David Wayne

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David Wayne (born January 30, 1914 in Traverse City , Michigan ; as Wayne James McMeekan , † February 9, 1995 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American film and stage actor .

life and career

David Wayne was born the son of an insurance salesman; his mother died when he was only four years old. After a visit to Western Michigan University , there were first attempts at acting in the 1930s, which were interrupted by Wayne's involvement in World War II. Among other things, he worked as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross in North Africa. After the war ended, Wayne turned back to acting and Broadway in New York. For his role in EY Harburg's musical Finian's Rainbow , he won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1947 , which was his breakthrough as an actor. In later decades, Wayne kept coming back to Broadway, winning a second Tony Award in 1954 for his appearance in John Patrick's play The Teahouse of the August Moon .

The actor made his film debut in 1948 opposite Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten in Jenny , where he took on the supporting role of a taxi driver. In 1949, the actor starred alongside Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in George Cukor's comedy Marriage War . In Hollywood, Wayne mostly remained a supporting actor, but occasionally he was also entrusted with a demanding leading role: in 1951 he played the role of the child killer in M , the Hollywood remake of the classic German film of the same name , which Peter Lorre had taken on in the original . His best-known cinema roles include the wealthy Freddie Denmark in the Marilyn Monroe comedy film How do you fish for a millionaire? (1953) and the scientist Chales Dutton in the science fiction thriller Andromeda - Deadly Dust from Space (1971) by Robert Wise . In addition to his cinema roles, Wayne appeared in numerous television productions, especially in later years, such as 1978 as Digger Barnes in Dallas or 1986 in the role of "Big Daddy" in Golden Girls .

In 1987 he retired from acting. Wayne was married to Jane Gordon from 1941 until her death in 1993 . He died of lung cancer in 1995 at the age of 81 .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Wayne at Allmovie
personal data
SURNAME Wayne, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McMeekan, Wayne James (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Traverse City , Michigan , United States
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 1995
Place of death Santa Monica , California , United States