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
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- In 1943, Bobby was drafted. He served as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry until 1945
- 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
- 1944 he was shipped to a concentration camp for "political unreliables". Jurgens survived and after the war became an Austrian citizen
- Brian Keith
- He served with the Army Air Corp in World War II
- His career was interrupted by military service in World War II
- He served in World War II as a cavalry officer and was highly decorated
- 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.
- He served in the U.S. Army during World War II
- Jack Klugman
- He was a genuine hero in WWII, he was decorated five times for bravery
- During World War II he served as a translator for American military intelligence
- He was drafted in January 1943 for World War II and discharged in November with an ulcer and double hernia
- 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
- 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.
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 mid-30s 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 long-running 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 fourth-billed 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. 
Directory: cms -> lib -> PA09000087 -> Centricity -> Domain Domain -> The ap history Timeline 8000bce-the Present Domain -> Objectives: Identify economic and social problems Americans faced after World War II Domain -> Chapter 6, Problem Set #5 – More Work with Comparative Advantage and Trade Domain -> Image: Die cut of the Knight Helmet Domain -> Active voice example Domain -> Weak Syllable Deletion Domain -> American Civil War and Reconstruction Timeline Download 0.78 Mb. Share with your friends:
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