at the famed Coconut Grove nightclub. Fire broke out and nearly five
hundred people died in one of the worst fire disasters on record. Jones was horribly burned and died two days later
before his wife Dell could arrive to comfort him.
Dickie Jones (1927- ) [The Range Rider (1951); Buffalo Bill, Jr. (1955)] is an American actor with some success as
a child and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns and in television. Born in Snyder, Texas, the son of a
newspaper editor, Jones was a prodigious horseman from infancy, billed at the age of four as the World's Youngest
Trick Rider and Trick Roper. At age six, he was hired to perform riding and lariat tricks in the rodeo owned by
western star Hoot Gibson. He served in the Army in Alaska during the final months of World War II.
Henry Jones (1912-1999) [The Lady Says No (1952); The Grifters (1990)] was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
he graduated from St. Jospeh's College. His Broadway debut was in 1938 in Maurice Evans' Hamlet (Reynaldo and
the second gravedigger). He served in the army in World War II. His highly reviewed stage appearances included
the murdered handyman in The Bad Seed, which he reprised in the film version (The Bad Seed (1956)), and the part
of Louis Howe, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's confidant in Sunrise at Campobello (1960). Though very
ordinary in appearance ("The casting directors didn't know what to do with me. I was never tall enough or good
looking enough to play juvenile leads"), he had a long and varied career on Broadway, in movies and television.
Griffith Jones (1909-2007) [A Yank at Oxford (1938); Kill Her Gently (1957)]. Stalwart British character player of
the classical stage screen and TV. Serving in the Army during WWII, he spent his service in an army concert
party called Stars in Battle Dress and was accompanied on the tours by his wife, Irene Isaac, known to
everyone as Robin.
Bobby Jordan (1923-1965) [Snakes Alive (1931); The Man Is Armed (1956)] was raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. By
the time he was four and a half, he could act, tap dance and play the Saxophone. He made his stage debut in 1930
and film debut at Universal Studios in 1933 where he appeared in short subjects and a bit part in the 1934 Eddie
Cantor film, Kid Millions. He then appeared on Broadway in Dead End, which opened on October 28, 1935. He left
the show in mid-November 1936 to appear in the The Samuel Goldwyn Company film version of Dead End. Warner
Brothers studios signed all of the Dead End Kids to contracts. At the peak of his career, Bobby made $1,500 a week,
owned a $150,000 home in Beverly Hills and was the sole support of his mother, two brothers a sister and a niece. In
1940, Bobby returned to Universal to appear with several other Dead End Kids in The Little Tough Guys series.
Later the same year, Monogram featured him in his first East Side Kids film, Boys of the City. In 1943, Bobby was
drafted. He served as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry until 1945 with his only film appearance being the East
Side Kid's Bowery Champs (1944), playing himself in a running gag.
Louis Jourdan (1919- ) [The Paradine Case (1947); Grand Larceny (1987)] is a French actor, known chiefly for
his suave manner and good looks. Born Louis Gendre in Marseille, France, he was educated in France, Turkey and
England and trained as an actor at the Ecole Dramatique. He made his film debut in 1939. Following the German
occupation of France during World War II, he continued to make films but after refusing to participate in
Nazi propaganda films, he joined the French Resistance. After the 1944 liberation of France by the Allies, Louis
Jourdan married Berthe Frederique with whom he had a son.
Curt Jurgens (1915-1982) [The Longest Day (1962); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)]. Critical of the Nazis in his
native Germany, in 1944 he was shipped to a concentration camp for "political unreliables". Jurgens survived
and after the war became an Austrian citizen. He continued with his acting career, becoming an international film
star. His breakthrough screen role came in Des Teufels General (1955, The Devil's General) and he came to
Hollywood following his appearance in the sensational 1956 Roger Vadim directed French film Et Dieu... créa la
femme (And God Created Woman) starring Brigitte Bardot. In 1957, Jurgens made his first Hollywood film, The
Enemy Below.
Kurt Kasznar (1913-1979) [Valley of the Kings (1954); A Farewell to Arms (1957)] was born in
Vienna, Austria and died in Santa Monica, California of cancer. He came to the U.S. in the mid30s in "The Eternal Road" in which he played at least 12 roles. In 1941 he was drafted into the
army, where he was trained as a cinematographer and served in the Pacific. He was
assigned to an army photographic unit and was part of the team that filmed the signing of
the Japanese surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. His first major Broadway role was The
Happy Time. Kasznar also played in The Sound Of Music, Barefoot in The Park, Waiting for
Godot and Six Characters In Search Of An Author. He played a regular in the television series
"Land of the Giants" as Alexander Fitzhugh.
Stubby Kaye (1918-1997) [The Cool Mikado (1963); Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)].
Sunny, loveable tenor with a butterball frame, kept his real name a secret for his entire career. He
was born Bernard Katzin in New York and started off in the world of entertainment in 1939 after
winning a radio contest. Touring as a comedian in vaudeville for over a decade, he also
appeared regularly with the USO during the war years. He finally hit it big on Broadway in
1950 when he created the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the smash musical hit Guys and Dolls
singing his rousing show-stopper "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and solidified his status a
few years later as Marryin' Sam in Li'l Abner in 1956. He preserved both of these signature roles
on film.
Bob Keeshan (1927-2004) [tv: Captain Kangaroo (1955-1984); movie: The Stupids (1996)] was
born in Lynbrook, New York. In 1945, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States
Marine Corps Reserve, but was still in the United States when Japan surrendered. He
attended Fordham University on the GI Bill. An urban legend claims that actor Lee Marvin said
on The Tonight Show that he had fought alongside Keeshan at the Battle of Iwo Jima in
February–March, 1945. However, Marvin not only never said this, but he had not served on Iwo
Jima (having been hospitalized from June 1944 until October 1945, from wounds received in the
Battle of Saipan), and Keeshan himself never saw combat, having enlisted too late to serve
overseas.
Brian Keith (1921-1997) [The Violent Men (1955); The Rare Breed (1966)]. Served as a U.S.
Marine (1942-1945). He was an air gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal in
the Pacific and received an Air Medal.
John Kellogg AKA: John G. Kellogg (1916-2000) [Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1943); A Walk
in the Sun (1945); 12 O'Clock High (1949]. Kellogg was born in Hollywood, CA and died in Los
Angeles. Back in the late 1930s, when he began seeking work as an actor, he was known as
"Giles Kellogg" and "Giles V. Kellogg". After stock experience in New England and a starring
role in a Broadway flop, he was selected to play the lead in the road company of the longrunning service comedy Brother Rat. Kellogg continued working steadily on stage until
interrupted by World War II service. After a smattering of movie exposure at other studios,
Kellogg signed a Columbia contract in 1946. [Excerpted from IMDB and allmovie.com]
DeForest Kelley (1920-1999) [Fear in the Night (1947); Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)]
was born in Atlanta Georgia. He graduated from highschool at 16 and went on to sing at the
church where his father was a baptist minister. At seventeen he made his first trip outside the
state to visit an uncle in Long Beach California, he intended to stay for 2 weeks but ended up
staying a year. Upon returning home he told his parents he was moving to California to become
an actor. His mother encouraged him but the idea didn't go over well with his father. In
California Kelley was spotted by a Paramount scout while doing a Navy Training film. He went
on acting in many westerns and eventually played the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy which changed
his life forever. He served with the Army Air Corp in World War II.
Mike Kellin (1922-1983) [At War with the Army (1950); Sleepaway Camp (1983)] was born in
Hartford, Connecticut, and received his education at Boston College though he seemed to be
straight out of the tenements of New York City. His burly appearance and coarse, raspy-voiced
often earned him roles as tough cops, gangsters, or soldiers, usually corporals or sergeants, so it
may come as a surprise to learn that during his stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II he
was a Lieutenant Commander.
Gene Kelly (1912-1996) [For Me and My Gal (1942); Inherit the Wind (1960)] was born
Eugene Curran Kelly in Pittsburg, PA. During World War II he was a sailor stationed at the U.S.
Naval Photographic Center in Anacostia, DC (where the documentary Victory at Sea (1952) was
later assembled for NBC-TV). He starred in several Navy films while on active duty there and in
"civilian" films while on leave. After the war, a new generation was coming of age. Those who
saw An American in Paris (1951) would try to make real life as romantic as the reel life they saw
portrayed in that musical, and the first time they saw Paris, they were seeing again in memory
the seventeen-minute ballet sequence set to the title song written by George Gershwin and
choreographed by Kelly. The sequence cost a half million dollars (U.S.) to make in 1951 dollars.
Another Kelly musical of the era, Singin' in the Rain (1952), was one of the first 25 films
selected by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry.
Arthur Kennedy (1914-1990) [City for Conquest (1940); Cheyenne Autumn (1964)]. Born John
Arthur Kennedy to a dentist and his wife on February 17, 1914 in Worcester, Massachusetts. By
the time he was 20 years old, he was involved in local theatrical groups and with his wife moved
west to Los Angeles, California in 1938 where he met fellow Irish-American actor James
Cagney, who cast him as his brother in the film City for Conquest. The role brought with it a
contract with Warner Bros., and the studio put him in supporting roles in some prestigious
movies, including High Sierra (1941), the film that made Humphrey Bogart a star; They Died
with Their Boots On (1941) with Errol Flynn); and Howard Hawks's Air Force (1943) alongside
future Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Gig Young and the great John Garfield. His career
was interrupted by military service in World War II. After the war, Kennedy went back to
the Broadway stage, where he gained a reputation as an actor's actor.
Burt Kennedy, left, w/John Wayne, (1922-2001) was an American screenwriter and director,
particularly of Westerns. The son of performers, he was part of their act "The Dancing
Kennedys" from infancy. He served in World War II as a cavalry officer and was highly
decorated. After the war, he joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse, but was ousted after
one play as an actor for missing rehearsal. He was buried at Arlington with a 21-gun salute.
Douglas R. Kennedy (1915-1973) [Dark Passage (1947); Sitting Bull (1954)] appeared in over
190 films between 1935 and 1973. He often appeared as Sheriff Fred Madden in many episodes
of The Big Valley (tv 1965-69). A tall, powerfully built man, Kennedy entered films after
graduating from Amherst. He appeared in many westerns and detective thrillers, often as a
villain. World War II interrupted his career, and he spent the war years as a Signal Corps
officer (rank of major) and an operative in the OSS and US Army Intelligence. After the
war he returned to Hollywood, where he began playing supporting roles in larger films and an
occasional lead in a a lower-budget film. He is most fondly remembered, though, by audiences of
the 1950s for two roles: his western TV series Steve Donovan, Western Marshal (1955), and as
one of the policemen taken over by the Martians in the sci-fi classic Invaders from Mars (1953).
[Text excerpted from Wikpedia and IMDB]
George Kennedy (1925- ) [The Dirty Dozen (1967); Airport '77 (1977)]. He enlisted in the
Army during World War II and went on to serve 16 years, both in combat as an officer
under Gen. George Patton, and in his later years, as an Armed Forces Radio and Television
officer. He portrayed Patton in the 78 movie Brass Target. Due to his tall, enormously broad
frame, Kennedy was frequently cast in the 1960s and 1970s as bullies and thugs, and had the
distinction of brutalizing stars like Cary Grant, Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood on screen
while gaining a reputation off-screen as one of the nicest actors around. By his 60s he finally got
the chance to play friendlier characters, such as his lovable Capt. Ed Hocken in the Naked Gun
films.
Charles King (1889-1944) [Bread Cast Upon the Waters (1912); Ladies Not Allowed (1932)]
was born in New York City and died of pneumonia in London, England, while there to
entertain the troops during World War II. He was the brother of actresses Mollie King and
Nellie King. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War I.
Werner Klemperer (1920-2000), everyone's favorite TV German Air Force colonel, was best
known for his role as the bumbling Col. Wilhelm Klink on the comedy series Hogan's Heroes
(1965). Although he'll forever be known as the blustering but inept German commandant of
Stalag 13, Klemperer was in fact a talented dramatic actor, as evidenced by his acclaimed
performance as an arrogant, unrepentant Nazi judge being tried for crimes against humanity in
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). His identification with Nazi roles notwithstanding, Klemperer
was in real life the son of a Jew who fled with his family from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. He
served in the U.S. Army during World War II. When he was offered the Col. Klink role,
Klemperer only agreed to do it if the show's producers promised that Klink would never succeed
in any of his schemes.
Jack Klugman (1922-2012) born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an American television and
movie actor. Klugman began acting after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He
starred in several classic films including 12 Angry Men (1957) and Days Of Wine And Roses
(1962). He also won an Emmy Award for his work on the television series The Defenders. He is
best known for his starring roles in two popular television series of the 1970s and early 1980s:
The Odd Couple (1970-1975) and Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983). In the early 1990s, Klugman lost a
vocal chord to cancer but has continued acting on stage and on television.
Ted Knight (1923-1986) was born Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka in Terryville, Connecticut. He
was a minor villain on TV and film drama before the role of Ted Baxter on Mary Tyler Moore
(1970-1977) aggressively tapped into his comedy talents. His well-modulated voice, ideal for
radio broadcasting and announcing, helped keep him employed during the dismal 60s providing
narration and voices for a number of cartoon series, including The Batman/Superman Hour
(1968) and Star Trek (1973). Knight had a bit role at the very end of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho
(1960) as a cell guard who opens the cell door for another officer to give Norman Bates a
blanket. He was a genuine hero in WWII, he was decorated five times for bravery. Knight
appeared in the film Caddyshack (1980).
Don Knotts (1924–2006) [No Time for Sergeants (1958); The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)]
was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s American
television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968), for his appearances opposite Tim
Conway in a number of comedy films, and for his role as Mr. Furley in the 1970s sitcom Three's
Company (1977-1984). Knotts was born in Morgantown, West Virginia to Elsie L. Moore and
William Jesse Knotts. He joined the U.S. Army at age 19 and went on active duty on June
21, 1943. He served for the duration of World War II and was discharged on January 6,
1946 with the rank of Technician Grade 5, which was the equivalent of a Corporal. He was
awarded the WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Medal (with 4 bronze service stars), Army Good Conduct Medal, Marksman Badge (with
Carbine Bar) and Honorable Service Lapel Pin. Knotts graduated from West Virginia
University in 1948 with a degree in theater.
Bela Kovacs (1915-1985) [Park Row (1952); Desert Sands (1955)] [Not to be confused with
Béla Kovács (1937- ), the famous Hungarian clarinetist.] was born in Youngstown, Ohio, but
was raised in Czechoslovakia from age five until age twenty. He was a child actor in a number of
Hungarian productions. At his parents' direction he joined a Presbyterian clerical institution in
Ontario to become a minister, but while there he received an urgent telegram from Bela Lugosi
(whom he had met while acting in Europe) asking him to join a touring company to fill a role. He
told a lie to obtain a leave of absence from the academy, and never returned. During World
War II he served as a translator for American military intelligence, then afterwards joined
the Pasadena Playhouse, while working evenings as a cafe violinist, before reaching a
nationwide audience on TV's "Space Patrol." He died in Wyoming, Pennsylvania.
Alan Ladd (1913-1964) [The Black Cat (1941); Whispering Smith (1948); Shane (1953); The
Carpetbaggers (1964)] was born in Hot Springs, AR. His father died when he was four. His
mother married a house painter who moved them to California when he was eight. He picked
fruit, delivered papers, and swept stores. He was malnourished, undersized, and nicknamed Tiny.
In high school he discovered track and swimming. By 1931 he was training for the 1932
Olympics, but an injury put an end to those plans. He opened a hamburger stand called Tiny's
Patio, and later worked as a grip at Warner Brothers Pictures. He married friend Midge in 1936
but couldn't afford her, so they lived apart. In 1937 they shared a friend's apartment. They had a
son, Alan Ladd Jr., and his destitute alcoholic mother moved in with them. He witnessed her
agonizing suicide from ant poison. His size and coloring were regarded as not right for movies,
so he worked hard at radio where talent scout and former actress Sue Carol discovered him early
in 1939. After shopping him through bit parts he tested for This Gun for Hire (1942). His fourthbilled role as the psychotic killer "Raven" made him a star. He was drafted in January 1943 for
World War II and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia. Throughout
the 1940s his tough-guy roles filled theaters and he was one of the very few males whose cover
photos sold movie magazines. In the 1950s he was performing in lucrative but unrewarding films
(an exception being what many regard as his greatest role, Shane). By the end of the 1950s,
liquor and a string of so-so films had taken their toll. In November 1962 he was found
unconscious lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart. In January 1964 he was
found dead, apparently due to an accidental combination of alcohol and sedatives. -- [Text
excerpted from IMDB.]
Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000) [Algiers (1938); Samson and Delilah (1949)] was born Hedwig
Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria, to a banker and his wife. Following the outbreak of
World War II, actress Hedy Lamarr, who despised Nazis, collaborated with experimental
music pioneer George Antheil on an invention for radio-controlled torpedoes. Lamarr, who
never even attended college, had picked up some useful knowledge while married to a German
arms dealer, whom she ditched -- by drugging her maid and slipping away in her uniform -- after
he became involved with the Nazis. Her invention was so revolutionary it's the basis for modern
mobile telecommunications. Not bad for an actress most famous for her nude scene -- cinema's
first! -- in the film Ecstasy. She also raised $7 million in war bonds for the Allied effort, largely
by selling kisses.
Burt Lancaster (1913-1994) [From Here to Eternity (1953); Airport (1970)] was born Burton
Steven Lancaster in New York City. He was one of five children born to a postal worker. He was
a tough street kid who took an early interest in gymnastics. He joined the circus as an acrobat
and worked there until he was injured. He served in the Army during Worlld War II as a
member of the Special Services branch, entertaining troops. He was stationed in Italy for
much of the war and was introduced to acting in the USO. His first film was The Killers
(1946), and that made him a star. He was a self-taught actor who learned the business as he went
along. Lancaster was a very close friend and civil rights activist with Harry Belafonte who is an
avowed and proud anti-American communist. Belafonte is an admirer and close personal friend
of Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez, the communist tyrant-dictator of Venezuela.
Charles Lane (1905-2007) [You Can't Take It with You (1938); Date with an Angel (1987)] was
born Charles Gerstle Levison in San Francisco and was actually one of the last survivors of that
city's famous 1906 earthquake. He started out selling insurance but that soon changed. After
dabbling here and there in various theatre shows, he was prodded by a friend, director Irving
Pichel, to consider acting as a profession. In 1928 he joined the Pasadena Playhouse company.
Lane's career was interrupted for a time serving in the Coast Guard during World War II.
After the war he hit the ground running and by 1947 was earing $750 per week acting. He also
found TV quite welcoming, settling there as well for over four decades.
Peter Lawford (1923-1984) [at one time, a brother-in-law of JFK] was born in London,
England, son of a British World War I hero. He spent most of his childhood in Paris and began
his acting career at a very young age. His parents were not married when Peter was born and, as
a result of the scandal, the Lawfords fled to America. As a child, Peter had seriously injured his
arm on a broken glass door and the lack of full range of arm motion disqualified him for
World War II service. Lawford starred in his first major movie called A Yank at Eton (1942),
co-starring Mickey Rooney, Ian Hunter and Freddie Bartholomew. His performance was widely
praised. During this time, Lawford started to get more leads when major MGM star Clark Gable
went off to war. Later, it was Good News (1947), co-starring June Allyson that became
Lawford's greatest fame. Besides his successful career and being a socialite, Lawford was also
part of the Rat Pack, with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis Jr.
Norman Lear (1922- ) was born Norman Milton Lear to mother, Jeanette (Seicol) and father,
Herman Lear in New Haven, Connecticut. He is a World War II veteran, actor, writer,
producer, director, and creator of such legendary sitcoms as All In The Family, Good Times,
Sanford And Son, The Jeffersons, Maude and participated in many others which revolutionized
American television. At 19 he was attending Emerson College but dropped out when the
Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He joined the U.S. Army and was a radio operator until his
discharge in 1945.
Christopher Lee (1922- ) was born in Belgravia, London, England, UK. After attending
Wellington College from age 14 to 17, Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London
shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in the RAF during World War II. Following
his release from military service, Lee joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor
in their "Charm School" and playing a number of bit parts in such films as Corridor of Mirrors
(1948). He made a brief appearance in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948), in which his future
partner-in-horror Peter Cushing also appeared. Both actors also appeared later in Moulin Rouge
(1952) but did not meet until their horror films together.
Phil Leeds (1916-1998) [Varity of TV roles beginning in 1951; Rosemary's Baby (1968)] was
born in New York City, his entrance into the entertainment business began with a job as a peanut
vendor at the city's baseball stadiums, and from there, he began a stint as a stand-up comic in the
Borscht Belt in the Catskill Mountains, opening for many of the top acts of the day. He had a
short career on the Broadway stage before entering the army during World War II, and upon
his discharge, he resumed his stand-up career. Unfortunately, he got caught up in the McCarthyera, anti-Communism hysteria in the early 1950s and found himself among many entertainers
who were blacklisted, and it took him a while to work out of that.
Jack Lemmon (1925-2001). Lemmon's father was the president of a doughnut company. Jack
attended prep schools before Harvard, where he was in the Dramatic Club. He was also in Navy
ROTC at Harvard and graduated with a degree in "War Service Sciences." During WW
II, he served in the Naval Reserve and was the communications officer on the USS Lake
Champlain. After service he played piano in a beer hall and performed on radio, off Broadway,
on TV and on Broadway. His movie debut was with Judy Holliday in It Should Happen to You
(1954). He won Best Supporting Actor as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts (1955). He received
nominations in comedy for Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960) and nominations
in drama for Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The China Syndrome (1979), Tribute (1980) and
Missing (1982). He won the Best Actor Oscar for Save the Tiger (1973) and the Cannes Best
Actor award for Syndrome and Missing. He made his debut as a director with Kotch (1971) and
in 1985 on Broadway in Long Day's Journey into Night. In 1988 he received the Life
Achievement Award of the American Film Institute.
Desmond Llewelyn (1914-1999) [Goldfinger (1964); Licence to Kill (1989)]. British actor who
played Q, James Bond's quartermaster in the Bond movies. Q provides Bond with exploding
pens, magnetic wristwatches, amphibian cars and other gadgets. Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn
was born in Newport, South Wales, the son of a coal mining engineer. In high school, he worked
as a stagehand in the school's productions and then picked up sporadic small parts. The
outbreak of World War II in September 1939 halted his acting career, and Llewelyn was
commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British army. In 1940, he was captured by the
German army in France, and was held as a POW for five years. Since 1963, Llewelyn
appeared as Q in every Bond film, except Live and Let Die (1973), through The World Is Not
Enough (1999).
John Lodge (1903-1985) [The Woman Accused (1933); Just Like a Woman (1939)] was an
American actor (later politician) born John Davis Lodge in Washington, D.C., the grandson of
Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and brother of Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., Richard
Nixon's former Senate companion and running mate during the 1960 Presidential election. He
was a liaison between the French and U.S. Fleets during World War II. He was decorated
with the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor and with the Croix de Guerre
with Palm by General de Gaulle. He later served as U.S. Ambassador to Spain, 1955-January
1961. He was National President, Junior Achievement, Inc., 1963-64; Chairman, Committee on
Foreign Policy Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 1964-69; Delegate and Floor
Leader for Connecticut, Constitutional Convention, 1965; U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland,
1983. He was a resident of Westport, Connecticut, until his death in New York City.
Carole Lombard (1908-1942) [Bolero (1934); My Man Godfrey (1936)] was born Jane Alice
Peters in Fort Wayne, Indiana. An establish star, she crisscrossed the nation selling war bonds
for World War II, raising millions of dollars for the war effort. It was during one such drive
that the beautiful wife of Clark Gable died in a plane crash outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lombard, who had just raised $2.5 million for the cause, had also starred in an anti-Nazi film,
the hilarious To Be or Not to Be, with Jack Benny. When she died, President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt eulogized her, saying, "She gave unselfishly of time and talent to serve her
government in peace and war."
Jack Lord (1920-1998) [Hawaii Five-O (tv 1968-1980)] was the son of William Lawrence
Ryan, steamship company executive. He learned his equestrian skills at his mother's fruit farm in
the Hudson River Valley. At age 15 he started spending summers at sea in the Merchant Marine,
and from the deck of ships, painted and sketched the landscapes he encountered; Africa,
Mediterranean, China.
Education: New York school system, Trumbull Naval Academy, in New London, CT.,
graduating an Ensign with a Third Mates License. During World War II he served in the
Merchant Navy. While making maritime training films during the Korean War he took to the
idea of acting. This is when he decided to attend the Neighborhood Playhouse, working as a
Cadillac salesman in New York to fund his studies. Later, at the Actor's Studio, he studied with
Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, and Marilyn Monroe. His first work on Broadway was in,
Traveling Lady, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; followed by his first in Hollywood, Court Martial of
Billy Mitchell with Gary Cooper.
Myrna Loy (1905-1993) [Evelyn Prentice (1934); Midnight Lace (1960)] was born Myrna
Williams in Radersburg, Montana. Her father was the youngest person ever elected to the
Montana State legislature. Later on her family moved to Helena where she spent her youth. At
the age of 13, Myrna's father died of influenza and the rest of the family moved to Los Angeles.
She was educated in L.A. and the Westlake School for Girls where she caught the acting bug. At
the end of the silent era, she started her career as an exotic, Theda Bara-like femme fatale.
Fortunately, she was rescued by the advent of the sound picture, where she was recast in the role
of the witty, urbane, professional woman. To old to serve active duty during World War II
she quit making movies and served with the Red Cross. She is best remembered for her role
of Nora Charles opposite William Powell in six "Thin Man" movies (The Thin Man (1934)) and
as the dutiful wife of Sgt. Al Stephenson (Frederic March) in The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946).
Sidney Lumet (1924- ) [As an actor: ...One Third of a Nation... (1939); The Manchurian
Candidate (2004)] was born in Philadelphia, the son of actor Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia
Wermus Lumet, he made his stage debut at age four at the Yiddish Art Theater in New York but
turned to directing in 1951. He is a master of cinema. Known for his technical knowledge and his
skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his
beloved New York -- Lumet has made over 40 movies, often emotional, but seldom overly
sentimental. He has directed 17 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Katharine
Hepburn, Rod Steiger, Al Pacino, Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney, Chris Sarandon, Faye
Dunaway, Peter Finch, Beatrice Straight, William Holden, Ned Beatty, Peter Firth, Richard
Burton, Paul Newman, James Mason, Jane Fonda and River Phoenix. Bergman, Dunaway, Finch
and Straight won oscars for their performances in one of Lumets movies. He served in the
Army during World War II.
John Lund (1911-1992) [To Each His Own (1946); The Mating Season (1951)] was an
American film actor of Norwegian ancestry who is probably best remembered for his role in the
film A Foreign Affair (1948), directed by Billy Wilder. Handsome blond, blue-eyed actor who
started out promisingly in engaging romantic leads in the late 40s, but settled quickly into
playing stuffed shirts and the third wheel in love triangles. He served in World War II. Early in
his career, after Edmond O'Brien left the show, Lund became the new Johnny Dollar on CBS
Radio's "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar." He starred in the series from 1952 till 1954. He was vicepresident of the Screen Actor's Guild from 1950-1959. He wrote the book and lyrics for the
Broadway revue "New Faces of 1943." A New York City advertiser at the time, he was asked by
a friend to appear in an industrial show during the 1939 World's Fair. He got hooked and two
years later was appearing on Broadway in As You Like It. Lund retired to his house in Coldwater
Canyon in the Hollywood Hills in 1963.
Freeman Lusk (1905-1970) [The Caddy (1953); To the Shores of Hell (1966)] was born in
Huntington Park, CA. His father was a Methodist minister and his mother Vice Principal at John
Adams Junior High School in Los Angeles. Lusk graduated from Huntington Park High School
and USC. He retired from the U.S. Navy as a commander after 27 years, including service
during World War II. He had his own TV show in L.A. called "Freedom Forum." He ran for
U.S. Congress 46th district in 1946. Last appearance was in Funny Girl as the Judge. One son,
John. Lusk appears as Capt. Horton in the Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Slandered
Submarine.
Ben Lyon (1901-1979) [Open Your Eyes (1919); The Lyons in Paris (1955)] was a film
personality of the Depression-era 1930s. Although he never rose above second-tier stardom, he
enjoyed success in both the U.S. and England. Born Ben Lyon, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, the future
singer/ actor was the son of a pianist-turned-businessman and youngest of four. Raised in
Baltimore, he started performing in amateur productions as a teen before earning marquee value
on Broadway. Hollywood took notice of the baby-faced charmer and soon he was appearing
opposite silent film's most honored leading ladies. During World War II he served in the U.S.
Army Air Force and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel in charge of Special Services
(entertainment, etc.) for the U.S. Air Corps in England.
Fred MacMurray (1908-1991) [The Gilded Lily (1935); The Caine Mutiny (1954); My Three
Sons (TV 1960–1972); The Swarm (1978)] was born Fredrick Martin MacMurray to Maleta
Martin and Frederick MacMurray (concert violinist) in Kankakee, Illinois, and raised in Beaver
Dam, Wisconsin from the age of 5, graduating from Beaver Dam HS where he was a 3-sport star
in football, baseball, and basketball. He was educated at Carroll College, Wis., singing and
playing with orchestras to earn tuition. He played with a Chicago orchestra for more than a year.
Then he joined an orchestra in Hollywood where he played, did some recording and played extra
roles. He then joined a comedy stage band and went to New York. There he joined Three's A
Crowd revue on Broadway and on the road. After this show closed, he returned to California and
worked in vaudeville. He played the vaudeville circuits and night clubs until cast for major role
in Roberta. He signed with Paramount in 1935. He tried to get into the military service during
World War II, but a fluctuated ear prevented him from enlisting, therefore, he stayed in
Hollywood, continued making movies and did everything he could to help the war effort.
Patrick Macnee (1922- ) is a British actor. He was born in London, England, into a wealthy and
eccentric family. His father, Daniel Macnee, was a race horse trainer, who drank and gambled
away the family fortune, leaving young Patrick to be raised by his lesbian mother, Dorothea
Mary, and her female lover. Shortly after graduating from Eton (from which he was almost
expelled for running a gambling ring), Macnee first appeared on stage and made his film debut
as an extra in Pygmalion (1938). His career was interrupted by World War II, during which
he served in the Royal Navy. After military service, Macnee attended the Webber Douglas
School of Dramatic Art in London on scholarship. He also resumed his stage and film career,
with bit parts such as Young Jacob Marley in Scrooge (1951). Disappointed with his limited
roles, Macnee left England for Canada and the United States but returned to England in 1959.
Once back home, he took advantage of his producing experience in Canada to become coproducer of the British television series Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years (1960). Shortly
thereafter, Macnee landed the role that brought him worldwide fame and popularity in the part of
John Steed, in the classic British television series The Avengers (1961).
Gordon MacRae (1921-1986) [Look for the Silver Lining (1949); Oklahoma! (1955); Carousel
(1956)] was born in East Orange, NJ. During his early years he resided in Syracuse, NY, and
while in high school spent much of his time singing and acting in the Drama Club. In 1940,
while working in New York City as a page, he was "discovered" and hired to sing for the Horace
Heidt Band. After a two-year stint he joined the Army Air Corps and worked as a navigator
for the next two years. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Guy Madison (1922-1996) [Till the End of Time (1946); The Pacific Connection (1974)] was
born Robert Ozell Moseley in Pumpkin Center, California, his father a Santa Fe Railroad worker.
In high school, he worked summers as a lifeguard and upon graduation attended Bakersfield
Junior College studying animal husbandry. After two years, he worked briefly as a telephone
lineman before joining the Coast Guard serving during World War II. He never had any
ambitions toward a movie career and lacked training and experience. Stationed in California and
during a visit to Hollywood on leave, wearing his sailor suit, he was spotted by a talent scout
while attending a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. David O. Selznick wanted an unknown sailor to
play a small but prominent part in Since You Went Away (1944), and promptly signed Moseley to
a contract. Selznick and Willson concocted the screen name Guy Madison (the "guy" girls would
like to meet, and Madison from a passing Dolly Madison cake wagon). Madison filmed his one
scene on a weekend pass and returned to duty. The film's release brought thousands of fan letters
for the film's lonely, strikingly handsome young sailor, and at war's end, Madison returned to
find himself a star-in-the-making. Guy Madison appeared in 85 films as well as radio and starred
as James Butler Hickock in the tv series "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" (1951).
Jock Mahoney (1919-1989) was born in Chicago, Illinois, of French and Irish extraction, with
some Cherokee. At the University of Iowa, he was outstanding in swimming, basketball and
football. When World War II broke out, he enlisted as a Marine fighter pilot and
instructor. In Hollywood, he was a noted stunt man, doubling for Errol Flynn, John Wayne, and
Gregory Peck. Gene Autry signed him for the lead in his 78-episode The Range Rider (1951) TV
series. He tested to replace Johnny Weissmuller, as Tarzan but lost out to Lex Barker. In 1960,
he played the heavy in Gordon Scott's Tarzan the Magnificent (1960), and his part there led Sy
Weintraub to hire him as Scott's replacement. In his two Tarzan movies, he did all his own
stunts. In Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963), he continued working in spite of dysentery, dengue
fever and pneumonia. By this time, Weintraub was looking for a younger Tarzan, envisioning a
future TV series. By mutual agreement, his contract with Mahoney was dissolved. After a couple
of years regaining his strength and weight, Jock returned to making action films.
Karl Malden (1912-2012) [Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950); Patton (1970)]. Malden had just
one screen appearance, They Knew What They Wanted (1940), before his military service in
World War II as a noncommissioned officer in the 8th Air Force. He did not establish his
film career until after the War. Malden won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as "Mitch" in A
Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and showed his range as an actor in roles such as that of "Father
Corrigan" in On the Waterfront (1954) and the lecherous "Archie Lee" in Baby Doll (1956).
Paul Mantz (1903-1965) [The Dictator (1935); Men with Wings (1938); Seven Wonders of the
World (1956)] was an American aviator who became the most renowned stunt flyer in movies of
the mid-twentieth century. The son of a school principal, he grew up Redwood City, California
and developed a fascination with flying. He joined the Air Corps as a cadet and was a
brilliant student pilot, but he was discharged after buzzing a train full of high-level officers.
After a brief period of commercial flying, Mantz took up the more lucrative career of stunt flying
for the film industry. He quickly proved himself willing and capable of tackling stunts
considered by other pilots to be too dangerous. He formed United Air Services, Ltd., providing
planes and pilots for aerial stunts and photography for all the studios. He also formed a flying
school and racing partnership with Amelia Earhart and was technical adviser on her ill-fated
round-the-world flight. During World War II, Mantz served as commanding officer of the
Army Air Corps' First Motion Picture Unit, delivering hundreds of training films and
documentaries on the air war. He developed a number of camera and aeronautical innovations
to improve aerial photography, and continued as a stunt flyer, a director of aerial photography,
and a supplier of aircraft and pilots for the movies for two decades after the war. In 1965, he
came out of retirement to fly a plane for The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and was killed in a
crash.
Barney Martin (1923-2005) was an American actor. After serving as a navigator in the U.S.
Army Air Force during World War II, he returned to his native New York City and served
as a policeman. He got his start as a comedian while still a police officer, writing jokes for his
deputy commissioners' speeches. Entering show business in the 1950s as a writer for Steve
Allen, he was discovered by Mel Brooks in 1968, who cast him in The Producers (1968). He
went on to act in dozens of films, including the role of Liza Minnelli's unemployed father in
Arthur (1981). In 1975, Martin originated the role of Amos Hart in Chicago. He appeared in
many more musicals during his career, most notably South Pacific, The Fantasticks and How
Now Dow Jones. Most of Martin's work has been in television, where he has had a long career as
a character actor. He is best-known for playing Morty Seinfeld, father of Jerry, on the popular
sitcom Seinfeld. He died of cancer in Studio City, Los Angeles, California at the age of 82.
Strother Martin, (1919-1980) [Storm Over Tibet (1952); The Villain (1979)] was an American
character actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the
prison captain in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered the classic line, "What we've
got here is failure to communicate," which was included by Guns N' Roses in their 1990 song
Civil War. He also frequently acted alongside L.Q. Jones, who in real life was one of his closest
friends, actors Paul Newman and John Wayne, and director Sam Peckinpah. Born in Kokomo,
Indiana, Martin excelled at swimming and diving, and served as a swimming instructor in the
U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, Martin moved to Los Angeles and worked as a
swimming instructor in films, eventually earning bit roles in a number of films. Martin's
distinctive, reedy voice and menacing demeanor made him ideal for villainous roles in many of
the best known Westerns of the 1960s and 1970s.
Tony Martin (1913- ) [Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937); Hit the Deck (1955)] was born Alvin
Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. Very early in his career he was
a sax player under his real name of Al Morris in an orchestra headed by Tom Gerun. Among the
other orchestra members were unknowns (at the time) Woody Herman and singer Ginny Simms.
There was a misunderstanding that led to his discharge from the Navy during WWII. He
finished up the war in the Army, winning a Bronze Star as a noncombatant in the Far East.
Lee Marvin (1924-1987) [Donovan's Reef (1963); Cat Ballou (1965); The Dirty Dozen (1967)].
Left school to join the US Marine Corps, serving as a sniper in the 4th Marine Division in
WW II. He would be sent in during the night in a small rubber boat, prior to the rest of his
platoon. He was wounded during the Battle of Saipan, a battle in which most members of
his platoon were killed. He was awarded the Purple Heart and given a medical discharge
with the rank of Private First Class. His wartime experiences deeply affected him for the
remainder of his life.
[Contrary to rumor, Marvin did not serve with Bob Keeshan during World War II, on Iwo Jima
or anywhere else. In fact, according to Wikipedia: "In 1945, during World War II, he [Keeshan]
enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, but was still in the United States when Japan
surrendered."]
Kerwin Mathews (1926-2007) [5 Against the House (1955); Nightmare in Blood (1978)] was
born an only child in Seattle, Washington. Kerwin's parents split up while he was quite young
and he and his mother relocated to Janesville, Wisconsin. He developed an early interest in
acting while performing in high school plays. Following a couple years in the Army Air Force
during World War II, Kerwin studied at Beloit College in Wisconsin on both dramatic and
musical scholarships. He later taught speech and drama at the college and also found acting jobs
in regional theater. In the early 1950s, after teaching high school English in Lake Geneva,
Wisconin, for a few years, he decided to make the big trek to Hollywood to seek out his fame
and fortune.
Walter Matthau (1920-2000) [The Odd Couple (1968); Charley Varrick (1973)]. Served in
WWII as a B-24 Radioman, Gunner, and as a radio cryptographer with the 453rd Bomb
Group.
Victor Mature (1913-1999) [One Million B.C. (1940); The Big Circus (1959)] auditioned for
Gone with the Wind (1939) for the role ultimately played by his fellow Playhouse student,
George Reeves. After achieving some acclaim in his first few films, he served in the Coast
Guard in World War II. Mature became one of Hollywood's busiest and most popular actors
after the war, though rarely was he given the critical respect he often deserved. His roles in John
Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) and in Henry Hathaway's Kiss of Death (1947) were
among his finest work, though he moved more and more frequently into more exotic roles in
films like Samson and Delilah (1949) and The Egyptian (1954).
Billy Mauch (1921-2006) [The White Angel (1936); Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)] was born in
Peoria, Illinois, ten minutes before his identical twin, Bobby (1921-2007). In the photo
(according to film credits), Billy is on the left and Bobby on the right. Billy was left-handed and
Bobby was right-handed. Their last name rhymes with "talk" or "walk." The Mauch twins'
mother was Dorothy, married to a railroad agent. The boys ambitious stage mother had the twins
performing from age 3 at benefits and parties. Billy was cast as young Anthony Adverse (1936)
because he resembled the film's star Fredric March. Bobby was his stand-in and supposedly
fooled director Mervyn LeRoy at times by switching places. Warner Bros. originally wanted
only to sign Billy for The Prince and the Pauper, but Mrs. Mauch insisted both boys be signed or
she would pitch Bobby to a rival studio. Both boys were signed at $350 a week. Mrs. Mauch
received $150 a week as their guardian. At the time, there was a ruling in the Armed Forces
that twins could not be separated unless requested. Both Billy and Bobby served in the Air
Force in the Philippines during World War II and appeared together in the Broadway play
Winged Victory in 1943. Behind the camera in later years, Billy worked for Warner Bros. as a
sound editor. His brother became a film editor.
Robert J. Mauch (1921-2007) [Penrod and His Twin Brother (1938); I'll Tell the World (1939)]
-- aka Bobby Mauch -- was born the identical twin of Billy Mauch (see entry above). Bobby, the
twin on the right in the photo-image, and his brother served in the Army Air Forces during
World War II and, at one point, they were stationed in the Phillippines.
Lon McCallister (1923-2005) [The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938); Combat Squad (1953)]
was born Herbert Alonzo McCallister, Jr. in Los Angeles, but was almost immediately called
"Buddy" to those closest to him. He attended high school at Marken Profesional School, a
training ground for Hollywood hopefuls, and eventually managed to secure unbilled parts
starting with Romeo and Juliet (1936) starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard and John
Barrymore. Lon became close friends with the film's director George Cukor, and attributed his
biggest break to Cukor when he earned a supporting role as a pilot in Winged Victory (1944),
after toiling in obscurity for nearly 6 years. Lon also stood out in the films Stage Door Canteen
(1943), as the unassuming soldier who falls for canteen hostess Marjorie Riordan, and in the
warm and winning horse-racing tale Home in Indiana (1944) opposite rising star Jeanne Crain.
His induction into the Army for World War II put a direct hit on his career momentum,
but he managed to recover and pick up where he left off. He made 6 movies 1947-1950 and
followed with a very busy TV schedule in the 50s and early 60s.
Lin McCarthy (1918-2002) [Yellowneck (1955); Face of a Fugitive (1959)] was born Linwood
Winder McCarthy in Norfolk, Virginia. He used his G.I. bill after serving during World War
II to study acting at Geller's Theater Workshop in Los Angeles. He opened "The Chase" by
Horton Foote on Broadway in the Playhouse Theatre on April 15, 1952. The play was produced
by José Ferrer, and co-starred Murray Hamilton, Kim Hunter and Lin's long-time friend Lonny
Chapman. He may be best remembered as Captain Anderson to Jack Webb's gritty sergeant in
the now campy classic film, The D.I. (1957), a supposedly realistic account about Marine boot
camp. He had two children with his wife Loretta Daye: Erin Christine McCarthy and Brian
Linwood McCarthy.
Tim McCoy (1891-1978) [The Thundering Herd (1925); Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965)] was
one of the great stars of early American Westerns. He was born the son of an Irish soldier who
later became police chief of Saginaw, Michigan, where McCoy was born. He attended St.
Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a Wild West show there, left school and found work
on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a keen
knowledge of the ways and languages of the Indian tribes in the area. He competed in numerous
rodeos, then enlisted in the U.S. Army when America entered the First World War. He was
commissioned and rose to the rank of colonel, eventually being posted as Adjutant General
of Wyoming, a position he held until 1921. Resigning from the Army, he returned to ranching
and concurrently served as territorial Indian agent. In 1922, he was asked by the head of Famous
Players-Lasky, Jesse L. Lasky, to provide Indian extras for the Western extravaganza, The
Covered Wagon (1923). He brought hundreds of Indians to Hollywood and served as technical
advisor on the film. After touring the country and Europe with the Indians as publicity, McCoy
returned to Hollywood and used his connections to obtain further work in the movies, both as a
technical advisor and as an actor. MGM speedily signed him to a contract to star in a series of
Westerns and McCoy rapidly rose to stardom, making scores of Westerns and occasional nonWesterns.... In 1935, he left Hollywood, first to tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus and then
with his own Wild West show. He returned to films in 1940, in a series teaming him with Buck
Jones and Raymond Hatton but Jones's death in 1942 ended the project. McCoy returned to the
Army for World War II and served with the Army Air Corps in Europe, winning several
decorations. He retired from the army and from films after the war, but emerged in the late
1940s for a few more films and some television work. He married Danish writer Inga Arvad and
spent his later years as a retired gentleman rancher, occasionally touring with his own Wild West
show.
Sammy McKim (1924-2004) [Country Gentlemen (1936); Thunderbirds (1952)] was the second
of a family of five child actors of the 1930s and 1940s, but the first to get into the movies and
pave the way for the rest of the McKim siblings. Sammy and his older brother, David McKim,
were born in Vancouver, Canada. The family moved to Seattle, Washington, when they were
both still young and settled there for a time. The younger children (Lydia McKim, Harry McKim
and Peggy McKim) were born and raised there. The family was forced to find a warmer climate
in 1935 when their father's health worsened, so they moved to Los Angeles (where he died in
1938). In 1942 both Sammy and David tried to enlist in the U.S. Army but were turned
down for not being American citizens. The two Canadians gained their citizenship the
following year and signed up again for duty, letting their acting careers go. Sammy
received several medals during the Korean War for his bravery. After becoming a civilian
again, he turned away from acting and decided on a career as an artist.
Ed McMahon (1923-2005) was born in Detroit, Michigan to Eleanor (Russell) and Edward
Leon McMahon, a fund-raiser and entertainer. His first appearance before a microphone was as a
15-year-old "caller" at a bingo game in Maine. After that, he spent the next three years touring
the state fair and carnival circuit. A Marine fighter pilot during World War II, McMahon sold
vegetable slicers on Atlantic City's boardwalk to put himself through Catholic University in
Washington, DC. In the 1950s, he hosted a late-night interview show in Philadelphia before
working as a clown on the show "Big Top" (1950). His next assignment was as a fighter pilot
during the Korean War. After that, he resumed his career in television. In 1959, he was hired
as Johnny Carson's straight man on the daytime quiz show "Do You Trust Your Wife" (1956).
When Carson succeeded Jack Paar on NBC's "Tonight Starring Jack Paar" (1957), which became
"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962), he took McMahon with him. This job
lasted for 30 years and made McMahon wealthy and famous. On the big screen, he played
straight roles in the dramatic The Incident (1967) -- for which he got very good reviews -- and in
the comic Fun with Dick and Jane (1977).
Howard McNear (1905-1969) [Drums Across the River (1954); The Fortune Cookie (1966)]
was born Howard Terbell McNear in Los Angeles, California. He had a long career on stage,
radio and films but will be most remembered for his scene-stealing portrayal of Floyd (the
barber) in the long-running Andy Griffith Show (1960). Actor Don Knotts (Deputy Barney Fife
on the show) once said that playing Floyd wasn't much of a stretch for McNear, as his real
personality was pretty much like Floyd to begin with. McNear - at age 37 - volunteered for the
U.S. Army in 1942 and served for the duration of World War II. He had started his career in
radio, where he played Doc Adams in Gunsmoke for many years. In films he often played
congressmen, hotel managers or other such figures, although he did on occasion play villains.
While working on the Andy Griffith Show he suffered a massive stroke. After he recuperated he
had trouble using his arms and legs, and when he returned to work on the show he was always
seen either in close-ups or sitting down (often in a chair outside the barber shop while chatting
with Barney and Andy). He died in 1969 in Hollywood and was buried in the Los Angeles
National Cemetery Columbarium Mausoleum.
Joseph Mell (1915-1977) [Kid Monk Baroni (1952); Murph the Surf (1975)], aka Joe Mell.
Enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army in Chicago on 7 May 1941. Mell also appeared in these
big screen productions: The 49th Man (1953), The Lost Planet (1953), Flame of Calcutta (1953),
Magnificent Obsession (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), Murder
by Contract (1958), City of Fear (1959), Back Street (1961), 36 Hours (1965), Lord Love a Duck
(1966) and The Ski Bum (1971). He played more than two dozen uncredited roles as well as
appearing in more than 100 television shows.
Adolphe Menjou (1890-1963) [The Faith Healer (1921); Paths of Glory (1957] was born
Adolphe Jean Menjou in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the elder son of a hotel manager. His Irish
mother was a distant cousin of novelist and poet James Joyce ("Ulysses"). His French father
eventually moved the family to Cleveland, where he operated a chain of restaurants. He
disapproved of show business and sent Adolphe to Culver Military Academy in Indiana in the
hopes of dissuading him from such a seemingly reckless and disreputable career. From there
Adolphe was enrolled at Stiles University prep school and then Cornell University. Instead of an
engineering degree he abruptly changed his major to liberal arts and began auditioning for
college plays. He left Cornell in his third year in order to help his father manage a restaurant for
a time during a family financial crisis. From there he left for New York and a life in the theater.
During World War II Menjou appeared in only 7 movies as he spent a lot of time
entertaining troops overseas and made assorted broadcasts in a host of different languages.
Burgess Meredith (1907-1997) [The Story of G.I. Joe (1945); John Wayne's roomie in In
Harm's Way (1965); The Penguin in Batman (1966)]. Meredith served in the United States
Army Air Forces in World War II, reaching the rank of captain. He was discharged in 1944
to work on the movie The Story of GI Joe, in which he starred as the popular war correspondent
Ernie Pyle.
Dick Merrill (1894-1982) [Atlantic Flight (1937)] learned to fly while stationed in France in
World War I but returned home to work on the Illinois Central Railroad as a fireman. He began
his aviation career in earnest when he bought a 90-horsepower Curtiss JN4 "Jenny" for $600 at a
war surplus sale in Columbus, Georgia in 1920. Too old for a commission, Dick signed on as a
civilian MTD pilot and flew the China-Burma "Hump" in DC3's and C-46 Commandos
during World War II conducting critical supply lights and survey missions. He returned to
Eastern Airlines after the war and officially retired from Eastern Airlines on Oct. 3, 1961 after
flying a DC8 from New York to Miami, reputedly with the most air miles of any pilot in
commercial aviation history, and ranked as the second most senior pilot with the airline.
Gary Merrill (1915-1990) [Twelve O'Clock High (1949); All About Eve (1950); A Girl Named
Tamiko (1962)] Joined the United States Army Air Force Special Services in 1941 (WWII).
Merrill was born in Hartford, Connecticut, attended private Bowdoin College in Brunswick,
Maine, and began acting in 1944 in Winged Victory, while still in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
John Le Mesurier (1912-1983) [Escape from Broadmoor (1948) ; Who Is Killing the Great
Chefs of Europe? (1978)]. The son of a solicitor, British character actor Mesurier attended public
school in Dorset, England, before embarking on a career in law. However, acting was his true
calling, and at age 20, with his parents' approval, he began his acting career by studying drama at
the Fay Compton School of Acting, where one of his classmates was Alec Guinness. After acting
school he performed in repertory until World War II, when he served as a captain in the
Northwest Indian Frontier. After the war he returned to the stage and made his film debut in
Death in the Hand (1948).
Ray Milland (1905-1986) [The Lady from the Sea (1929); Dial M for Murder (1954); The Sea
Serpent (1984)] was born Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones 3 January 1905, Neath,
Glamorgan, Wales, UK and died of lung cancer 10 March 1986, Torrance, California. He
became one of Paramount's most bankable and durable stars, under contract from 1934 to 1948,
yet little in his early life suggested a career as a motion picture actor. With his family's support
he had pursued a career in sports but lost that support when his stepfather discontinued his
allowance. Broke, he tried his hand at acting in small parts on the London stage. He had a
terrible accident during the filming of Hotel Imperial (1939), when, taking his horse over a jump,
the saddle-girth broke and he landed head-first on a pile of bricks. His most serious injuries were
a concussion that left him unconscious for 24 hours, a 3-inch gash in his skull that took 9 stitches
to close, and numerous fractures and lacerations on his left hand. He had become a licensed
pilot and tried to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, but was rejected
due to an impaired left hand. Instead he worked as a civilian flight instructor for the Army
and also toured with the USO in the South Pacific. He was paired romantically with actress
Paulette Goddard in four films, including the blockbusters Reap the Wild Wind (1942) and Kitty
(1945). In his autobiography, he wrote that Goddard was "wise, humorous, and with absolutely
no illusions." He further claimed that she was the hardest working actress that he had ever
worked with. (Source: IMDB)
Glenn Miller (1904-1944) was an American jazz musician, arranger, composer, and bandleader
in the swing era. Two of the most popular musicians of the World War II era -- big band
leaders Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw -- both joined the service and led bands, while many
other artists recorded V-Discs, recordings made especially for the troops. So in demand
were they that Miller's band played 800 performances in a single year. Miller was one of the
best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big bands".
Miller's signature recordings include In the Mood, American Patrol, Chattanooga Choo Choo,
Tuxedo Junction, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug and Pennsylvania 6-5000. While
traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France, Miller's plane disappeared in bad weather over the
English Channel. No trace of the plane or Miller was ever found.
Spike Milligan (1918-2002) [Penny Points to Paradise (1951; History of the World: Part I
(1981)] was born Terence Alan (Spike) Milligan, KBE. He was a comedian, novelist, playwright,
poet, jazz musician (trumpet, guitar, piano) and is best remembered as the creator, principal
writer and performing member of The Goon Show (1952). He suffered from bipolar disorder for
most of his life, having at least ten mental breakdowns. He was a strident campaigner on
environmental matters, particularly arguing against unnecessary noise. He served in the Royal
Artillery in World War II in North Africa and also Italy, where he was hospitalized for
shell shock. During most of the 1930s and early 1940s he performed as a jazz trumpeter but even
then he did comedy sketches.
Cameron Mitchell (1918-1994) [The Tall Men (1955), All Mine to Give (1957)] served as a
bombardier with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. His film career
began with minor roles dating back to 1945 but he quickly rose to young leading man status
opposite such stars as Wallace Beery in The Mighty McGurk, Doris Day and James Cagney in
Love Me or Leave Me, Lana Turner and Spencer Tracy in Cass Timberlane, Clark Gable and
Jane Russell in The Tall Men, and Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons in Desiree. He provided
the voice of Jesus in The Robe (1953). However, he turned to TV during the latter part of his
career and is remembered for his role of Uncle Buck in the western series, The High Chaparral
(1967 to 1971).
Gordon Mitchell (1923-2003) [The Ten Commandments (1956); Li'l Abner (1959)] was one of
those perfectly developed bodybuilders who jumped on the Steve Reeves bandwagon and
hightailed it to Italy to seek movie stardom as a Herculean strongman. Born in Denver, Colorado,
but raised in Inglewood, California, Mitchell served in World War II and at one point
became a prisoner of war. He later served in the Kprean War. After WWII he went to
college and became a high school teacher, albeit an imposing one, with his incredible physique.
He eventually became part of the "Muscle Beach" crowd and flexed his way into the
entertainment field as part of Mae West's musclebound revues, where he toured everywhere from
Las Vegas to the Latin Quarter with other abs abnormal actor wannabes such as Mickey
Hargitay, Brad Harris and Reg Lewis.
Robert Mitchum (1917-1997) [Action in the North Atlantic (1943); The Big Sleep (1978);
Backfire! (1995)] was born to a railroad worker who died in a train accident when he was two.
Robert and his siblings (including brother John Mitchum, later also an actor) were raised by his
mother and stepfather (a British army major) in Connecticut, New York, and Delaware. An early
contempt for authority led to discipline problems, and Mitchum spent good portions of his teen
years adventuring on the open road. On one of those trips, at the age of 14, he was charged with
vagrancy and sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, from which he escaped. Working a wide
variety of jobs (including ghostwriter for astrologist Carroll Righter), Mitchum discovered acting
in a Long Beach, California, amateur theater company. He served briefly in the US Army
during World War II, from April 12 to October 11, 1945, after being drafted. According to
Lee Server's 2001 biography Mitchum served as a medic at an induction center. Although he did
not want to join the military, he served honorably and was discharged as a Private First Class and
received the World War II Victory Medal.
Gerald Mohr (1914-1968) [Jungle Girl (1941); This Rebel Breed (1960)]. After a number of bit
parts, he finally won a noticeable role in Lady of Burlesque (1943) with Barbara Stanwyck, after
Orson Welles referred him to the film's director, William A. Wellman. Following World War II
service with the Air Force, Mohr returned to acting and found his niche in intrigue, playing the
title role in The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946) and its two sequels, along with Passkey to Danger
(1946), Dangerous Business (1946) and The Truth About Murder (1946).
Douglass Montgomery (1907-1966) [Paid (1930); Little Women (1933)] was born Robert
Douglass Montgomery. On stage in his teens, MGM scouts nabbed him, signed him up, and
changed his name to Kent Douglass for films but by World War II, his career had waned. He
enlisted with the Canadian infantry, serving for four years. Montgomery returned but was
scarcely noticed. He starred in a few routine British films following this period as Douglass
Montgomery, then returned to the US for a couple more and some TV work. He died in 1966.
George Montgomery (1916-2000) [The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939); The Daredevil (1972)]
was born George Montgomery Letz in Brady, Montana, the youngest of 15 children of Ukranian
immigrants. He was a heavyweight boxer before becoming an actor. He received many awards
during his lifetime, including the Ralph Morgan Award from the Screen Actor's Guild and The
Hollywood Westerner's Hall of Fame, Ronald Reagan Award. An excellent craftsman, he ran a
cabinet shop for over 40 years while directing and appearing in action movies. He also designed
and built 11 houses for friends and family. A self-taught artist, he created bronze busts of Clint
Eastwood, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Gene Autry and Randolph Scott. In later years he made
sculptures of Charles Farrell and ex-wife Dinah Shore; hers and those of his children and himself
sit at the Mission Hills Country Club, home of the Dinah Shore Golf Tournament. Some of his
sculptures are in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum and Library in Simi Valley, California.
Left Hollywood in 1943 to enlist in the US Army Air Corps and served the remainder of
World War II. After his discharge he went back to Hollywood and resumed his career.
Robert Montgomery (1904–1981) [The Big House (1930); Lady in the Lake (1947)]. During
World War II, he joined the Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. He served in
both the European and Pacific theaters of war, commanding PT Boats like those in the film
classic, They Were Expendable (1945), in which he starred with John Wayne.
Clayton Moore (1914-1999) [When Were You Born (1938); Wild Wild West (1999)] grew up in
Illinois and was a circus acrobat at the age of eight. He would work his way up to aerialist with
two circuses and also appear at the 1934 World's Fair. He then went to New York, where he
found work as a male model. Hollywood was his next stop and he entered films in 1938 as a bit
player and stuntman. He appeared in "B" pictures and serials through 1942, then entered the
military and served in World War II. After the war he returned to these supporting roles while
concentrating on westerns. By 1949 he was playing the "Masked Man," but that man was Zorro
in Ghost of Zorro (1949). In 1949 he was hired to appear in The Lone Ranger (1949), the
television version of the long-running radio show. He had to work on his voice so that he
sounded like the radio Lone Ranger. When he got that right, he became famous, along with
Tonto, on the small screen.
Dickie Moore (1925- ) [Object: Alimony (1928); Killer Shark (1950)] was born in Los Angeles
and made his acting and screen debut at the age of 18 months in the John Barrymore film The
Beloved Rogue (1927) as a baby, and by the time he had turned 10 he was a popular child star
and had appeared in 52 films. He continued as a child star for many more years, and became the
answer to the trivia question, "Who was the first actor to kiss Shirley Temple on screen?" when
that honor was bestowed upon him in 1942's Miss Annie Rooney (1942). He served in World
War II and attended college majoring in journalism. As with many child actors, once Dickie got
older the roles began to dry up. He made his last film in 1950, but was still in the public eye with
the 1949 to 1955 TV series Captain Video and His Video Rangers. He retired from acting at the
age of 29 for a new career in public relations.
Roger Moore (1927- ) was born in Stockwell, London, England, and will perhaps be always
remembered as the guy who replaced Sean Connery in the James Bond series, arguably
something he never lived down. Moore was born in Stockwell, London, the son of a policeman.
He first wanted to be an artist, but got into films full time after becoming an extra in the late
forties. Moore served in the British military during World War II. He came to America in
1953. Suave, handsome, and an excellent actor, he got a contract with MGM. His initial foray
met with mixed success, with movies like Diane (1956) and Interrupted Melody (1955), as well
as The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954). Moore went into television in the 1950s in shows like
"Ivanhoe" (1958) and "The Alaskans" (1959), but probably got the most recognition from
"Maverick" (1957), as cousin Beau. In 1962 he got his big breakthrough, at least internationally,
as "The Saint." The show made him a superstar and he became very successful thereafter. -[Text excerpted from IMDB]
Kenneth More (1914-1982) [Sink the Bismarck! (1960); The Forsyte Saga (1967)]. Affable,
bright and breezy Kenneth More epitomised the traditional English virtues of fortitude and fun.
At the height of his fame in the 1950s he was Britain's most popular film star and had appeared
in a string of box office hits including Genevieve (1953), Doctor in the House (1954), Reach for
the Sky (1956) and A Night to Remember (1958). He served throughout the Second World
War in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). He was "demobbed" in 1946 as a
lieutenant having served on the light-cruiser HMS Aurora as a Watch Keeping Officer, and the
aircraft carrier HMS Victorious as a Fighter Directions Officer.
Wayne Morris (1914-1959) [Kid Galahad (1937); Paths of Glory (1957)] had early success as a
sunny juvenile, but whose career declined following World War II, in which he was a highlydecorated hero. A native of Los Angeles, Morris played football at Los Angeles Juntior
College, then worked as a forest ranger. Returning to school, he studied acting at Los Angeles
Junior College and at the acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse. A Warner Bros. talent scout spotted
him at the Playhouse and he signed with the studio in 1936. Blond and open-faced, he was a
perfect type for boy-next-door parts and within a year had made a success in the title role of Kid
Galahad. While filming Flight Angels (1940), Morris became interested in flying and became a
pilot. With war in the wind, he joined the Naval Reserve and became a Navy flier in 1942,
leaving his film career behind for the duration of the war. Assigned to the carrier Essex in
the Pacific, Morris shot down seven Japanese planes and contributed to the sinking of five
ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. Following
the war, Morris returned to films, but his nearly four-year absence had cost him his burgeoning
stardom. He continued to topline movies, but the pictures, for the most part, sank in quality. He
suffered a massive heart attack while visiting aboard the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard in
San Francisco Bay and was pronounced dead after being transported to Oakland Naval Hospital
in Oakland, California. He was 45. [Text excerpted from IMDB]
Ernest Morrison (1912-1989) [The Soul of a Child (1916); Follow the Leader (1944)] aka
Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was most famous
as one of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids, and he was probably the most experienced actor of
that group. Morrison made his film debut while still an infant; his father worked for a wealthy
Los Angeles family that had connections in the film industry, and one day a producer who was
an acquaintance of his father's needed a baby for a scene and asked him to bring Sammy as a
replacement for a child who wasn't working out. Morrison pulled off the job like a trouper, and
his career was born. Morrison left the Dead End/East Side Kids when he was drafted into the
army during World War II, and after he got out he was offered his old job back, but declined
it. After a few more film roles, Morrison left show business entirely, took a job in an aircraft
assembly plant and spent the next 30 years in the aircraft industry.
Audie Murphy (1926-1971) [Destry (1954); To Hell and Back (1955)]. Little 5'5" tall 110
pounder from Texas who played cowboy parts. Murphy was the most Decorated serviceman
of World War II and earned: Medal of Honor; Distinguished Service Cross; 2 Silver Star
Medals; Legion of Merit; 2 Bronze Star Medals with 'V'; 2 Purple Hearts; U.S. Army
Outstanding Civilian Service Medal; Good Conduct Medal; 2 Distinguished Unit
Emblems; American Campaign Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal with One Silver Star; Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns); and
one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France);
World War II Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp; Armed
Forces Reserve Medal; Combat Infantry Badge; Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar; Expert
Badge with Bayonet Bar; French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre; French
Legion of Honor; Grade of Chevalier; French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star; French
Croix de Guerre with Palm; Medal of Liberated France; Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940
Palm.
George Neise (1917–1996) [They Raid by Night (1942); On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(1970)], aka George N. Neise, was an American character actor. He made over 120 film and
television appearances between 1942 and 1978. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Neise began his career
playing soldiers in war-themed films. After serving in World War II, Niese became an indemand character actor, playing eveything from Greek kings to angry bosses to airline pilots.
Modern audiences will remember Niese in the dual role as the patronizing pharmacist Ralph
Dimsal and powerful King Odius in the Three Stooges feature The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.
He also appeared as Martian Ogg and an unnamed airline pilot in the trio's next feature The
Three Stooges in Orbit. In addition to his film work, Niese appeared on sitcoms like Green
Acres, The Andy Griffith Show, The Addams Family, Hogan's Heroes and Get Smart to name a
few.
Barry Nelson (1917-2007) [Shadow of the Thin Man (1941); My Favorite Husband (1953)] was
born Robert Haakon Nielson in San Francisco, California, of Scandinavian heritage. He was an
American film, stage and television actor. Serving in WWII, he appeared in the Moss Hart
play Winged Victory, in what would become his Broadway debut, in 1943 and a year later
he appeared as "Corporal Barry Nelson" in the 1944 film version of the play. One of his
biggest claims to fame is that of having been the first person to play James Bond, on the
television show Climax! in 1954, based on the novel Casino Royale.
Paul Newman (1925-2008) [Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956); Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid (1969)]. By 1950, the 25 year old Newman had graduated high school, been
kicked out of Ohio University for unruly behavior, served three years in the Navy during
World War II as a radio operator, graduated from Ohio's Kenyon College, married his first
wife, Jackie, and had his first child, Scott. 1950 was also the year that Paul's father died. When
he became successful in later years, Newman said if he had any regrets it would be that his father
wasn't around to see it. He brought Jackie back to Shaker Heights (Cleveland, Ohio) and he ran
his father's sporting goods store for a short period. Then, knowing that wasn't the career path he
wanted to take, he moved Jackie and Scott to New Haven, Connecticut where he would attend
Yale University's School of Drama. While doing a play there, Paul was spotted by two agents
who invited him to come to New York City to pursue a career as a professional actor.
Alex Nicol (1916-2001) [The Sleeping City (1950); The Man from Laramie (1955)] was born
Alexander Livingston Nicol Jr. in Ossining, New York, the son of a prison warden there at Sing
Sing, and his wife, the matron of a detention center. Alex developed an early interest in acting
and originally trained at the Fagin School of Dramatic Art. On the stage from 1938, he soon
found work as an apprentice to Maurice Evans. Following a stage role in Return Engagement, his
newly-found career was interrupted by World War II. Follwing his five-year stretch as a
Tech Sergeant with the National Guard and Cavalry Unit, he became a student and eventual
charter member of Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. He also returned to Broadway in such shows as
Sundown Beach and South Pacific (in the ensemble as a Marine). Other post-war stage plays
included Waiting for Lefty, Forward the Heart and Mister Roberts, in which he took over Ralph
Meeker's role (as the sailor Minnion) and served as understudy to Henry Fonda. The pinnacle of
his Broadway career occurred when he replaced Ben Gazzara and received excellent reviews as
Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1956.
Leslie Nielsen (1926-) [City on Fire (1979); Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)] was
raised in Tulita (formerly Fort Norman), Northwest Territories, Canada. His father was a
mountie and a strict disciplinarian. His mother was Welsh. Leslie studied at the Academy of
Radio Arts in Toronto before moving on to New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. He is a
natuaralized U.S. citizen and an avid motorcylist living in Paradise Valley, AZ in June 2007.
During WWII, at age 17 1/2, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as an
aerial gunner.
David Niven (1910-1983) [Around the World in Eighty Days (1956); The Guns of Navarone
(1961)]. Suave, debonnaire, graduate of Sandhurst, was a Lt. Colonel with British Commandos
in Normandy. David Niven was named after the Saint's Day on which he was born, St. David,
patron Saint of Wales. He attended Stowe School and Sandhurst Military Academy and served
for two years in Malta with the Highland Light Infantry. At the outbreak of World War II,
although a top-line star, he re-joined the army (Rifle Brigade). He did, however, consent to
play in two films during the war, both of strong propaganda value--The First of the Few (1942)
and The Way Ahead (1944). In spite of six years' virtual absence from the screen, he came in
second in the 1945 Popularity Poll of British film stars. On his return to Hollywood after the
war he was made a Legionnaire of the Order of Merit (the highest American order that can
be earned by an alien). This was presented to Lt. Col. David Niven by Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
Tommy Noonan (1921-1968) [Boys Town (1938); Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967)] was
born Thomas Patrick Noone in Bellingham, Delaware. Slim, often bespectacled comedy
performer started off in experimental theater alongside his half-brother, actor John Ireland, who
went on to have an enviable career of his own. Tommy's career was interrupted by a stint in
the Navy during World War II, but returned to it following his discharge. Tommy wound
up in New York and briefly displayed his budding talents on Broadway before RKO signed him
up for post-war films and he relocated out West. By this time, brother John, who was already a
well-known film commodity, had met and married movie actress Joanne Dru, whose brother was
a singer/actor named Pete Marshall. With a solid background in comedy and burlesque, Noonan
hooked up with straight man Marshall to form the 1950s comedy duo of "Noonan and Marshall."
They appeared with a modicum of success in clubs and on TV, including "The Ed Sullivan
Show."
Louis Nye (1913 or 1922-2005) [The Facts of Life (1960); Cannonball Run II (1984)] (first
name pronounced Louie) was a master at sketch comedy, foreign accents and the quicksilver
adlib. He broke into the big time when he earned a regular gig on Steve Allen's comedy show
during the mid-50's Golden Age. His best known character, hands down, was the droll, effete
country-club braggart Gordon Hathaway with the forlorn-looking eyebrows whose off-the-cuff
catchphrase salutation to Allen, "Hi, ho, Steverino!," continues to have life in various shapes and
forms even today. Destiny led Louis to meet Carl Reiner while entertaining troops in World
War II. Both had entered the Army as regular soldiers, but due to their talents were soon
assigned to Special Services, performing in shows across the Pacific.
Hugh O'Brian (1923- ) [Red Ball Express (1952); The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955) on
TV; Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994)] was born in Rochester, New York, and had the
term "beefcake" written about him during his nascent film years in the early 1950s, but he chose
to avoid the obvious typecast as he set up his career. He first attended school at New Trier High
School in Winnetka, Illinois, then Kemper Military School in Booneville, Missouri. Moving
from place to place growing up, he managed to show off his athletic prowess quite early. By the
time he graduated from high school, he had lettered in football, basketball, wrestling and track.
Originally pursuing law, he dropped out of the University of Cincinnati in 1942 (age 19) and
enlisted in the Marine Corps for the duration of World War II. Upon his discharge he ended
up in Los Angeles.
Edmond O'Brien (1915–1985) [The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939); D.O.A. (1950)] was an
American film actor born in New York, New York. After returning from his wartime service
with the Army Air Force in World War II, O'Brien built a distinguished career as a supporting
actor in A-list films. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The
Barefoot Contessa (1954), and was also nominated for his role in Seven Days in May (1964).
Other notable films include White Heat (1949), The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Man Who
Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Longest Day (1964), and The
Wild Bunch (1969). He also appeared extensively in television. He died in Inglewood, California
of Alzheimer's Disease. O'Brien has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his
contribution to motion pictures at 1719 Vine Street, and television at 6523 Hollywood
Boulevard.
George O'Brien (1899-1985) [Woman-Proof (1923); Cheyenne Autumn (1964)] was the son of
the San Francisco Chief of Police who became a college athlete. He was the Heavyweight
Boxing Champion of the Pacific Fleet during World War I. In the early 1920s, George
wound up in Hollywood where he worked as a stuntman and part time actor. In 1924, Director
John Ford picked virtually unknown George to star in his first picture, The Iron Horse (1924).
Over the next two years, he appeared in four more Ford films and co-starred with Janet Gaynor
in The Blue Eagle (1926) and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927). "Sunrise," a winner of
two Academy Awards, was the story of a simple farmer who lets another woman talk him into
murdering his wife. George remained popular until sound came along. By that time, his
popularity was sliding, but he did make the transition to sound. With his rugged looks and
physical size, he was soon a Western Cowboy Star. He was in some of the best stories ever
written, Riders of the Purple Sage (1931), and in some of the worst. But he was consistently in
the Top Ten money-making Western Stars. He appeared in a few films outside the horse set,
such as Ever Since Eve (1934), but those roles were few. By the end of the 1930s, George was
still a popular 'B' movie Cowboy Star, but he would not take the parts as seriously as he did a
decade before. During World War II, he hung up his spurs, and re-enlisted in the Navy
where he fought in the Pacific and was decorated many times. He couldn't find work after the
war but his old director, John Ford, gave him parts with the cavalry in three of his films.
Carroll O'Connor (1924-2001) [In Harm's Way (1965); Kelly's Heroes (1970)] was born in
Manhattan and raised in Forest Hills, a community of Queens, New York. After high school in
1942, he joined the Merchant Marines and worked on ships in the Atlantic. In 1946, he
enrolled at the University of Montana to study English. While there, he became interested in
theater. During one of the amateur productions, he met his future wife, Nancy Fields, whom he
married in 1951. He moved to Ireland where he continued his theatrical studies at the National
University of Ireland. He was discovered during one of his college productions and was signed to
appear at the Dublin Gate Theater. He worked in theater in Europe until 1954 when he returned
to New York. His attempts to land on Broadway failed and he taught high school until 1958.
Finally in 1958, he landed an Off-Broadway production, Ulysses In Downtown. He followed that
with a production that was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. At the same time, he was getting
attention on TV. He worked in a great many character roles throughout the 1960s. A pilot for
Those Were The Days was first shot in 1968 based on the English hit, Till Death Do Us Part, but
was rejected by the networks. In 1971, it was re-shot and re-cast as All in the Family (19711979) and the rest is history.
Gerald S. O'Loughlin (1921- ) [A Hatful of Rain (1957); The Secret Kingdom (1998)]. Short,
dark, but tough-talking and rough-looking American character actor he received his start on the
stage after pondering a career in law. After a stint with the Marine Corps in World War II, he
used his GI bill income to train in New York at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Throughout the
early 50s, he was frequently seen on TV drama and highlighted his stage career with a national
tour of A Streetcar Named Desire as Stanley Kowalski with the incomparable Tallulah Bankhead
starring as Blanche DuBois, and with the role of mental patient Cheswick opposite Kirk Douglas'
Randle McMurphy in 1963's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on Broadway.
Patrick O'Neal (1927-1994) [The Mad Magician (1954); Under Siege (1992)] was born in
Ocala, Florida, of Irish descent. He served toward the end of World War II with the Air
Force and, in his late teens, was assigned to direct training shorts for the Signal Corps. A
graduate of the University of Florida at Gainesville, he subsequently moved to New York and
continued his dramatic studies at the Actor's Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse.
Peter Ortiz (1913-1988) [Rio Grande (1950); The Wings of Eagles (1957)] was born of FrenchSpanish parentage. Colonel Ortiz spoke 5 languages fluently and was the most decorated
Marine officer in World War II. He served in the O.S.S. and, before that, was the youngest
Sergeant in the French Foreign Legion. In 1940, he was wounded and captured by the
German invading army, he escaped and joined the U.S. Marines. Parachuting into France,
he became a Maquis (French underground) leader in 1944. He frequented a Lyons
nightclub to gain information from the German officers who also frequented the popular
club. One night, a German officer damned President Roosevelt, then the USA, and finally
the Marine Corps. Ortiz then excused himself, went to his apartment and changed into his
Marine Corps uniform. Returning to the club, he ordered a round then removed his
raincoat and stood there resplendent in full greens and decorations yelling, "A toast to
President Roosevelt!" Pointing his pistol at one German officer then another, they emptied
their glasses as he ordered another round to toast the USA then the Marine Corps! The
Germans again drained their glasses as he backed out leaving his astonished hosts and
disappeared into the night. After the war, Colonel Ortiz worked with director John Ford, also a
former OSS member. The films 13 Rue Madeleine (1947) and Operation Secret (1952) were
based on his exploits.
Bill Owen (1914-1999) [The Way to the Stars (1945); On the Fiddle (1961)] was born in Acton,
Middlesex, England, UK and became well-known for playing the same kind of blokes on both
film and TV. Born William Rowbotham, he was the son of a tram driver and laundress. He knew
early on that entertaining was the life for him. He worked in odd jobs as a printer's apprentice
and band vocalist to make do and, when he became of legal age, started playing drums in
London nightclubs and toured music halls with his own cabaret act to pay for acting classes. He
entertained at Butlin's holiday camps and performed in repertory, joining the Unity Theatre
where he attained respect as a stage producer. His career was interrupted by military service
in World War II with the Royal Army Ordinance Corps and was injured in an explosion
during battle training course. Returning to acting, he was taken to post-war films after notice
in a play.
Jack Paar (1918-2004) [Easy Living (1949); Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953)] was an
American radio and television talk show host. Paar began his broadcasting career in radio,
working first in Cleveland, Ohio and later, throughout the Midwest. After serving in World
War II, Paar tried his hand at acting and comedy, frequently appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show.
It was during an impressive stint as a guest host on Jack Benny's radio show that he caught the
attention of NBC officials who eventually offered him his most well known role, host of The
Tonight Show. Paar was the program's host from 1957 to 1962; after 1959 it was known as The
Jack Paar Show.
Jack Palance (1919-2006) [Shane (1953), Attack! (1956)]. Enlisted in the U.S. Army Air
Forces (later the U.S. Air Force) with the outbreak of World War II. His already rugged face
was disfigured and he suffered severe head injuries when he bailed out of a burning B-24
Liberator bomber while on a training flight over southern Arizona where he was a student pilot.
Plastic surgeons repaired the damage as best they could but he was left with a distinctive,
somewhat gaunt look. After much reconstructive surgery he was discharged in 1944. He later
said of the crash: "There are some moments you never get over. That was one of them."
Byron Palmer (1920-2009) [Tonight We Sing (1953); Emergency Hospital (1956)] was born in
Los Angeles, the second of four children of Etheleyn and Judge Harlan G. Palmer. His father
was publisher of the then-Hollywood Citizen News. Following high school, Byron attended
Occidental College in the L.A. area and earned money writing up obituaries for his father's
newspaper before being hired as a CBS page. Blessed with a fine speaking voice he eventually
found work on both NBC and CBS radio as an announcer and actor. His career was interrupted
by World War II in which he served in the Army Air Force and operated a radio station on
one of the islands in the Pacific. He also performed with the Music Mates singing quartet as
its tenor.
Geoffrey Palmer (1927- ) [A Prize of Arms (1962); Ring of Spies (1964)] was born in London.
He worked in an imports office and then as an accountant before his girlfriend persuaded him to
join the local amateur dramatics society. Eventually he became assistant stage manager at
Croydon's Grand Theatre, and then spent several years touring with rep. His first roles on TV
came in comedy series such as those of Harry Worth and Arthur Askey. He is now a familiar
face on British television. He served as a corporal in the Royal Marines in World War II. He
was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's New
Years Honours List for his services to Drama.
Jerry Paris (1925-1986) [The Caine Mutiny (1954); Police Academy 3: Back in Training
(1986)] was born William Gerald Paris in San Francisco, California. His father was a Russian
immigrant; his mother, the former Esther Mohr, remarried when Jerry was a small child. Jerry's
new stepfather, Milton Grossman, eventually adopted the boy and Jerry thereafter used the name
William Gerald Grossman while growing up. He reverted back to his real name when he became
an actor. Glimpsed here and there throughout the 1950s in amiable acting supports on film, it
was as a TV produer amd director that Jerry Paris found his true calling. In front of the camera,
however, most fans will remember him quite fondly as the neighborhood dentist to Dick Van
Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore on Van Dyke's treasured TV comedy sitcom of the 60s. Jerry
graduated from both New York University and UCLA and studied at the Actor's Studio after
serving in the Navy during World War II.
Michael Pate (1920-2008) [The Rugged O'Riordans (1950); Hondo (1953); Mad Dog Morgan
(1976)] was born Edward John Pate in Drummoyne, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales,
Australia. He got his career start as an interviewer on the government's radio station. Pate also
worked on the Australian stage and in Down Under movies before relocating to th e U.S. in the
early 1950s to appear in Universal's Thunder on the Hill, the film version of a Charlotte Hastings
play (Bonaventure) in which he had appeared. Pate acted in many American films and TV series,
then returned to Australia in the late '60s and worked (again) in that country's film industry; he
co-starred in his own Aussie TV series, Matlock Police. Pate also began working behind the
camera; one of his best-known writing-producing-directing credits is Tim, the story of the
relationship between an older woman (Piper Laurie) and a retarded young man (Mel Gibson).
During World War II he served in the Australian Army in the SWPA unit. He was later
seconded to the 1st Australian Army Amenities Entertainment Unit--The Islanders--in
various combat areas.
Nigel Patrick (1913-1981) was a British actor, born Nigel Dennis Wemyss in London, England.
He made his stage debut in 1932 but didn't make a major impact in films until after his service in
World War II. In the 1950s he became a popular, debonair leading man in British films,
including Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1950), The Pickwick Papers (1952), The Sound
Barrier (1952), Sapphire (1959) and The League of Gentlemen (1959). He was later successful
on stage and television (in the series Zero One) in the 1960s, and still occasionally returned to
films for major productions like Battle of Britain (1969). He also starred in and directed two
films, How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957) and Johnny Nobody (1960). He was married to the
actress Beatrice Campbell until her death in 1979.
Pat Paulsen (1927-1997) [Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968); Auntie Lee's
Meat Pies (1992)] was born to a Norwegian-American family that lived in a small fishing town
in Washington State. The family moved to California when he was 10, and after graduating from
high school, Pat joined the U.S. Marine Corps during the waning days of World War II.
Demobilized after the war, Paulsen worked a variety of jobs, including postal clerk, truck driver,
hod carrier, and miner. He attended San Francisco City College on the G.I. bill. After college,
Paulsen joined an acting company before forming a comedy trio that included his brother Lorin,
who continues to entertain with a one man show as Abraham Lincoln.
John Payne (1912-1989) [Dodsworth (1936) Miracle on 34th Street (1947); They Ran for Their
Lives (1968)] was born John Howard Payne, 28 May 1912, Roanoke, Virginia, and died 6
December 1989, Malibu, California, of congestive heart failure. Graduated from Roanoke
College. Studied singing at the Juilliard School of Music and acting at Columbia University.
Supplemented his studies by making money as a professional wrestler, before landing his first
acting job as understudy to Beatrice Lillie in the 1935 revue At Home Abroad. He served as a
pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Was a singer in 20th Century-Fox
musicals during his early career. He was the first person in Hollywood interested in making the
James Bond novels into a film series. In 1955 he paid a $1,000-a-month option for 9 months on
the Bond novel Moonraker (he eventually gave up the option when he learned he couldn't retain
the rights for the entire 007 series). He was a direct descendant of John Howard Payne (17911852), composer of the classic song Home, Sweet Home ("Be it ever so humble, there's no place
like home."). The gap in his career from 1962 to 1968 was the result of a terrible automobile
wreck, in which he suffered extensive, life-threatening injuries. In his later roles, facial scars can
be detected in close-ups.
Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) was born and grew up in Fresno, CA, when it was still a sleepy
town. Sam served in the Marine Corps during World War II but - to his disappointment did not see combat. After drifting through several jobs he got a gofer job with director Don
Siegel who took a shine to him and used him on several of his pictures. Peckinpah eventually
became a scriptwriter for such TV programs as "Gunsmoke" (1955) and "The Rifleman" (1958)
and was the creator of the critically acclaimed western series "The Westerner" (1960). In 1961 he
directed his first film, the nondescript western The Deadly Companions (1961). The next year
things got better, however. His four-star Ride the High Country (1962) featured the final screen
appearance of Randolph Scott. Then came major problems with Major Dundee (1965), the film
that brought to light his volatile reputation. On location in Mexico Peckinpah's abrasive manner,
exacerbated by booze and marijuana, provoked usually even-keeled Charlton Heston to threaten
to run him through with a cavalry saber. Post-production conflicts led to a bitter and ultimately
losing battle with the film's producer, Jerry Bresler, and Columbia Pictures over the final cut and,
as a result, the disjointed effort fizzled at the box office. His second marriage now failing,
Peckinpah did not begin his next project for two years, but it was the one for which he will
always be remembered. The success of The Wild Bunch (1969) rejuvenated his career and
propelled him through highs and lows in the 1970s.
Leo Penn (1921-1998) was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and died of lung cancer in Los
Angeles, California. He was married to actress Eileen Ryan and is the father of actors Sean Penn
and Chris Penn, and musician Michael Penn. He studied drama and subsequently acted in
campus plays at the U. of Calif. and was signed to a contract by Paramount in 1945 after serving
as a bombardier with the 8th Air Force during World War II. His contract with Paramount
was not renewed and he was blacklisted in Hollywood after his activism in the Communist Party
was revealed by the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). He was mostly a
television director, producer, writer, and actor of the 1950s through 1990s although he had a little
work in motion pictures before being blacklisted. It's interesting that his son, Sean, has continued
the same un-American activities (cuddling up to Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez) as his father
while enjoying a full measure of capitalism.
Jack Pennick (1895-1964) [The Lone Eagle (1927); Drums Along the Mohawk (1939); Mister
Roberts (1955)] was an American film actor, a familiar face, primarily in the movies of John
Ford. He was born in Portland, Oregon, the son of gold miner Albert R. and Bessie (Murray)
Pennick. After himself working as a gold miner, Pennick joined the U.S. Marine Corps and
served, with the Pekin Legation Guard, in China in 1912 and in World War I. He and his
first wife, Grechin, had two children by the time he was twenty. He had a third child with his
second wife, Nona Lorraine. After the First World War, Pennick worked as a horse wrangler and
got work as such in various film productions. His rather unforgettably unattractive face caught
the attention of filmmakers, particularly Ford, and Pennick began to work as an actor, as well as
occasionally as a military technical adviser. Pennick reenlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, at the
age of 46. He served as Chief Petty Officer under Commander John Ford in the Field
Photographic Unit and, according to Ford, was decorated with the Silver Star medal for
action in which he was wounded at Majaz al Bab, Tunisia during World War II. He
continued to appear in films after the war, his career waning simultaneously with Ford's. He died
in Manhattan Beach, California.
Nehemiah Persoff (1919- ) [The Naked City (1948) (uncredited); 4 Faces (1999)] was born in
Jerusalem, Israel, and emigrated with his family to America in 1929. Following schooling at the
Hebrew Technical Institute of New York, he found a job as a subway electrician doing signal
maintenance until an interest in the theater altered the direction of his life. He joined amateur
groups and subsequently won a scholarship to the Dramatic Workshop in New York. This led to
what would have been his Broadway debut in a production of Eve of St. Mark, but he was fired
before the show opened. He made his official New York debut in a production of The Emperor's
New Clothes in 1940. World War II interrupted his young career in 1942 but he returned to
the stage after his hitch in the army was over three years later.
Jon Pertwee (1919-1996) was born John Devon Roland Pertwee. He is most famous for his
roles in the science fiction television series Doctor Who as the third Doctor (see List of Doctor
Who serials) and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge. During World War II he
served in the RNVR as an officer. He was appointed to HMS Hood from which he was
extremely fortunate to be returned to shore shortly before that vessel was sunk by the
Bismarck. He was also a talented comedian, his most famous comedy role being the conniving
Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark on BBC Radio. He also appeared in Carry on Cleo (1964),
Carry On Screaming! (1966), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) and
Carry On Cowboy (1965).
House Peters Jr (1916-2008) [The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (1936); Sheriff of Wichita
(1949); The Great Sioux Massacre (1965)] spent over 32 years in Hollywood as a wellrespected, journeyman character actor and occasional star of B-movies. Beginning his career in
the 1935 film Hot Tip, he went on to portray mostly supporting characters and a host of baddies
in a large number of stage roles, films, serials, TV shows and commercials. House was born into
an acting family; the son of silent screen star House Peters Sr. and actress Mae King Peters.
Affectionately known as "Junior" or "Juny" by friends and relatives, he grew up in Beverly Hills,
attended local schools with many children of Hollywood's elite, and dove into the acting business
upon graduation from Beverly Hills High with modest success. With his new career put on hold
because of World War II, House served in the U.S. Army Air Corps' Air Sea Rescue section
as a small boat operator. Meeting and subsequently marrying Lucy Pickett during his tour in
the Phillipines, he returned home after the war and resumed his career.
Leslie Phillips (1924- ) [The Woman with No Name (1950); Out of Africa (1985)] is a comic
actor who has specialized in playing plummy, quintessentially English stereotypes. He received
elocution lessons as a child in order to lose his natural cockney accent (at that time a regional
British accent was a major impediment to an aspiring actor) and he attended the Italia Conti
School. During World War II he served with the Durham Light Infantry (1942-45) until he
was invalided out suffering from shellshock. He returned to acting, and it was during the
1950s that he established himself as a notable player in British movies. His greatest claim to
fame to this day are the "Doctor" series of movies, which he inherited from Dirk Bogarde. He
also worked on radio, most notably "The Navy Lark" for the BBC. In later life, he returned to
playing supporting roles and even appeared in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. He
continues to make cameo appearances in films.
Paul Picerni (1922- ) []. Born on Long Island, New York, Paul Picerni had aspirations to
become an attorney until he acted in an eighth grade play and later learned that the school
principal liked his performance and called him "a born actor". He next appeared in little theater
productions, then on the stage at Loyola University after World War II. During his enlistment
as a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Forces, he flew 25 combat missions and received the
Distinguished Flying Cross. He was the bombardier on the plane that bombed and
destroyed the real bridge made famous in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).
Picerni was acting in a play in Hollywood when he was spotted by Solly Biano, head of talent at
Warner Brothers; brought out to the studio, the young actor was given a role in Breakthrough
(1950). This WWII actioner turned out to be aptly named, as it led to a Warners contract for
Picerni and a long succession of roles at that studio. Picerni may be best known for his second
banana role on the TV classic "The Untouchables" (1959) with Robert Stack.
Edward Platt (1916-1974) [Police detective Ray Fremick in Rebel Without A Cause (1955);
North by Northwest (1959); tv: The Chief in Get Smart (1965-1970)]. Served as a radio
operator with the U.S. Army in WWII.
Donald Pleasence (1919-1995) [The Great Escape (1963)]. An R. A. F. pilot in WWII, he was
shot down, held prisoner, and tortured by the Germans. The only actor to have appeared in both
The Great Escape (1963) and its TV sequel, The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988) (TV).
Ironically, he played one of the would-be great escapees in the first film and one of the German
executioners in the second. Strangely he even played the role of the SS and Gestapo chief,
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, in the film The Eagle Has Landed (1976).
Sidney Poitier (1927- ) [Blackboard Jungle (1955); In the Heat of the Night (1967)] was born in
Miami during a mainland visit by his parents who were native of Cat Island, The Bahamas. At
18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. He enlisted in U.S.
Navy during World War II, lying about his age and was assigned to the 1267th Medical
Detachment at a Veterans hospital for psychiatric patients. Poitier was discharged one year
and eleven days after enlisting, all prior to his eighteenth birthday.
Eric Porter (1928-1995) [The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964); Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)]
was born and died in London, England. He was a highly respected Shakespearean actor for five
decades until his death of colon cancer. Ironically, Porter's claim to international fame would be
outside the classical realm, with one superb portrayal in one superb miniseries, The Forsyte Saga
(1967), in which he won the BAFTA award. During World War II he joined the National
Service with the RAF.
Tom Poston (1921-2007) was born in Columbus, Ohio and spent his early years in Ohio,
Maryland and Washington, D.C. Following high school, he enrolled in West Virginia's Bethany
College as chemistry major. At the outbreak of World War II, he and his brother Richard
enlisted in the Air Force and served as pilots. Based in France, Captain Poston happened
upon a magazine article about Charles Jehlinger, then the creative head of the famed
American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Upon returning, he was admitted to the academy's twoyear program and began his training as an actor. Poston has starred in several top television
series over the past three decades earning numerous Emmy Award nominations. He won the
Emmy for his portrayal of his befuddled everyman on The Steve Allen Show, and was nominated
for his roles as Mr. Bickley on Mork and Mindy -- as well as his lovable handyman on Newhart.
He also starred on the series Grace Under Fire and in the Castle Rock feature The Story of Us.
Tyrone Power (1914-1958) [Jesse James (1939); The Sun Also Rises (1957)]. Was an
established movie star when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Nevertheless he joined the U.S. Marines,
became a pilot and flew supplies into, and wounded Marines out of, Iwo Jima and
Okinawa. He returned to the states in Nov 1945 and was released from active duty in Jan 1946.
He was promoted to Captain in the reserves on May 8, 1951 but was not recalled for service in
the Korean War.
Robert Preston (1918-1987) [Beau Geste (1939); The Last Starfighter (1984)] appeared in
many Hollywood films, but is probably best remembered as Professor Harold Hill in Meredith
Willson's musical, The Music Man, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a
Musical in 1958. In 1962, he starred in the film version. In 1946, after serving in England with
the Army Air Corps, Preston married Kay Feltus (aka Catherine Craig) whom he had known in
Pasadena. Although he was not a singer, he appeared in several other film musicals, notably
Mame in 1974 and Victor/Victoria (1982), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor. His last major film role was in 1984's The Last Starfighter.
Dennis Price (1915-1973) [A Place of One's Own (1945); The World of Wooster (1965)] was
born Dennistoun John Franklyn Rose-Price in Berkshire, England. The son of a brigadiergeneral, he was expected to abide by his family wishes and make a career in the army or the
church. Instead he became an actor. First on stage (Oxford University Dramatic Society) where
he debuted with John Gielgud in Richard II in 1937, he was further promoted in the theatre by
Noel Coward. In 1940, Price joined the Royal Artillery, where he served in Worlde War II
until being wounded in 1942. His brother Arthur, who had joined the RAF, was shot down
and killed in the Battle of Britain. Returning to England in 1942, he resumed his career,
touring with Noel Coward in This Happy Breed, and other plays Coward's company produced.
Bernard Punsly (1923-2004) [Dead End (1937); Tough As They Come (1942)] was born in New
York City, the son of a tailor. Punsly reportedly only tried out for the original stage production of
Dead End on a whim, joining Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Billy Halop and Gabriel
Dell in the show's gang of street urchins. Once the play was a hit, producer Samuel Goldwyn was
keen to adapt the gritty drama to film and brought the six young actors to Hollywood to reprise
their roles. After appearing in his final film of the Dead End Kids series, Mug Town (1943),
Punsly left show business and enlisted in the Army, where he received some medical training
during World War II. Upon leaving the military, he enrolled in the University of Georgia's
Medical College. After graduation Punsley opened a practice in Torrance, California as a doctor
of internal medicine. He also served as chief of staff at South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach,
California.
Denver Pyle (1920-1997) made a career of playing drawling, somewhat slow Southern types but
he was actually born in Colorado to a farming family. He attended a university for a time but
dropped out to become a drummer. When that didn't pan out he drifted from job to job, doing
everything from working the oil fields in Oklahoma to the shrimp boats in Texas. In 1940 he
moseyed off to Los Angeles and briefly found work as an NBC page. That particular career was
interrupted by World War II, and Pyle enlisted in the navy. Wounded in the battle of
Guadalcanal, he received a medical discharge in 1943. Working for an aircraft plant in Los
Angeles as a riveter he was introduced to the entertainment field after receiving a role in an
amateur theater production and getting spotted by a talent scout. Training with such renowned
teachers as Maria Ouspenskaya and Michael Chekhov, he made his film debut in The Guilt of
Janet Ames (1947). Prematurely white-haired (a family trait), he developed a close association
with actor John Wayne, appearing in many of Wayne's later films, including The Horse Soldiers
(1959), The Alamo (1960), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cahill U.S. Marshal
(1973). He settled easily into hillbilly / mountain men types in his later years and became a
household face for his crotchety presence in The Dukes of Hazzard (1979).
Robert Quarry (1925-2009) [Count Yorga, Vampire (1970); Rollercoaster (1977)] was born in
Santa Rosa, California. His father was a doctor. Robert's grandmother first introduced him to the
world of theater. Quarry was on the swimming team in high school which he finished at age 14.
In the early 40s he was a busy juvenile actor on the radio; he even had a regular part on the Dr.
Christian program. He joined the Army Combat Engineers at age 18 during World War II
and formed a theatrical group which put on a hit production of the play The Hasty Heart
that Quarry both acted in and helped produce. Quarry made his film debut with a small role
in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). He acted alongside Paul Newman in both
Winning (1969) and WUSA (1970).
Anthony Quayle (1913-1989) [Lawrence of Arabia (1962); The Fall of the Roman Empire
(1964)] was born John Anthony Quayle in Ainsdale, Southport, Lancashire (now Aindale,
Sefton, Merseyside), England, UK. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the
British Empire) in 1952 and awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 1985
for his services to drama. He was a British army Major during World War II and then played
one in The Guns of Navarone (1961). He was nominated for Broadway's 1956 Tony Award as
Best Featured or Supporting Actor (Dramatic) for his role in the play, Tamburlaine the Great. He
formed his own theatre company, 'Compass' which toured the provinces introducing theatre to
new audiences.
Ford Rainey (1908-2005) [White Heat (1949) (uncredited); Purgatory Flats (2002)] was an
American character actor of stage, films, and television. A native of Idaho, Rainey was the son of
a colorful character who was, among many other things, a champion of local dance contests. As
a boy, Rainey was painfully shy, but found an outlet in school plays. He pursued stage work in
regional companies, then went to New York to study with the legendary Michael Chekhov. He
worked numerous "civilian" jobs while attempting to make a career as an actor, including work
as a logger, a lineman, and a licensed carpenter. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during
World War II, then went to California where he helped start the Ojai Valley Players and then
acted in his first film in 1949. He became a familiar face in films and television shows of all sorts
during the next five decades while maintaining a deep attachment to the theatre. In his ninetieth
year, he played Giles Corey in "The Crucible" at Theatricum Botanicum, the Topanga, California
theatre founded by his friend, the late Will Geer.
Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) [Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957);
The Odd Couple TV series (1970-1975); Down with Love (2003)] was born Arthur Leonard
Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia (née Finston) and Mogscha
Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer. He attended Tulsa Central High School and then
Northwestern University for a year before traveling to New York City to study at the
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He studied under Sanford Meisner and
choreographer Martha Graham around 1935. As Anthony Randall, he worked onstage opposite
stars Jane Cowl in George Bernard Shaw's Candida and Ethel Barrymore in Emlyn Williams's
The Corn Is Green. Randall then served for four years with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in
World War II, refusing an entertainment assignment with Special Services. Then he worked
at the Olney Theatre in Montgomery County, Maryland before heading back to New York City.
Prior to his appearance in Candida, Randall worked as an announcer at radio station WTAG,
Worcester MA.
Ron Randell (1918-2005) [It Had to Be You (1947); Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961)] was
born in Sidney, Australia hwere he began his six-decade-long career in his teens on radio for the
Australian Broadcasting Commission. He promptly moved to stage where he acted with the
Minerva Theatre Group from 1937 to 1946, while intermittently appearing in Australian films,
which was interupted for service as a fighter pilot in the Australian Air Force during WW
II. He shot down five Japanese planes in combat.
John Randolph (1915-2004) [The Naked City (1948); Prizzi's Honor (1985)] was born Emanuel
Cohen in the Bronx, NY. He was a Tony Award-winning character actor whose union and social
activism in the '40s and '50s caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He was not a
household name, but he was a regular face in movies and TV for over four decades. He began his
dramatic training in the '30s, studying under Stella Adler and changing his name to the less
ethnic moniker of "John Randolph". He served in the Army Air Force during WWII. He
married actress Sarah Cunningham in Chicago in 1945 while performing in Orson Welles's stage
production of Native Son.
Monte Rawlins (1907-1988) [Hop-a-long Cassidy (1935); Across the Plains (1939] was born
Dean Spencer in Yakima, Washington. His job as an aerial barnstormer in the 1930s landed him
some aerial stuntwork in a few films. His big break came when he got the starring role in The
Adventures of the Masked Phantom (1939), but the film, an independent effort, didn't have major
studio backing and wound up being distributed via the states-rights system. After a few more
small roles, Rawlins joined the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. He stayed in the
Marine Reserves after the war ended and was called up for service during the Korean
conflict. In civilian life he had given up acting and took up a career in the sound recording field,
first at Monogram Pictures and then at Walt Disney Studios. After retiring from Disney he
moved to Hawaii, where he lived until his death.
Aldo Ray (1926-1991) [Battle Cry (1955); The Naked and the Dead (1958)] was born Aldo
DaRe in the borough of Pen Argyl, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He attended the
University of California at Berkley, served as a US Navy frogman during WWII and saw
action on Iwo Jima. While constable of Crockett, California, Ray drove his brother Guido to an
audition for the film Saturday's Hero (1951). Director David Miller hired him for a small role as
a cynical football player. Ray's husky frame, thick neck and raspy voice made him perfect for
playing tough sexy roles. He was one of the reminiscing lovers in George Cukor's The Marrying
Kind (1952) and starred opposite Rita Hayworth in Miss Sadie Thompson (1953). Ray died of
throat cancer on 27 March 1991. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Gene Rayburn (1917-1999) [It Happened to Jane (1959) - TV game show host: Tic Tac Dough
(1956); Dough Re Mi (1958); The Match Game (1962)] was born Eugene Rubessa in
Christopher, Illinois and died in Gloucester, Massachusetts of congestive heart failure. After
Rayburn's father died at a very young age, his mother moved to Chicago and married Milan
Rubessa, and Gene adopted his stepfather's name. As Gene Rubessa, he acted in high school
plays and hoped to follow an acting career. He moved to New York City in the 1930s where he
was a page for NBC, later working as an usher for the NBC symphony orchestra. Before World
War II, he went to announcers school and worked with various radio personalities around New
York City. He married Helen Tricknor, in 1940, with whom he had one child, Lynn, in 1942.
Soon afterwards, he was called to Military Service and joined the U.S. Air Corps. After the
war, Gene worked on the Rayburn and Finch Show and, later, the Gene Rayburn Show in the
early fifties.
Martha Raye (1916-1994) [Rhythm on the Range (1936); The Phynx (1970)] was born Margaret
Teresa Yvonne Reed in Butte, Montana, backstage at a local vaudeville theatre where her songand-dance Irish immigrant parents Pete Reed and Mabelle Hooper were performing. Two days
later her mother was back doing the act. Martha became an overnight star in 1936, after being
spotted by producer/ director Norman Taurog performing comedy skits at the Trocadero
nightclub, with Jimmy Durante and Joe E. Lewis as straight men. She was in front of the cameras
the following day, doing a comic drunk routine in Bing Crosby's Rhythm on the Range. She had
so little formal schooling that her scripts had to be read to her. She entertained U.S. troops with
the USO service organization during World War II and conflicts in Korea, and Viet Nam.
Troops lovingly called her "Colonel Maggie" but the rank of Lt. Colonel and membership
of the Green Beret Special Forces unit were both honorary. The entertainer was also an
honorary Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. She was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in November 1993 by President Bill Clinton and died of pneumonia a
year later at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She is buried at Fort Bragg, NC,
the only woman buried in the special forces part of the cemetery.
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911–2004) [Knute Rockne All American (1940); Hellcats of the Navy
(1957)] was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of
California (1967–1975). After completing fourteen home-study Army Extension Courses,
Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on April 29, 1937, as a private assigned to Troop
B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moines, Iowa. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Officers
Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on May 25, 1937, and on June 18 was assigned to the 323rd
Cavalry. Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time on April 18, 1942. Due to his
nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from
serving overseas. His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort
Mason, California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Upon the approval
of the Army Air Force (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on May 15,
1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 1st Motion Picture Unit
(officially, the "18th AAF Base Unit") in Culver City, California. On January 14, 1943 he was
promoted to First Lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is
The Army at Burbank, California. He returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit after completing
this duty and was promoted to Captain on July 22, 1943.
In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate
in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was re-assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit on
November 14, 1944, where he remained until the end of World War II. He was recommended for
promotion to Major on February 2, 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on July 17
of that year. He returned to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty
on December 9, 1945. By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films
for the AAF.
Tom Reese (1928- ) [Marines, Let's Go (1961); North Dallas Forty (1979)] was born "Tom
Allen" in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His father and uncle were country-western singers, "The
Chattanooga Boys," that traveled around performing their bluegrass music with the family,
including Tom, in tow. Around 1940 the Allens relocated to New York, where Tom's dad
supported the family working as a steelworker in the daytime and a singing waiter at night. Tom
later held the expected assortment of odd jobs (Automat busboy, usher, etc.) in New York, and
(starting at 17) served two tours of duty in the Marine Corps, missing WW II by just
weeks. He later studied dramatics at the American Theater Wing under the G.I. Bill and spent 15
years on the road working nightclubs (emceeing, stand-up, etc.). He studied with Lee Strasberg,
did some work off-Broadway and in local TV shows and made his film bow in John Cassavetes'
New York-made Shadows (1959). Cassavetes also had Reese fly to Hollywood for a part in an
episode of his detective series "Johnny Staccato" (1959), Reese's Hollywood debut. He was
ready to return to New York after doing the show but an agent signed him "and I've been here
[California] ever since." His first major film was Flaming Star (1960), an Elvis Presley western
and the start of Reese's long career in big- and small-screen oaters, including "Gunsmoke"
(1955) "Bonanza" (1959), "The Virginian" (1962), "Rawhide" (1959) and "Branded" (1965). In
July 2006, Reese was a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, NC along with Ben Murphy,
Roger Davis, Steve Kanaly, Mark Goddard, Marjorie Lord, Coleen Gray, Ronnie Schell, Russ
Tamblyn, and Cheryl Rogers.
George Reeves (1914-1959) [The Monroe Doctrine (1939); Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956);
tv, Clark Kent in Adventures of Superman (104 episodes, 1951-1958)] was raised in Pasadena,
California, and educated at Pasadena Junior College. He was a skilled amateur boxer and
musician. He interned as an actor at the famed Pasadena Playhouse, and was discovered there.
He was cast as Stuart Tarleton in Gone with the Wind (1939). Over the next ten years he was
contracted to Warners, Fox and Paramount. He achieved near-stardom as the male lead in So
Proudly We Hail! (1943), but war service interrupted his career, and after he returned it
never regained the same level. While in the Army Air Corps he appeared on Broadway in
Winged Victory, then made training films. Career difficulties after the war led him to move to
New York for live television.
Steve Reeves (1926-2000) [Jail Bait (1954); Vivo per la tua morte (1968)] was originally a
Montana boy born on a cattle ranch in 1926. His destiny was revealed early in the game when, at
the age of six months, he won his first fitness title as "Healthiest Baby of Valley County." His
father Lester died in a farming accident when Steve was just a boy, and his family moved to
Oakland, California. He first developed an interest in bodybuilding while in high school. He
joined the Army in his late teens where his job was loading boxcars and trucks. He also
worked out loyally at the gym during his free time and the combination helped develop his
body quite rapidly. Following Army service (he served for a time in the Pacific), he decided
to pursue bodybuilding professionally.
Carl Reiner (1922- ) [The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966); Dead Men
Don't Wear Plaid (1982)] is a true comedy legend. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he
has made a lasting impact on the worlds of television, films, comedy albums and books. He first
came to fame during the Golden Age of Television as a co-star on Your Show of Shows (19501954). He would later change the face of television comedy with the creation of The Dick Van
Dyke Show (1961-1966). As a filmmaker, he directed such movies as Oh, God! (1977) and The
Jerk (1979). The Directors Guild of America presented him with its Honorary Life Member
Award. Born in the Bronx, Reiner enrolled in drama school at age 16, and soon landed a part in
an updated version of The Merry Widow. During World War II, he trained as a radio
operator in the Air Force and studied French to serve as an interpreter. He continued to
entertain as a comedian and actor with Maurice Evans' Special Services Entertainment
Unit, touring the Pacific for eighteen months in G.I. revues.
Bert Remsen (1925-1999) was an American character actor (mostly TV) who became a casting
director following an accident, then returned to acting years later. The son of a New York
policeman, Remsen lived a colorful life before turning to acting. He was a World War II
veteran who served as a coxswain on a destroyer. He won a Purple Heart during his tour of
duty.
Don Rickles (1926- ) is one of the most respected talents in entertainment. He got his start in
night clubs, toiling for over 20 years before his film debut in Run Silent Run Deep (1958). The
movie was a big hit and Rickles continued acting, starring in films like X (1963), Bikini Beach
(1964), Enter Laughing (1967), and Kelly's Heroes (1970). In 1973 Don became a regular on
Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts. From 1973 until 1984 Don appeared frequently on Dean's show,
paying tribute to some of his friends, like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball. He was even
the roast master on the roast for Dean Martin himself. In 1976 Don got his own TV series,
"C.P.O. Sharkey," which enjoyed a two year run. After 1984, Don began taking it easy,
appearing in a few minor film roles. But, in 1995 he made a big comeback, appearing as the
grouchy Mr. Potato Head with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in Toy Story. In 1999 he returned as
Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 2. Rickles served in the US navy aboard the USS Cyrene in
World War II. -- [Text excerpted from IMDB]
Jason Robards, Jr. (1922-2000) [A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966); All the President's Men
(1976)]. Son of stage and film star Jason Robards Sr., he was born in Chicago, but raised mostly
in Los Angeles. A star athlete at Hollywood HS, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II,
where he saw combat as a radioman. Contrary to popular rumors, he is not listed in official
rolls of Navy Cross winners, despite claims some -- not he -- have made. Neither was he at Pearl
Harbor during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack. His ship was at sea at the time.
Chuck Roberson (1919-1988) [Outcasts of Black Mesa (1950); Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)]
was born near Shannon, Clay County, Texas, the son of Allie W. and Jannie Hamm Roberson.
Raised on cattle ranches in Shannon, Texas, and Roswell, New Mexico, he left school at 13 to
become a cowhand and oilfield roughneck. He married and took his wife and daughter to
California, where he joined the Culver City Police Department and guarded the gate at MGM
studios. Following army service in World War II, he returned to the police force. During duty
at Warner Bros. studios during a labor strike he met stuntman Fred Kennedy who alerted him to
a stunt job at Republic Pictures. Roberson got the job, due both to his expert horsemanship and
his resemblance to John Carroll, whom Roberson doubled in his first picture, Wyoming (1947).
His close physical resemblance to John Wayne led to nearly 30 years as Wayne's stunt double.
He often played small roles and stunted in other roles in the same film, which frequently resulted
in his "shooting" himself once the picture was cut together. He graduated to larger supporting
roles in westerns for Wayne and John Ford, and to a parallel career as a second-unit director. At
the time of his death, he was one of the most respected stunt men in Hollywood.
Pernell Roberts (1928-2010) [Desire Under the Elms (1958); Checkered Flag (1990)] was born
Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. in Waycross, Georgia, he was singing in local USO shows while still
in high school, where he appeared in plays and played the horn. Although he appeared in more
than two hundred movies and TV shows, he may be best remembered as Adam Cartwright, the
eldest son of the Carwright clan, on the long running TV series, Bonanza. He attended both
Georgia Tech and the University of Maryland but flunked out of both colleges, with a two-year
stint in the Marine Corps stuck somewhere in between. He eventually decided to give acting a
chance and supported himself as a butcher, forest ranger, and railroad riveter during the lean
years while pursuing his craft.
Cliff Robertson (1923-2011). [Picnic (1955); PT 109 (1963); Riding the Bullet (2004)] A
serious and talented actor, at his best playing somewhat troubled characters, Cliff Robertson was
a fairly successful leading man through most of his career without ever becoming a major star.
Following strong stage and television experience, he made an interesting film debut in a
supporting role in Picnic (1955). He then played Joan Crawford's deranged young husband in
Autumn Leaves (1956) and was given leads in films of fair quality such as The Naked and the
Dead (1958), Gidget (1959) and The Big Show (1961). After the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor, eighteen year-old Cliff -- then serving on a merchant ship in the Pacific -- was
erronously reported dead to his family in California. Robertson died of natural causes on
Sept. 10, 2011, in Stony Brook, New York, a day after his 88th birthday.
Dale Robertson (1923- ) [Two Flags West (1950); Sitting Bull (1954) :: TV, numerous,
including Dynasty (1981); Dallas (1982)] was born in Harrah, Oklahoma. He entered World
War II service as a private in the Horse Cavalry at Fort Riley, Kansas in September, 1942.
He was then stationed at Fort Knox and finally at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. After stateside
training he served as a tank commander in the 777th Tank Battalion in the North African
campaign. He rose to 1st Lieutenant with the 332nd Combat Engineers, attached to
Patton's Third Army. The twice-wounded Robertson started his acting career while still on
active duty. While stationed at San Luis Obispo, California he had a photograph taken for his
mother. A copy of the photo displayed in the photo shop window attracted movie scouts, and the
six foot tall, 180-lb. Roberson soon was on his way to Hollywood. Will Rogers Jr., whose father
is the most famous son of Oklahoma, told him to avoid formal training and keep his own
persona.
Gilbert Roland (1905-1994) [The Lady Who Lied (1925); Barbarosa (1982)] was born Luis
Antonio Damaso de Alonso in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Following his parents to the USA, he
did not become the bullfighter he had dreamed of being but became an actor instead. He chose
his screen name in homage to his two favorite movie stars, John Gilbert and Ruth Roland. His
Mexican roots, his half macho half romantic ways, his handsome virile figure helped him land
roles in movies from the early twenties to 1982. During World War II he served in the U.S.
Army Air Force then resumed a long and varied career which included roles as an extra, a
matinée idol (Armand Duval in Camille (1926/I)), a Latin Lover, a star of English-speaking films
made in Hollywood in the early 1930s, a Mexican bandit in B-Movies, The Cisco Kid in a series
of six popular Westerns, a brilliant character in major A movies (John Huston's We Were
Strangers (1949), Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful (1952); Anthony Mann's
Thunder Bay (1953), John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn (1964)), a sinister character in Spaghetti
Westerns... He retired in 1982, twelve years before he died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California.
-- Exerpted from IMDb Mini Biography By: Guy Bellinger
Andy Rooney (1919–2011) was born Andrew Rooney in Albany, New York where he grew up.
He attended Albany University and Colgate Academy. In 1941, at the age of 22 he was drafted
into the Army and was posted to London. There he began writing for Stars and Stripes, the
US armed forces newspaper and later in the war he became one of the first US journalists
to report on the Nazi concentration camps. He began working as a broadcast journalist in
1949 for CBS and established a name for himself over many years as a correspondent and
commentator. He is probably best remembered by TV audiences for his regular closing segment
on the TV show 60 Minutes (1968), A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney. He died in November
2011 at the age of 92 but had continued working until just a few weeks earlier.
Mickey Rooney (1920- ) [Andy Hardy series (1937 to 1958); The Black Stallion (1979)] served
for 22 months in the U.S. Army during World War II, 5 months of which was with Patton's
3rd Army. He was awarded a Bronze Star among other decorations, and rose to the rank of
Sgt.
Luis Van Rooten (1906-1973) [Two Years Before the Mast (1946); Detective Story (1951)] was
born in Mexico City but raised in the United States and would become known in post-war
Hollywood as a specialist in multiple dialects. Studying at the University of Pennsylvania, he
received his B.A. and set up a sturdy practice as an architect before making a dramatic transition
into acting during WWII. His facility with languages made van Rooten an in-demand
military radio announcer during the war, and he conducted a variety of broadcasts in
Italian, Spanish and French. This led to film work, often in roles requiring an accent or
skill with dialects. After the war he settled into post-war films, playing outright villains or slick,
shady suspects. Interestingly, he bookended his film career impersonating the nefarious Nazi
ringleader Heinrich Himmeler.
Joe E. Ross (1914-1982) [Teaserama (1955); The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977)], a
bravel-voiced comedian ("Oooh! Oooh!") was born in Manhattan and began his career, ironically
enough, as a singing waiter in speak-easy clubs. Comedy came into the forefront and he steadily
built up his image as a stand-up and impressionist, announcing and emceeing at burlesque clubs
and various niteries around and about the Schuster circuit out of Chicago in the late 1930s. He
served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
Harold Russell (1914-2002) [The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)]. From Wikipedia: "While an
Army instructor, and training with the U.S. 13th Airborne Division stateside in 1944, a
defective fuse detonated an explosive he was handling while making a training film. As a
result, he lost both hands and was given two hooks to serve as hands. After his recovery, and
while attending Boston University as a full-time student, an Army film called Diary of a
Sergeant about rehabilitating war veterans was made featuring Russell. When film director
William Wyler saw the film on Russell, he cast him in the film The Best Years of Our Lives with
Fredric March and Dana Andrews. Russell played the role of Homer Parrish, a sailor who lost
both hands during the War." -- One of the most moving films to come out of World War II
wasn't even about the struggles of the battlefield. The film follows three returning veterans and
their attempts to readjust to civilian life. The movie won seven Oscars, including two for Harold
Russell, the only actor in Oscar history to win two awards for the same film. (One was the Best
Supporting Actor statuette and the other a special Oscar for bringing hope and courage to
disabled veterans.) The story wasn't all upbeat, though. When his wife was dying in 1992 Russell
decided to put his Supporting Actor statuette on the block. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences tried to keep Russell from selling the award but he ultimately auctioned it for
$60,000.
John Russell (1921-1991) [Rio Bravo (1959); tv, Lawman (1958-1962) ]. Enlisted in the
Marine Corps in 1942. In WW II he was highly decorated for valor and received a
battlefield promotion to lieutenant during the battle of Guadalcanal. It was there he was
wounded and also contracted a severe case of malaria. He was sent back to the US, hospitalized,
and eventually received a medical discharge from the Corps.
Nipsey Russell (1918-2005) [Wiz on Down the Road (1978); Wildcats (1986)] was born in
Atlanta Georgia. He served in Europe as a captain in the United States Army in World War
II. Russell got his start in Rock and Roll and other music reviews in the 1950s. In the 1960s,
Russell achieved his first major role as Officer Anderson in Car 54, Where Are You? (1961).
After being on the show for a year Russell was a mainstay on variety shows, appearing on
Laugh-In, The Dean Martin Show (1965), the Jackie Gleason Show, among many others. Russell
also appeared in so many small shows in the 1960s as an always unique personality that would
liven up almost any program. As the 1970s approached Nipsey Russell became a popular game
show panelist, appearing mostly on To Tell The Truth, Match Game PM (1975), and many
others. Nipsey was known as Television's Poet Laurete. On such shows like The Tonight Show,
and many other very popular talk shows of the day.
Robert Ryan (1909-1973), [Crossfire (1947); The Battle of the Buldge (1965)], served in the
United States Marines as a drill instructor in WWII (winning a boxing championship) and
went on to become a key figure in post WWII American film noir and western productions.
Alfred Ryder (1916-1995) [The Story on Page One (1959); Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
(1964)] was a radio, television and film actor. Ryder may best be remembered for appearing in
over one hundered television shows, including the role of Professor Robert Crater in the first Star
Trek episode The Man Trap in 1966. Ryder also appeared as one of the alien leaders in the TV
series The Invaders. Ryder began acting at the age of 8 and later went on to study with the likes
of Robert Lewis and Lee Strasberg. Ryder joined the Army Air Force during World War II,
eventually appearing in the USAAF's gala Broadway stage show Winged Victory in 1943.
The following year, he made his movie debut as PFC Alfred Ryder in the film version of the
show Winged Victory (1944). After the war he made more films, including director Anthony
Mann's classic 1947 film noir T-Men (1947).
Eddie Saeta (1914-2005) [Riders of the Dawn (1937); This Property Is Condemned (1966)] was
an American production manager and assistant director who directed and produced films. A
native of Philadelphia, Saeta grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was head of the Columbia
Pictures electrical department. At 18, Saeta got a job as Columbia boss Harry Cohn's messenger
boy, which led to work as a 3rd assistant director on westerns at Columbia and subsequently
Monogram. Following service in World War II in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Saeta
returned to Columbia and spent nearly two decades as an assistant director. Subsequently he
branched into work as a production manager, and produced and directed a few films as well. He
received a Directors Guild Award for his work on the TV movie Brian's Song (1973).
Albert Salmi (1928-1990) [The Bravados (1958); Breaking In (1989)] was born in Brooklyn,
NY, to Finnish parents. After serving in the Army during WWII, he used the GI Bill to study
at the Dramatic Workshop of the American Theater Wing and the prestigious Actors Studio. He
became a stage actor, very soon landing on Broadway, where his role as Bo Decker in Bus Stop
was his biggest stage success. A compromise between the stage and screen was live TV drama,
in which he was cast regularly. His portrayal of Bruce Pearson in the "The United States Steel
Hour" (1953)'s live 1956 broadcast of Bang the Drum Slowly was heart-tuggingly poignant.
Salmi's very first film appearance was a choice role in The Brothers Karamazov (1958), for
which he turned down an Oscar nomination.
Harry Saltzman (1915-1994) [Produced: Call Me Bwana (1963); The Ipcress File (1965)] was
a film producer best known for co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R. Broccoli
until selling his share of the franchise to United Artists in 1975. He retired from the business at
that point with the exception of producing the 1988 British-Italian-Yugoslavian co-production
Time of the Gypsies. Saltzman was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada but moved to
Britain where he entered the film business producing social dramas such as 1959's Look Back in
Anger and 1960's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. He worked for the "OSS" during
World War II.
Telly Savalas (1922-1994) [Kelly's Heroes (1970); The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973) which
led to tv's "Kojak" (1973-1978)] was born Aristotle Savalas in Garden City, New York to Greek
parents, Nicholas and Christina Savalas. He served during World War II after he dropped
out of Columbia University, where he was studying psychology. It's not clear if he served
overseas. One source indicates he recived a "Purple Heart disability" and was honourably
discharged. But other sources say he was severely injured in a car crash in Virginia which
may have resulted in a medical discharge. During the early 1950s, Savalas worked for ABC
radio and eventually became the executive producer of his own popular talk show, Telly's Coffee
House. He was in his thirties when he decided to turn to acting.
Paul Scofield (1922- ) [The Train (1964); Tell Me Lies (1968).] is an English actor who was
born in Sussex. Scofield is not well-known to cinema-goers, despite having won the Academy
Award for Best Actor for his role in A Man for All Seasons (1966). He began his stage career in
1940, and was soon being compared with Laurence Olivier. He took on all the experience he
could handle by joining touring companies and also entertained British troops during World
War II. Although his range is considerable, he has tended to be selective, preferring classical
roles to those which might have won him more popular acclaim. He has won several awards for
his stage appearances, including a Tony for the original stage version of A Man for All Seasons,
and was Salieri in the original stage production of Amadeus in 1979.
George C. Scott (1927-1999) [Anatomy of a Murder (1959); Patton (1970)]. Joined the
Marines Corps as a 17-year old in 1945, but the atomic bomb brought an end to World
War II before he could see combat. After the war, he was stationed in the prestigious 8th
and I Barracks in Washington, D.C. and was a guard at Arlington National Cemetery.
Fred D. Scott (1918-2002) [Sins of Rachel (1972); Guilty as Charged (1991)] was a Black
American character actor. A graduate of Ithaca College and Dillard College, he studied voice
culture and performing arts. As a surgical technician for the U.S. Army in World War II, he
was decorated for service in the South Pacific. He contracted tuberculosis during the war and
was unable to continue plans to become an opera singer. He studied theatre at San Jose State
College and began appearing in plays in and around San Francisco. He relocated to Hollywood
in the early 1970s and spent the next three decades appearing in commercials, television
programs and films.
Gordon Scott (1926-2007) [Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955); Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)]
was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland, Oregon, one of nine children of advertising
man Stanley Werschkul and his wife Alice. He grew up in Oregon, where he discovered bodybuilding, which he took up to attract women. He attended the University of Oregon for one
semester. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944, he served as a military policeman and drill
instructor during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1947. For the next six or
seven years, he worked at various jobs, mostly delivering soda pop for the beverage company
owned by his brother Rafield. An offer of a job as a lifeguard at the Las Vegas Sahara Hotel led
him to leave his delivery job. Soon thereafter, a Hollywood talent scout took note of him and
signed him to a contract with Sol Lesser, producer of the Tarzan movies.
Douglas Seale (1913-1999) [Once in a Lifetime (1937) TV; Palookaville (1995)] was born in
London, England, the son of Robert Henry Seale and his wife Margaret Law Seale. The classical
actor/ producer/ director enjoyed a 65-year transatlantic career that included stage, films and
television. He studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and took his first
professional curtain bow at London's Embassy Theatre in a production of The Drums Begin in
1934. He then appeared in repertory until the outbreak of World War II. He served with the
British Army in 1940 and was commissioned in the Royal Signals. Following demobilization
in 1946, Seale joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theater Company for two seasons at Stratfordon-Avon. He extended his noble talents to include stage producing.
Jackie Searl (1921-1991) was a fairly well-known child actor who never made it to the ranks of
a Jackie Cooper or Freddie Bartolomew. Jackie Searl nevertheless gained a film following in the
30s. A bratty counterpart to Jane Withers, the blond, freckled, clean-cut Jackie was born in
Anaheim, California in 1921 and started on L.A. radio in "The Children's Hour" at the age of
three. By the end of the 20's film beckoned and Jackie hit it big playing mean little Sid Sawyer in
the early Mark Twain film classic Tom Sawyer (1930). Paramount Pictures promptly signed the
youngster up and he followed this with Finn and Hattie (1931), Huckleberry Finn (1931), Skippy
(1931), Topaze (1933) and Alice in Wonderland (as The Doormouse) (1933). Infamous at
playing sissified brats, obnoxious squealers and sandbox bullies he was a natural scene-stealer
and aptly labeled on the Paramount sets as "The Kid Everybody Wants to Spank." He continued
playing secondary parts into his teens with roles in Ginger (1935), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936),
That Certain Age (1938) and Small Town Deb (1941). He joined the service in World War II
and tried to resurrect his career following his discharge but had a tough time of it. In the 1960s
he played character parts, nominally as minor heavies, in such films as The Couch (1962) and
Shotgun Wedding (1963) and on TV dramas. He retired in the 1970s.
James Seay (1914-1992). The first studio contract for durable, dependable actor James Seay was
initially designed for romantic leads after being signed by Paramount in 1940. Caught up in a
number of uncredited roles, the actor seemed to fare better as a villain or stern, officious type.
Although military service in World War II may have taken away any chance for outright
stardom, he compensated in later years by focusing on minor character roles, finding steady
employment in late 40s and 50s films as a voice of authority. He was the benign old folks home
doctor who expounds on Kris Kringle's mental condition in Miracle on 34th Street (1947),
portrayed Col. George Washington during his early military career in When the Redskins Rode
(1951), and became a familiar figure in "B" sci-fi classics, notably The Day the Earth Stood Still
(1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953), Killers from Space (1953),
The Beginning of the End (1957), and as the ill-fated officer who is fatally pierced by a
humongous hypodermic needle in The Amazing Colossal Man (1957).
Peter Sellers (1925-1980) was born to a well-off English acting family. His mother and father
worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. As a child, Sellers was spoiled, as his
parents' first child had died at birth. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force and served during
World War II. After the war he set up a review in London, which was a combination of music
(he played the drums) and impressions. Then, all of a sudden, he burst into prominence as the
voices of numerous favorites on "The Goon Show" (1951-1960), making his debut in films in
Penny Points to Paradise (1951) and Down Among the Z Men (1952), before making it big as
one of the criminals in The Ladykillers (1955). Small roles continued throughout the 1950s, but
he got his first big break playing the dogmatic union man, Fred Kite, in I'm All Right Jack
(1959). The film's success led to starring vehicles into the 1960s but after the relative failure of
What's New Pussycat (1965), which was Woody Allen's first film, Sellers embarked on a rapid
downfall to "Grade Z" movies in the 1970s, all of which he claimed to have made only because
he needed the money. In 1972 he read the book "Being There" and decided to make it into a film.
It took him seven years to finally bring it to the screen, but it earned him a Best Actor Oscar
nomination (he lost to Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of "Superdad" in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)).
Being There (1979) proved to be somewhat of a last hurray for Sellers, as he died the following
year. His last movie, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), completed just before his
death, proved to be another flop.
Milton Selzer (1918-2006) [The Last Mile (1959); Lady Sings the Blues (1972)] was born in
Lowell, Massachusetts but moved with his family while young to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Graduating from Portsmouth High School in 1936, he studied at the University of New
Hampshire before serving in the infantry in the Italian campaign during World War II.
Moving to New York, he trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and The New
School in the 1940s and received his first big break with minor roles in the Broadway classical
plays Richard III, Julius Caesar and Arms and the Man. In the late 1950s, Selzer turned to film
and (especially) to TV's "Golden Age", making an early mark in solid ethnic roles (German,
Arab, etc).
Rod Serling (1924-1975) (Screen Writer) [Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962); The Twilight
Zone, tv 1959-1964)]. Serling was a private in the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific. He
jumped at Tagaytay in the Philippines and was later wounded in Manila.
Jacques Sernas (1925- ) [The Red Falcon (1949); La Dolce Vita (1960)]. Lithuanian-born actor
Jacques Sernas (aka Jack Sernas) is best known for cutting a fine figure in European spectacles
in the 1950s and 1960s. He was raised and schooled in Paris before joining up as a French
Resistance fighter during World War II. Captured by the Germans and imprisoned for
over a year in Buchenwald, he was eventually freed and began studying medicine in his
early post-war years. Acting soon caught his fancy, however, and he made his unbilled debut in
the French film Miroir (1947).
Johnny Seven (1926-) [The Last Mile (1959); The Apartment (1960)] is a prolific American
character actor born John Anthony Fetto in the Italian section of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New
York, to Marie and John Fetto. He was the only boy in a family of six children, with sisters
Lillian, Terry, Connie, Dolores and Jean. Considering that much of his future acting work
consisted of playing tough gangsters and criminals, it may come as a surprise to discover that,
until the age of 14, he was a boy soprano. He served 2-1/2 years in the US Army in World
War II, with the 187th Gun Battalion in the Pacific, and was bitten by the acting bug when
he appeared in several USO shows in the Philippines. He married Edith Piselli on October 8,
1949, and they had two children, John Jr. and Laura. Seven worked in the New York theater
community and did much live television until he was brought to Hollywood in 1958 by
Universal Pictures to work in their many television series. He has since appeared in more than
600 TV shows, over 25 films, and numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions. In
addition to acting, he has also written and directed for the stage (his first play, "Salvage", was
written in 1958), television and movies (he produced, directed and starred in a 1964 western,
Navajo Run (1964), and has directed several TV shows and shorts since then). He enjoys
gardening, golf and all kinds of fishing, ocean, lake and especially fly fishing.
Doc Severinsen (1927- ) was born Carl Hilding Severinsen in Arlington, Oregon, the son of
Minnie Mae and Carl Severinsen, who was a dentist. He was nicknamed "Little Doc" after his
father, and had originally wanted to play the trombone. But the senior Severinsen, a gifted
amateur violinist, urged him to study the violin. The younger Severinsen insisted on the
trombone, but had to settle for the only horn available in Arlington's small music store — a
trumpet. A week later, with the help of his father and a manual of instructions, the seven-yearold was so good that he was invited to join the high school band. At the age of twelve, Little Doc
won the Music Educator's National Contest and, while still in high school, was hired to go on the
road with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. However, his stay with the group was cut short by the
draft. He served in the Army during World War II. He made his broadcasting debut playing
live popular music on radio station KODL in The Dalles, Oregon.
Mickey Shaughnessy (1920-1985) [Last of the Comanches (1953); The Boatniks (1970)] was
born Joseph Michael Shaughnessy in New York City. As a performer, the young Mickey made
his bones on the Catskill Mountains tourist resort circuit. During a stint in the Army during
World War II, Mickey appeared in a service revue. After being demobilized, he made his
living making the rounds of the nightclub circuit with a comedy act. His breakthrough as an actor
came with his debut in support of the legendary Judy Holliday and great meat n' potatoes
character actor Aldo Ray in George Cukor's The Marrying Kind (1952).
Jim Siedow (1920-2003) [The Windsplitter (1971); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)]
was a quirky and distinctive character actor who achieved instant cult favorite status with his
portrayal of the weary and irascible the Cook in Tobe Hooper's immortal and outstanding horror
classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Siedow was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming and
first acted in high school drama class. He moved to New York City at age 18 and continued to
perform in touring shows for the W.P.A. theater. He served with the Army Air Corps during
World War II. Following his tour of duty Siedow then moved to Chicago, Illinois and did radio
soap operas.
Jay Silverheels (1912-1980) [The Girl from Monterrey (1943); Walk the Proud Land (1956)].
Familiar Canadian Indian actor who shot to fame as Tonto, the faithful Indian companion of the
masked man on the US television series The Lone Ranger (1949). A member of the Mohawk
tribe, he excelled at wrestling, horse racing, football, boxing, and hockey, and became a
renowned lacrosse player. With the help of actor Joe E. Brown, Silverheels obtained work as a
stuntman and extra in Hollywood films. Following military service in World War II,
Silverheels returned to film work and began landing small, often stereotypical roles as Indian
warriors in Westerns. John Huston used him as one of the fugitive Osceola brothers in Key Largo
(1948), and Silverheels followed this with the two roles that would define his career, Tonto and
the Apache leader Geronimo, whom he would play several times beginning with the Western
classic Broken Arrow (1950).
Mickey Simpson (1913-1985) [Keep 'Em Flying (1941); The Great Bank Robbery (1969)] was
born Charles Henry Simpson to Fred and Bertha Rogers Simpson in Rochester, New York. He
was the eldest of four sons, one of whom, Richard, died in childhood. By his twenties, he had
grown into a hulking figure and considered a boxing career. Simpson, nicknamed "Mickey,"
arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1930s. Some unconfirmed stories have him working as a
chauffeur for Claudette Colbert. In 1939, he reportedly played a tiny bit part in his first film,
Stagecoach (1939), a film whose director, John Ford, would loom large in Simpson's career.
Simpson found fairly steady movie work as various guards, cops, bouncers, and thugs until his
career was interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the U.S. Army. When he
returned to Hollywood, it was Ford who resurrected his career, giving Simpson a small but
notable role as one of Walter Brennan's sons in My Darling Clementine (1946). Simpson would
appear in a total of nine Ford films, though his most familiar role is probably that of Sarge, the
racist diner owner who beats up Rock Hudson near the end of Giant (1956).
Sir Donald Sinden, KBE, (1923- ) is a British stage actor. A stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare
Company he broke into acting after appearing in revues for the Royal Navy during World
War II. He is more known for the puppet of him in Spitting Image that characterised him as a
toady obsessed with the royal family and gaining a knighthood. One of his more familiar roles
was as Simon Peel in the comedy Never the Twain (1981). He also appeared on radio including
Sir Charles Baskerville in the Radio 4 adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the
Baskervilles. In the late 1970's, he starred with Elaine Stritch in a BBC television series later
shown on PBS, Two's Company. Other roles include many stage appearances in the works of
Sheridan and even a small role in the cult series The Prisoner.
Jeremy Slate (1926-2006) [G.I. Blues (1960); Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962); Goodnight, Sweet
Marilyn (1989)] was born Robert Perham. He attended a military academy, joined the navy at
16 and was barely 18 when his destroyer joined the invasion of Normandy on D-Day (June
6, 1944). Aboard that destroyer at Omaha Beach that day, Jeremy vowed if he survived the
attack he would make his life a never-ending series of adventures. He has lived up to that
promise with adventures as a lifeguard, a swimming instructor, the first person to swim across
Long Island Sound after the war, college graduate with honors in English, writer, songwriter,
screenwriter, a radio announcer, actor and director. After college he became a radio sportscaster
and DJ for CBS and ABC affiliates while beginning a family that ultimately included three sons
and two daughters. As a young man with a growing family, he had a promising career as a public
relations executive with W.R. Grace and Co. For six years he worked for Grace as travel
manager for president, J. Peter Grace. He then joined the Grace Steamship Line and moved with
his family to Lima, Peru. While in Peru he joined a professional theater group and became
involved with the production of The Rainmaker. He was awarded the Peruvian equivalent of the
Tony award for his portrayal of the character Starbuck. After a year of training, he left W.R.
Grace to pursue a theatrical career and was cast in a small, significant role in the Pulitzer Prizewinning play, Look Homeward, Angel on Broadway and did 254 performances.
George F. Slavin (1916-2001) [], writer of 17 Hollywood feature films and 300 episodes and
pilot episodes for television. In World War II he served with the RAF, AAF, Ferry
Command and Air Transport Command. Decorations include: Victory Medal, American
Theatre Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, Allied Ribbon, British General
Service.
Kent Smith (1907-1985) was born in New York City on March 19, 1907, to a hotelier. He
graduated from boarding school (Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire) and attended
Harvard University, finding theater work at various facilities during his time off. Aside from an
isolated appearance in The Garden Murder Case (1936), Kent's film output didn't officially
begin until 1942. RKO took an interest in the stage-trained actor and offered him a lead role in
the low-budget horror classic Cat People (1942) as the husband of menacingly feline Simone
Simon. He returned to his protagonist role in the lesser-received sequel The Curse of the Cat
People (1944). After a few more decent film, including Hitler's Children (1943) and This Land
Is Mine (1943), Kent joined the U.S. Army Air Force and appeared in several government
training films during World War II. Because of his age and the winding down of war-time
film projects, his service ended in 1944.
Aaron Spelling (1923- ) [Actor: Vicki (1953); Mad at the World (1955)] is a prolific American
film and television producer. He has worked on almost 200 productions including Starsky and
Hutch, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, Family, Twin
Peaks, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Charmed and on and on and on! Certain sources list
him as the world's most prolific television producer. He was born in Dallas, Texas. He went to
Forest Avenue High School. After serving with the US Army Air Forces in World War II he
graduated from Southern Methodist University, Dallas in 1945. He had his break as a writer,
selling his first script to Jane Wyman Theater in 1954. He went on to write for Dick Powell,
Playhouse 90, and Last Man, amongst others. He joined Powell's Four Star Productions. After
the death of Powell he formed Thomas-Spelling Productions with Danny Thomas, their first hit
was The Mod Squad. He lives in Los Angeles, his home is the largest single-family dwelling in
California.
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) [created the P.I. character, Mike Hammer and authored: I, The
Jury (1947); My Gun Is Quick (1950)] was born Frank Morrison Spillane, an only child, in
Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He started writing in high school,
graduating in 1935. He briefly attended Fort Hays State College in Kansas and worked a variety
of jobs, including summers as a life-guard and a period as a trampoline artist for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. During World War II Spillane enlisted in the Army Air Corps
becoming a fighter pilot and a flight instructor. After the war he wrote crime novels, many
featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his
books have sold internationally. In 1980, Spillane was responsible for seven of the top 15 alltime best-selling fiction titles in the U.S. He first married Mary Ann. They had four children
(Caroline, Kathy, Michael, Ward), but the marriage ended in 1962. In Nov. 1965 he married
night club singer Sherri Malinou. After that marriage ended in divorce (and a lawsuit) in 1983,
Spillane shared his waterfront house in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, with Jane Rogers
Johnson, whom he married in October 1983. He received an Edgar Allan Poe Grand Master
Award in 1995. Spillane's novels went out of print, but in 2001, the New American Library
began reissuing them. Spillane died at his home in Murrells Inlet, of pancreatic carcinoma. After
his death, his friend and literary executor, Max Allan Collins, began editing and completing
Spillane's unpublished typescripts, beginning with a Mike Hammer novel, The Goliath Bone
(2008). -- Excerpted from Wikipedia.
Robert Stack (1919-2003) [Written On The Wind (1956), The Untouchables (tv 1959-1963)]
served as a gunnery officer in the U.S. Navy for more than three years during World War
II.
Quotes:
"Well, I come from a military family. Whether it's the country or city, I never liked the bad guy. I
never put my arms around John Gotti, Al Capone or Lucky Luciano. For me very simply they
were the bad guys. And when I did The Untouchables (1959), I told them going in, 'If you try
apologizing for any of these crumb bums, get someone else to play the part.' "
"I am very pro law enforcement."
Harry Dean Stanton (1926- ) is a prolific character actor with a drooping, weather-beaten
appearance and superb acting talent. He has appeared in over 100 films, and 50 TV episodes.
Born in West Irvine, Kentucky, Stanton served in the Navy in World War II and was in the
Battle of Okinawa. He then returned to the University of Kentucky to appear in a production of
Pygmalion, before heading out to California and honing his craft at the prestigious Pasadena
Playhouse. Stanton then toured the US with a male choir, worked in children's theater, and then
headed back to California. His first role onscreen was in the tepid Tomahawk Trail (1957), but he
was quickly noticed and appeared regularly in minor roles as cowboys and soldiers through the
late 1950s and early 1960s. His star continued to rise and he received better roles in which he
could showcase his laid-back style, such as in Cool Hand Luke (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970),
Dillinger (1973), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and in Alien (1979). Stanton came to the
attention of director Wim Wenders and was cast in his finest role yet, as Travis in the movie
Paris, Texas (1984). Next, director Alex Cox gave Stanton a role that really brought him to the
forefront, in the quirky cult film Repo Man (1984).
Anthony Steel (1920-2001) [Once Upon a Dream (1949); The Monster Club (1980)]. Known
primarily in Britain for his many "matinée idol" roles during the 1950s, Anthony Steel is perhaps
best remembered in Hollywood and elsewhere as the erstwhile husband of Anita Ekberg. His
career never really took off in Hollywood; at one point during his marriage to Ms. Ekberg, he
was referred to as Mr. Ekberg -- a slight that reflected his success (or lack of it) in movies
following the eventual breakup of the marriage. Steel was born in London and was the son of an
Indian army officer. He was educated at Cambridge and served in the army for England
during World War II. It wasn't until after the war that he pursued acting, starring in such
adventure-charged films as Malta Story (1953) for the J. Arthur Rank studio.
Rod Steiger (1925-2002) [On the Waterfront (1954); In the Heat of the Night (1967)]. Steiger's
breakthrough role came in 1954, with the classic On the Waterfront for which he was nominated
for an Oscar. Since then he was a presence on the screen as everything from a popular leading
man to a little-known character actor. Steiger made a name for himself in many different types of
roles, from a crooked promoter in The Harder They Fall (1956) to the title character in Al
Capone (1959). Steiger falsified his age to enlist in the U.S. Navy at 16 and served as a
Torpedoman in World War II.
Robert Sterling (1917-2006) [Two-Faced Woman (1941); A Global Affair (1964)] was born
William Sterling Hart in Pennsylvania, the son of a professional ballplayer. He graduated from
the University of Pittsburgh, then worked as a clothing salesman before deciding to give acting a
try. He certainly had the requisite looks as Columbia signed him in 1939. Billed as Robert
Sterling as not to confuse anyone with the silent screen legend William S. Hart, he was groomed
in two-reeled shorts and bit parts in minor features but nothing much happened. Sterling serve
during World War II with the Army Air Force as a pilot instructor and at one point was
stationed in London.
Warren Stevens (1919- ) [Red Skies of Montana (1952); Phone Call from a Stranger (1952);
Stroker Ace (1983)] was born in Pennsylvania and joined the Navy at age 17. His interest in
acting was piqued while he was attending Annapolis, and this resulted in 12 weeks of summer
stock in Virginia. His friends, Gregory Peck and Kenneth Tobey, later arranged interviews for
Stevens at the renowned Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Following Air Force
service as a pilot during World War II, Stevens began concentrating on his acting career,
working in radio and summer stock and joining New York's Actors Studio. His break came via a
key role in Broadway's Detective Story, which in turn led to offers from Hollywood studios and a
contract with 20th Century-Fox. In the half-century since his movie debut, he has acted in dozens
of features and hundreds of TV episodes.
James Stewart (1908-1997) [Rear Window (1954); Anatomy of a Murder (1959)]. Entered the
Army Air Forces as a private and worked his way to the rank of Colonel. During WWII
Stewart served as a bomber pilot. His service record credits him with leading more than 20
missions over Germany and taking part in hundreds of air strikes during his tour of duty. He
earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, France's Croix de Guerre, and 7 Battle
Stars during WWII. In peace time Stewart continued to be an active member of the Air Force
Reserves reaching the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in the late 1950s.
Nigel Stock (1919-1986) [Lancashire Luck (1937); Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)] was a
veteran British actor of stage, screen, radio and TV, known as a character actor in particular. He
studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he earned the Leverhulme
Exhibition, Northcliffe Scholarship, and the Principal's Medal. He was born in Malta, grew up in
India and died of a heart attack. His acting career was interrupted by wartime service
between 1939 and 1945, serving in Burma, China and Kohima. He was honorably
discharged with the rank of Major. He made his debut stage appearance in 1931 and during
his career achieved numerous classical and contemporary credits at various distinguished
theaters, including the Old Vic and on Broadway, with productions of The Winter's Tale,
Macbeth, She Stoops to Conquer, Uncle Vanya and Sleuth.
Leonard Stone (1923–2011) [The Mugger (1958); Hardly Working (1980); TV movie:
Surrender, Dorothy (2006)] was born Leonard Steinbock in Salem, Oregon. He served in the
United States Navy during World War II. After World War II, he studied drama at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England. Then he moved to Australia where he joined the
traveling theatre production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical, South Pacific. Was
nominated for Broadway's 1959 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for
Redhead. Best remembered as the self-important father of gum-crunching Violet Beauregarde in
the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). On 22 September 2000, he appeared as
an ordinary, non-celebrity contestant on Wheel of Fortune placing second, winning $4,250 and a
trip to Bermuda valued at $5,310. Last acting role was in the TV-movie Dorothy (2007) starring
Diane Keaton. He died November 2, 2011 (age 87) in Encinitas, California.
Larry Storch (1923- ) [The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951); Bittersweet Place (2005)]. As a kid
in the 1930s growing up in a tough New York neighborhood, kinetic wiseguy Larry Storch took
in the multi-ethnic flavor of his surroundings and started blurting out various accents as a
juvenile to provoke laughs and earn attention. Little did he know that this early talent would take
him on a six-decade journey as a prime actor and comedian. Larry's gift as an impressionist paid
off early as a teen in vaudeville houses. Following military duty during World War II as a
seaman (1942-1946), a happenstance meeting with comedian Phil Harris in Palm Springs led to
an opening act gig at Ciro's for the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz show. From there, he received
his biggest break on radio with "The Kraft Music Hall" when he was asked to sub for an ailing
Frank Morgan. Larry not only delivered his patented star impersonations, he did a devastating
one of Morgan himself that went over famously.
Frank Sutton (1923-1974) [Four Boys and a Gun (1957); The Satan Bug (1965)] was born
Frank Spencer Sutton in Clarksville, Tennessee. An only child, both his parents had jobs
working for the local newspaper. When he was eight, the family moved to Nashville, his father
dying some time later of an intestinal ailment. Belonging to the drama club and appearing in high
school plays sparked his early interest in acting, and he majored in Dramatic Arts at Columbia
University, graduating cum laude. Gaining experience on the local stages, he eventually found a
job as a radio announcer. While serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, he distinguished
himself by taking part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and
Corregidor. Following WWII military service, he returned to acting and in the 1950s segued
into TV, appearing on a couple of the more popular children's adventure series -- Captain Video
and His Video Rangers (1949) and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950). Based in New York,
Sutton also found work on the soaps The Edge of Night (1956) and The Secret Storm (1954).
Later, as the antagonistic, in-your-face Sgt. Vince Carter, whose outer bluster occasionally
revealed a softer inner core, the 41-year-old Sutton finally found himself front and center costarring in one of sitcomdom's most successful spin-offs -- Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964), the
offspring of The Andy Griffith Show (1960). In an interesting turnaround, the actor whose
best known role was playing a Marine sergeant, could not pass the Marine Corps. physical
during WWII and ended up serving in the Army. BTW: Sutton held a Black Belt in Judo.
Shaun Sutton (1919-2004) [TV series, acting: The Man in Armour (1951); The Cabin in the
Clearing (1954)] was born Shaun Alfred Graham Sutton in Hammersmith, London, England to
theatrical parents. He studied drama at the Embassy School. He worked as an actor in several
London shows before the outbreak of World War II. He served in the Royal Navy in 1940 and
after the war, he returned to acting. He joined the BBC in 1952 working on mainly children's
comedies and in 1962 became one of the original directors for the then new series Z Cars. In
1966, he became head of serials for the BBC, responsible for a huge output of high quality drama
including The Forsyte Saga. The 1967 serial put BBC2 on the map, attracting six million viewers
on Sunday evenings and was repeated a year later on BBC1, gaining an audience of 18 million. It
was the first serial ever to be sold to the Soviet Union and was purchased by stations all over
America. The series confirmed the BBC's reputation for costume dramas and spawned a host of
clones like The First Churchills and The Pallisers.
Dolph Sweet (1920-1985) [Rhinoceros (1961); Gimme a Break! TV (1981)] was born in New
York City, the son of an auto mechanic. He initially attended the University of Alabama in 1939,
but his studies were interrupted by World War II Air Force duty. As a navigator of B-24s,
he was shot down during a raid and captured, spending two years as a POW in Germany.
For his valor he was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross and The Purple Heart. A
semi-pro football player and a boxer at one point, he received his Masters from Columbia
University in 1949 at age 29. He subsequently became the head of the drama division of the
English Department at Barnard College from 1949 to 1961.
William Talman (1915-1968) [The Hitch-Hiker (1953); Hamilton Burger on Perry Mason tv
(1957-1966)]. Talman was appearing in Spring Again at Henry Miller's Theatre in January of
1942 when he received his draft notice for induction into the U.S. army. Prior to leaving for
active duty he married actress Lynne Carter. He entered the army as a private and saw 30
months of service in the Pacific during WWII, where he won a commission to the rank of
major. His assignments included the managing of a school that trained soldiers to put on shows.
At one point he was in charge of training boxing and baseball teams. He was proud that his
teams won both the boxing and baseball championships of the Western Pacific.
Don Taylor (1920-1998) [Battleground (1949); Flying Leathernecks (1951); The Bold and the
Brave (1956)] was born in Freeport, PA. He studied law, then speech and drama at Penn State
University, where as a freshman he began taking part in college stage productions. Hitchhiking
to Hollywood in 1942, the youthful Taylor screen-tested at Warner Brothers but was rejected
because of his draft status. MGM, not as fussy, signed him to a contract and immediately put him
to work, assigning him the minuscule role of a soldier in director Clarence Brown's sentimental
slice of Americana, The Human Comedy (1943). More minor roles followed before Taylor
enlisted in the Army and served out World War II, but even there he continued to act:
playwright/ screenwriter Moss Hart chose him to play one of the leads in the Army-Air Force
production of Hart's play, Winged Victory. Returning to civilian life, Taylor resumed his work in
pictures with a top role in the trend-setting crime drama The Naked City (1948). In later years
Taylor became a film and TV director, being nominated for an Emmy for his direction of an
episode of "Night Gallery" (1970).
Robert Taylor (1911-1969) [Magnificent Obsession (1935. Yes, the first version. Rock Hudson
played doctor in the 1954 remake.); Quo Vadis (1951); The Law and Jake Wade (1958)]. With
the arrival of WWII, Taylor was quick to make his contribution to the effort. As an actor, he
made two memorable combat movies: Stand by for Action (1942) and the better known (and for
the time, quite graphic) Bataan (1943). From 1943-46 he was in the US Naval Air Corps as a
lieutenant, instructing would-be pilots. He also found time to direct two flight instruction
training films (1943) and other training films for the Navy. After the war and through the
remainder of the decade, Taylor got action roles to match his healthy box office draw.
Don Terry (1902-1988) [The Secret of Treasure Island (1938); Don Winslow of the Coast
Guard (1943)] may be fondly remembered by many cliffhanger fans of the 30s and 40s as
staunch, gung-ho hero Don Winslow. Athlete-turned-actor, Don Terry identified quite well with
his alter-ego. An adventurer at heart, he was born and christened Donald Prescott Loker. He
enlisted in the Marines as a teenager but honorably discharged less than a year later due to a
disability. He attended Harvard and played freshman football, basketball and baseball, working
in coal yards to pay his tuition. Joining the Reading Keys in the International Baseball League,
he later played pro football in Boston and Providence as part of the Steamrollers team. Along the
way he fought under the name of "Bobbie Dinsmore" in the boxing arena and circled the globe
on cargo ships. In 1943 Terry enlisted in the Naval Reserve and was made Lieutenant
Commander in the Pacific. He was awarded the Purple Heart in 1944. By the time he left
the service in 1946, he left movies as well and turned to business ventures. Married twice, he
became a noted philanthropist in later years.
Frankie Thomas (1921-2006) [A Dog of Flanders (1935); The Major and the Minor (1942)]
was born Frank M. Thomas, Jr., the only child of acting Manhattanites Frank M. Thomas and
Mona Bruns. Well-established on the New York stage, his parents encouraged their young son
into the business. The young actor first conquered Broadway in the early 30s appearing with
Mildred Natwick and James Stewart in Carry Nation (1932) at age 11. He made a few more
Broadway appearances, including Little Ol' Boy (1933) and Thunder on the Left (1933) before
tackling films, making his debut creating his stage role in Wednesday's Child (1934) as the
teenage son of Karen Morley and Edward Arnold. He served with both the Navy and the
Coast Guard during Worled War II. Upon his discharge, he moved to New York and found
steady radio work (over 1500 programs) as well as parts on early TV daytime such as the 15minute serial A Woman to Remember (1949), which was the first five-times-a-week soaper to
evolve.
Richard Todd (1919-2009) [The Hasty Heart (1949); House of the Long Shadows (1983)] is a
British actor. Born Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland, Todd was the son of a
British officer who played international rugby for Ireland. He moved to Devon, England when
very young and attended Shrewsbury School. During his early career he acted in regional
theatres, before co-founding the Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1939. When World War II
began, he served as an officer and paratrooper. During the war he met Major John
Howard on Pegasus Bridge in Normandy. He would later appear in two films in which this
scene was recreated: in D-Day the Sixth of June (1956) he played the commanding officer of the
unit in which both of them served, and in The Longest Day (1962) he played Major Howard
himself.
Harry Townes (1914-2001) [Operation Manhunt (1954); The Mountain (1956); Sanctuary
(1961)] was born and died in Huntsville, Alabama. He served in the Air Corps for four years
during World War II. In his old age, he quit his Beverly Hills home and lifestyle, entered the
priesthood, and settled back into his hometown of Huntsville in the 1970s. Aside from Huntsville
and the priesthood, he had a distinguished, prolific, and quite long career as a character actor in
movies and on television. Townes found his greatest presence on television, amassing a very
large portfolio of roles for his handbag of characters. "Studio One" (1948), "Playhouse 90"
(1956) and "Kraft Television Theatre" (1953) all enjoyed his contributions. The more popular
"Gunsmoke" (1955), "Perry Mason" (1957), "Star Trek" (1966), "Rawhide" (1959) and
"Bonanza" (1959) also benefited from Townes' acting skills.
David Tree (1915-2009) [Knight Without Armour (1937); French Without Tears (1940)] was
born in London, England, to drama critic Alan Leonard Romaine Parsons and stage actress Viola
Tree. Following his work in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) and Major Barbara (1941), he left to
serve his country in World War II with the Royal Artillery. Tragedy occurred when he lost
his arm during duty. Following his discharge, Tree abandoned acting and retired to become a
farmer.
Les Tremayne (1913-2003) [The War of the Worlds (1953); A Man Called Peter (1955); North
by Northwest (1959)] was born in Balham, England but moved to Chicago with his family at the
age of 4 (his mother was actress Dolly Tremayne). Disguising his British accent while growing
up he began his career with community theater, dancing in vaudeville shows and even served as
a barker in amusement parks. He was best known early in his career for his abundant work on
radio, landing his first radio job in 1930. He went on to appear in scores of serials and shows
using a variety of voices and accents. In 1936, he earned fame after replacing actor Don Ameche
as the leading man on "The First Nighter," a weekly program of radio dramas. In 1943, he finally
left the Chicago area and moved to Los Angeles and later to New York. There he starred with
Bob Crosby on the "Old Gold Show" before serving in the military service during World War
II.
Patrick Troughton (1920-1987) [Chance of a Lifetime (1950); Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger
(1977)] was born in Mill Hill, London and was educated at Mill Hill School. He trained as an
actor at the Embassy School of Acting in the UK and at Leighton Rollin's Studio for for Actors
at Long Island, New York in the USA. During World War II he served in the Royal Navy and
after the war ended he joined the Old Vic and became a Shakespearean actor. He won his most
famous role as the second Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), in 1966 and played the role for three
years. His hobbies included golf, sailing and fishing. He was a father of six (David, Jane, Joanna,
Mark, Michael and Peter), a stepfather to Gill and Graham and a grandfather to Harry Melling,
Jamie and Sam Troughton.
Tom Tryon (1926-1991) [The Longest Day (1962); In Harm's Way (1965)] was born in
Hartford, Connecticut, Tom Tryon - son of clothier Arthur Lane Tryon and not the actor Glenn
Tryon as is usually stated - grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut. In 1943 he enlisted in the
U.S. Navy and served in World War II in the South Pacific until 1946. After his discharge he
joined the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts, and did everything from designing sets to
acting. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in the musical Wish You Were Here. He also
worked in television as a production assistant. In 1955 he moved to California to try his hand at
the movies, and the next year made his film debut in The Scarlet Hour (1956). He made a few
more films, but in 1958 he appeared in the part that made him most famous: the title role in the
Disney TV series "Texas John Slaughter" (1958), which made him a household name. He
appeared with Marilyn Monroe in her final (and unfinished) film, Something's Got to Give
(1962).
Forrest Tucker (1919-1986) [Sands Of Iwo Jima w/ John Wayne; F Troop (tv 1965-1967)]
graduated from high school in Arlington, VA in 1938. At 6' 5", 200 lb., he played semi-pro
football in the Washington, D.C. area after graduation. He also enlisted with the National Guard
and was assigned to a cavalry unit in Ft. Myers, Virginia. He entered active duty as an enlisted
man in the Army during World War II but moved up in rank to 2nd lieutenant. He was
discharged in 1945.
Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) was two times Academy Award-winning film actor, director, writer,
journalist, and raconteur. From 1942-46 Ustinov served as a private soldier with the British
Army's Royal Sussex Regiment, during World War II. Ustinov spent most of his service
with the Army Cinema Unit, where he worked on recruitment films, wrote plays, and
appeared in three films. At that time he wrote and directed his film, The Way Ahead (1944).
Eventually, Ustinov made a stellar film career, appearing in more than 100 film and television
productions. He was awarded two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, one for his role in
Spartacus (1960) and one for his role in Topkapi (1964); and received two more Oscar
nominations as an actor and writer. During the 1970s he had a slowdown in his career, before
making a comeback as Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile (1978) by director John Guillermin.
In the 1980s, Ustinov reprized the Poirot role in several subsequent television movies and
theatrical films, such as Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Appointment with Death (1988). Later he
appeared as a sympathetic doctor in the disease thriller Lorenzo's Oil (1992).
Natividad Vacio (1912-1996) [The Hitch-Hiker (1953); The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)] was
born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in Pasadena, California. In high school he became friends
with future actor George Reeves, who encouraged him to join him at the Pasadena Community
Playhouse. Vacio appeared in several plays there as an actor and musician. After military
service in World War II, he worked as a teacher, but with the encouragement of his best friend
Reeves, appeared frequently in films and television. An accomplished guitarist and singer, he
made recordings with such greats as Laurindo Almeida, and toured the country with Reeves in a
music-&-action stage show publicizing Reeves' "Adventures of Superman" TV series. Vacio was
the director of the Commedia del Artistes stage company of Padua Hills, California.
Bobby Van (1928-1980) [Because You're Mine (1952); Lost Horizon (1973)] was born Robert
Jack Stein in The Bronx, New York. Living most of his early youth backstage (his parents were
vaudevillians), Bobby made his stage bow at the ripe old age of four, when he became a scenestealing part of his parents' act. Bobby attended New York City schools and took a special
interest in music classes. His early interest focused on the trumpet, but a last-minute song-anddance job as a replacement at a Catskill Mountains resort where he and his band were playing
ultimately changed his destiny. A natural on stage, he also told jokes and did impressions. World
War II interrupted his nascent career but he eventually regained his momentum and started
appearing regularly in nightclubs, on radio and TV.
~~~~~~~
Lee Van Cleef is under letter "C".
~~~~~~~
Conrad Veidt -- who played the despised Nazi Major Strasser in Casablanca -- was actually a
German gentile who felt empathy for persecuted Jews. He had been banned from Germany for
making a film called, The Wandering Jew. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 1943 without
ever returning to Germany.
Max Wagner (1901-1975) was born in Mexico, the son of William W. Wagner, a railroad
conductor. His mother, Edith Wagner, was a writer and correspondent for the Christian Science
Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. He was 10 years old when Mexican rebels fatally
wounded his father. His mother then brought him to Salinas, California, where he struck up a
lifelong friendship with John Steinbeck. Max's brothers - Jack, Blake and Bob - were already in
Hollywood working on films. While most of Max's work was with major studios, he was a
regular with Mascot, the low-budget studio that churned out serials including The Lost Jungle
(1934) and Tom Mix's The Miracle Rider (1935). Max was a regular in the Charlie Chan series
and was a company player with Preston Sturges, appearing in such films as The Palm Beach
Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), The Great Moment (1944) and The Sin of
Harold Diddlebock (1946). During World War II, he took a break to serve in the U.S. Army
in North Africa.
Clint Walker (1927- ) [None But the Brave (1965); The Night of the Grizzly (1966); The Dirty
Dozen (1967)] was born in Hartford, Illinois. He is best known for his cowboy role as Cheyenne
Bodie in the TV Western series, "Cheyenne" (1955-1963). He had left school to join the United
States Merchant Marine at the tail end of World War II then worked at odd jobs in
California and Las Vegas. In Los Angeles, a friend in the film business helped get him a few bit
parts that brought him to the attention of Warner Bros. who were in the process of developing a
western style television series. [Excerpted from filmbug.com]
Eli Wallach (1915- ) [Baby Doll (1956); The Two Jakes (1990)] has enjoyed a career that
spanned six decades, amassing awards, critical kudos and a list of credits that includes a number
of classic films and plays. Wallach's first public performance came at the age of 15 in an amateur
production. After graduating with a BA degree from the University of Texas in Austin and
earning his MA from the City College of New York, he received a scholarship to New York's
Neighborhood Playhouse. He graduated in 1940 and acted in minor roles on stage before
enlisting in the Army in 1941. Wallach served in the Army's Medical Administrative Corps
during World War II, and reached the rank of Captain. After he left the service, he resumed
acting, making his Broadway debut in Skydrift in 1945. In 1946, he appeared in the Equity
Library Theater's production of This Property Is Condemned in New York.
Sam Wanamaker (1919-1993) Actor and director, born in Chicago, IL. He studied at Drake
University, IA, then trained at Goodman Theatre, Chicago, worked with summer stock
companies in Chicago as an actor and director. Wanamaker left the U.S. in the late 1940s
because he thought he might be blacklisted due to his leftist (communist and socialist)
convictions. He made his London debut in 1952. In 1957, he was appointed director of the New
Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool, and in 1959 joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company
at Stratford-upon-Avon. He produced or directed several works at Covent Garden and elsewhere
in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations (1974). He worked
both as director and actor in films and television, his appearances included The Spiral Staircase
(1975), Private Benjamin (1980), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), and Baby Boom
(1987). Served in the U.S. Army during and after World War II, from 1943 to 1946.
Jack Warden (1920-2006) [12 Angry Men (1957); "Doc" in Donovan's Reef (1963)]. Warden
was a Paratrooper with the 101st Airborne in WWII. On the last practice jump in England he
broke his leg and injured his back, preventing him from making the D-Day jump. In the 1980 TV
movie, A Private Battle, he portrayed Cornelius Ryan, who as a correspondent did jump with the
101st at D-Day.
David Wayne (1914-1995) [With a Song in My Heart (1952); The Andromeda Strain (1971)].
His father was an insurance executive; his mother died when he was four. He attended Western
Michigan University then worked as a statistician in Cleveland where he joined a Shakespeare
repertory company. Two years later he had a minor role in The American Way in New York.
Before the U.S. entered World War II, he was rejected by the army so he volunteered as an
ambulance driver in North Africa. After the U.S. entered the war, he served in the U.S.
Army. He returned to critical acclaim on Broadway (Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill). He was the
first to receive a Tony award for acting. He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 though his movie
credits go back to Portrait of Jennie (1948) and Adam's Rib (1949). Among his many television
roles were the part of Inspector Queen in the Manfred Lee's Ellery Queen (1975) series and of
"Digger" Barnes in Dallas (1978).
John Wayne (1907-1979) [Stagecoach (1939); Red River (1948); The Quiet Man (1952); The
Searchers (1956)] was born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa but moved to California in
childhood due to his father's health. When Morrison narrowly failed admission to Annapolis he
went to USC on a football scholarship (1925-7). Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man
in exchange for football tickets. On the set he became close friends with director John Ford for
whom, among others, he began doing bit parts, some billed as John Wayne. During World War
II, Wayne worked with the USO, visited the troops and was honored by the military with
an Army RAH-66 Helicopter named the "Duke." Although he never served in the armed
forces offscreen, Wayne did volunteer three times for active duty in World War II, in the
army, navy and as a member of John Ford's field photographic unit. Classified 4-F due to
chronic back pain suffered during a youthful surfing accident (and further aggravated by 10 years
of doing his own movie stunts), Wayne was rejected every time. In his first Oscar-nominated
role, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Wayne leads his fellow marines through battle to watch the flag
raised on Mt. Suribachi.
Robert Webber (1924-1989) [12 Angry Men (1957); The Dirty Dozen (1967); Midway (1976)],
the son of a merchant seaman he grew up in northern California and attended Compton College.
He served with the Marine Corps. in World War II and fought in Guam and Okinawa.
Over his 40-year career as one of Hollywood's veteran character actors, Robert Webber always
marked his spot by playing all types of roles and was not stereotyped into playing just one kind
of character. He died of Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in Malibu,
California. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]
Jack Weston (1924-1996) [Cactus Flower (1969); Dirty Dancing (1987)] was born in Cleveland
and was a Machine Gunner and USO performer in World War II before arriving in New
York to start his theater career. In a 40-year career that spanned Broadway, television and
movies, the versatile actor played everyone from sleazy villains to terrifying killers to clumsy
comics. His bad-guy roles included a stalker who, along with Alan Arkin terrorized a blind
Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 cult classic Wait Until Dark (1967).
David White (1916-1990) [The Lawbreakers (1960); Brewster's Millions (1985)] was an
American stage actor who appeared frequently on television and occasionally but impressively in
films. A Marine Corps veteran of World War II, he worked on Broadway and on tour in stage
productions after the war. In the late 1950s, he became an increasingly familiar face on
American television, following a strong performance in the film Sweet Smell of Success (1957).
O.Z. Whitehead (1911-1998) [The Horse Soldiers (1959); The Lion in Winter (1968)] was an
American character actor of rather bizarre range. He was a member of the so-called "John Ford
Stock Company." Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in
the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual
age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath
(1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work
predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. He was (later) a
devout anti-war pacifist, but nevertheless served during World War II and was discharged as
a sergeant, but a curvature of the spine kept him from seeing any combat during his active
duty. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had
lived in semi-retirement for many years.
Stuart Whitman (1928- ) [Ten North Frederick (1958); The Sound and the Fury (1959)] was
born in San Francisco, the son of a realtor, he graduated from high school in Los Angeles and
spent three years with the Army Corps of Engineers. In the army he won 32 fights as a
light-heavyweight boxer. Upon his discharge from service in 1948 he attended L.A. City
College where his interest in acting emerged. He studied at the Los Angeles Academy of
Dramatic Art and with Michael Chekhov and Ben Bard. He toured the U.S. in a stage company
of Here Comes Mr. Jordan and began to get small roles in television and film. Eventually his
athleticism, his handsome features, and his talent for portraying either tough or vulnerable
characters led him to a level of stardom. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his
leading role of a child molester in The Mark (1961), and starred in the television series
"Cimarron Strip" (1967). A shrewd investor, he amassed a substantial fortune (1998 est: $100
million) while continuing his career even after its peak in the mid-Sixties. -- [Excerpted from
IMDB]
James Whitmore (1921-2009) [Battleground (1949), The Shawshank Redemption (1994)] was
born Oct. 1, 1921 in White Plains, N.Y. and raised in Buffalo, N.Y. He played football at Yale,
where one of the assistant coaches was future President Gerald R. Ford. Knee injuries ended his
athletic career, and he turned his attention to the university's radio station, hosting a nightly
sports program, "Jim Whitmore Speaks".
Whitmore joined the Marine Corps during his senior year at Yale in 1944 and served in the
South Pacific. After being discharged in 1946, he used benefits from the GI Bill to study acting
at the American Theatre Wing in New York City.
Richard Widmark (1914-2008) [Panic in the Streets (1950); Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)].
He grew up in Princeton, Illinois, and attended Lake Forest (IL) College, where he first began
acting. He taught acting at Lake Forest after graduation until 1938, when he made his radio debut
in New York in Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories. Widmark made his Broadway stage debut in
1943 in Kiss and Tell. He had been rejected as unsuitable for military service (WW II)
because of a perforated eardrum. In 1947, he got his big break, making film history as Tommy
Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), beginning a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. His hand
and footprints were cast in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1949.
Frank Wilcox (1907-1974) [The Monroe Doctrine (1939); The Fighting 69th (1940); The
Million Dollar Duck (1971)]. American character actor in scores of films after substantial stage
experience. He was born in DeSoto, Missouri, but raised in Atchison, Kansas. The son of a
railroad worker and law clerk, he wavered between various careers including oil exploration, but
found his way after an introduction to the stage with the Atchison Civic Theatre and Kansas City
Civic Theatre. He signed with Warners as a contract player and was thereafter virtually never
without work. Wilcox earned five battle stars during World War II.
Adam Williams (1922-2006) was a film and television actor, born Adam Berg in Wall Lake,
Iowa. Williams had a few notable roles including playing Larry, a car bomber, in The Big Heat
(1953). In 1952, Williams played the lead role as Los Angeles woman killer in Without Warning!
which typed him into playing gunslingers, psychos and menacers. One of his last roles was
playing Terrence Milik in the television movie Helter Skelter (1976). He also appeared on
dozens of television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. Williams began his acting career after
distinguished World War II military service as a U.S. Navy pilot, being awarded the Navy
Cross.
Bill Williams (1915-1992) [Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944); Rio Lobo (1970)], husband
(1946-1992) of Barbara Hale (Della Street in TV's Perry Mason (1957-1966)). A solid film and
TV player bearing a strong, honest persona for most his career, this innocent-eyed, boyishly
handsome blond "B" actor of the 40s and 50s was born in Brooklyn on May 21, 1915, and
educated there at the Pratt Institute. A natural athlete, Bill Williams was a professional swimmer
who broke into the entertainment business combining his swimming and dancing skills
performing in aquatic underwater shows. Gaining experience as a performer in vaudeville and
stock shows (both here and England), he started appearing in extra or bit parts in films following
U.S. Army duty in World War II.
Kenneth Williams (1926-1988) [Valley of Song (1953); The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)]
was born near Euston station, London, the son of a hairdresser. He was educated at Lyulph
Stanley School. His relationship with his parents - he hated his father and adored his mother was key to the development of his personality. Williams apprenticed as a draughtsman and
joined the army age 18. He was part of the Royal Engineers survey section in Bombay when
he had his first experience of going on stage with Combined Services Entertainment.
William Windom (1923- ) [The Angry Breed (1968); TV: My World and Welcome to It (26
episodes, 1969-1970)], New York-born character actor was named after his great-grandfather,
Lincolnesque politician William Windom. He attended Williams College and the University of
Kentucky, among others, before serving as a paratrooper in the Army during World War II
with the 508 PIR of the famous 82nd Airborne Division. After the war he studied at both
Fordham U. and Columbia U. in New York City before settling on an acting career. Trained at
the American Repertory Theatre (1946-1961), he made his minor Broadway debut with the
company in November of 1946 with revolving productions of Henry VIII, What Every Woman
Knows, John Gabriel Borkman and Androcles and the Lion. The following year he continued
building up his Broadway resume with roles in Yellow Jack and as the White Rabbit in a
production of Alice in Wonderland. For the duration of the decade he shifted between stage and
TV drama, with stalwart work in such programs as "Robert Montgomery Presents" and
"Hallmark Hall of Fame." He enjoyed critical notice as the cartoonist/protagonist in the 19691970 mini-hit My World and Welcome to It.
Jonathan Winters (1925- ) [It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963); Cattle Call (2006)] was
born in Dayton, Ohio. His father, also Jonathan, was a banker who became an alcoholic after
being crushed in the Great Depression. His parents divorced in 1932. Jonathan and his mother
then moved to Springfield to live with his grandmother. There his mother remarried and became
a radio personality. Jonathan joined the Marines during his senior year of high school and
served during World War II. Upon his discharge, he entered Kenyon College and later
transferred to Dayton Art Institute. He met his wife, Eileen Schauder, in 1948 and married a
month later. They remain married until her death in January of 2009. They have a son, Jay, who
is a contractor, and a daughter, Lucinda, who is a talent scout for movies. Jonathan is an
accomplished abstract painter. Personal Quote: "If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it." -Text excerpted from IMDB
Billy De Wolfe (1907-1974) was born in Massachusetts as William Andrew Jones, the son of a
Welsh-born immigrant and bookbinder. The family returned to Wales almost immediately and
did not come back to the States until Billy was nine years old. He began his career in the theater
as an usher until he found work as a dancer with a band. He subsequently took his name from a
theater manager, William De Wolfe, who actually offered him his name. He enlisted in the U.S.
Navy for World War II in 1942 shortly after completing his first movie role as a riverboat
conman in Dixie (1943) for Paramount. At war's end, he returned to Paramount and brought
hyper comedy relief to a number of films including Miss Susie Slagle's (1946), Our Hearts Were
Growing Up (1946) and The Perils of Pauline (1947).
Iggie Wolfington (1920-2004) [Penelope (1966); Herbie Rides Again (1974)]. Served in WW
II, earned Purple Heart and Silver Star and a battlefield commission as second lieutenant.
West Coast representative of the New York-based Actors' Fund of America. In 1958, he created
the role of Marcellus Washburn, the accomplice and best friend of Harold Hill in original
production of The Music Man. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance. As an
actor, he first won acclaim in the 1952 Broadway production of Mrs. McThing, starring Helen
Hayes.
Sheb Wooley (1921-2003) was an American character actor in many Westerns, he was also a
figure in country-western music. Born and raised in Oklahoma, he spent his youth as a cowhand.
During World War II, Wooley was turned down for service because of his rodeo injuries.
Wooley's musical ability led to radio work and subsequently movies. He played minor
supporting roles for a dozen years starting in 1950, including one of the villains of High Noon
(1952) [Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller scheduled to arrive on the noon train.] In 1958, he
had a giant hit record with his own song "The Purple People Eater" and he followed it with a
string of similar humorous country ditties, often recorded under the name Ben Colder. For a
number of years appeared as scout Pete Nolan on the hit TV series Rawhide (1959-1966).
Hank Worden (1901-1992) [Bandits and Ballads (1939); Red River (1948); The Searchers
(1956)] was raised on a cattle ranch in Montana and was Educated at Stanford and the University
of Nevada as an engineer. He washed out as an Army pilot and toured the country in rodeos as
a saddle bronc rider. He broke his neck in a horsefall in his 20s, but didn't know it until his 40s.
He was chosen along with Tex Ritter from a rodeo at Madison Square Garden in New York to
appear in the Broadway play Green Grow the Lilacs, the play from which the musical Oklahoma
was later derived. He drove a cab in New York, then worked on dude ranches as a wrangler and
as a guide on the Bright Angel trail of the Grand Canyon. He was recommended by Billie Burke
to several movie producers and became friends with John Wayne, Howard Hawks, and later John
Ford, all of whom provided him with much work.
Ben Wright (1915-1989) [The Desert Rats (1953); Raid on Rommel (1971)] was born to an
English mother and an American father in London, England, UK. At 16 he entered the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Arts where classmates included such future stars as Ida Lupino. Upon
graduating, he acted in several West End stage productions. When WWII broke out, he
enlisted and served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He came to America in 1946 to attend a
cousin's wedding and settled in Hollywood. He began his American acting career in radio,
establishing himself as a master of dialects with such roles as Hey Boy, the Chinese servant, on
"Have Gun, Will Travel" with John Dehner. His talent for dialects also kept him busy in the
many WWII-related films and TV shows of the 1950s and '60s wherein he played countless
Germans and Frenchmen as well as a variety of Englishmen for which he ensured the dialects
were accurate depending on which part of England they were from.
Gig Young (1913-1978) [The Three Musketeers (1948); The Hindenburg (1975)]. Born Byron
Elsworth Barr in St. Cloud, Minnesota, his parents John and Emma Barr raised him and his older
siblings in Washington D.C. He developed a passion for the theater while appearing in HS plays,
and after some amateur experience he applied for and received a scholarship to the acclaimed
Pasadena Community Playhouse. While acting in Pancho, a south-of-the-border play by Lowell
Barrington, he and the leading actor in the play, George Reeves, were spotted by a Warner
Brothers talent scout and both actors were signed to supporting player contracts. His early work
was uncredited or as Byron Barr (not to be confused with actor Byron Barr (1917–1966) from
Iowa), but after appearing in the 1942 film The Gay Sisters as a character named "Gig Young",
the studio decided he should adopt the name professionally. Young appeared in supporting roles
in numerous films during the 1940s, and came to be regarded as a popular and likable second
lead, playing a brother or friend to the principal character. He took a hiatus from his movie
career and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1941 where he served as a pharmacist's
mate until the end of World War II. -- [Excerpted from Wikipedia]
Terence Young (1915-1994) [Directed: One Night with You (1948); The Jigsaw Man (1983)].
Film director best known for his three films in the James Bond series including: Dr. No (1962);
From Russia With Love (1963); and Thunderball (1965). During World War II, he was a
paratrooper in the British army, and took part in the battle of Arnhem, Holland, where he
was wounded. Young was transferred to a Dutch hospital, where he was nursed back to
health. One of the volunteer nurses who took care of him was a 16-year-old Dutch girl
named Audrey Heenstra - who became better known as Audrey Hepburn. In 1967 he
directed her in Wait Until Dark.
Victor Sen Yung (1915-1980) [Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938); Kung Fu (1972)] was born
Sen Yew Cheung in San Francisco of Chinese immigrant parents. To contribute to the family
income, young Sen Yung was employed as a houseboy at age 11 and managed to earn his way
through college at the University of California at Berkeley with an interest in animal husbandry
and receiving a degree in economics. Following a move to Hollywood for some post graduate
work at UCLA and USC, Victor gained an entrance into films. Victor enjoyed playing Jimmy,
the earnest rookie detective who, to his chagrin, was always under the watchful eye of his
famous father [Charlie Chan] while trying to help solve murder cases. His career was
interrupted for U.S. Air Force duty as a Captain of Intelligence during World War II. His
part in the Chan pictures was taken over by actor Benson Fong.
Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979) [Producer: The Jazz Singer (1927); The Longest Day (1962)].
One of the kingpins of Hollywood's studio system, Zanuck was the offspring of the ill-fated
marriage of the alcoholic night clerk in Wahoo, Nebraska's only hotel and the hotel owner's
promiscuous daughter. Both parents had abandoned him by the time he was 13. At 15, he joined
the U.S. Army, and fought in Belgium in World War I. Mustered out, he kept himself alive
with a series of desultory jobs -- steelworker, foreman in a garment factory, professional boxer -while pursuing a career as a writer. He turned his first published story (for "Physical Culture," a
pulp magazine) into a film scenario for William Russell; his next important sale was to Irving
Thalberg. In 1933, after the Warners made it clear that Zanuck would never be more than an
employee, he quit to form Twentieth Century Films (with backing from Louis B. Mayer and
Joseph M. Schenck). In 1935, Twentieth absorbed a bankrupt giant, Fox. Zanuck ruled the
combined studio for decades. During World War II he served as supervisor for Signal Corps
training films and the photographic record of the North Africa invasion, and was awarded
the Legion of Merit.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (1918- ) [House of Strangers (1949); Hot Shots! (1991)] was born in NYC,
the son of concert violinist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. and opera singer Alma Gluck. He trained at both
the Yale School of Drama and the Neighborhood Playhouse, and was an NBC radio page at the
onset. Following World War II service in which he earned a Purple Heart for a severe
wound received at Huertgen Forest, director and friend of the family Garson Kanin gave the
aspiring actor his first professional role in his Broadway production of The Rugged Path (1945)
which starred Spencer Tracy. But the dogged inspector Lewis Erskine on TV's The F.B.I. (1965)
would be his ultimate claim to fame.