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



Download 0.78 Mb.
Page18/19
Date18.10.2016
Size0.78 Mb.
#1808
1   ...   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19

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).
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/robert-taylor.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/no-image-available.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/frankie-thomas.jpg

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 15-minute serial A Woman to Remember (1949), which was the first five-times-a-week soaper to evolve.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/richard-todd.jpg

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.

http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/harry-townes.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/no-image-available.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/les-tremayne.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/patrick-troughton.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/tom-tryon.jpg

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).
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/forrest-tucker.jpg

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.

http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/peter-ustinov.jpg

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).
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/no-image-available.jpg

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.

http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/bobby-van.jpg

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 scene-stealing 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-and-dance 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".


~~~~~~~
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/conrad-veidt.jpg

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.

http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/no-image-available.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/clint-walker.jpg

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]
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/eli-wallach.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/sam-wanamaker.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/jack-warden.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/david-wayne.jpg

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).
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/john-wayne.jpg

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.
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/robert-webber.jpg

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]
http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtras/wwii-movie-stars/jack-weston.jpg


Download 0.78 Mb.

Share with your friends:
1   ...   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19




The database is protected by copyright ©ininet.org 2024
send message

    Main page