Gene Evans

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Gene Evans (born July 11, 1922 in Holbrook , Arizona , † April 1, 1998 in Jackson , Tennessee ) was an American actor.

life and career

Gene Evans began his acting career as a teenager and worked among other things at the Pasadena Playhouse before the Second World War interrupted his career for several years. As a sergeant , he was involved in battles such as the Normandy Landings and received awards for valor. In 1947 Evans made his film debut in a bandit role in the b-western Under Colorado Skies on the side of Monte Hale . At first he mainly played small roles, for example in John Huston's thriller Asphalt-Jungle (1950) and Billy Wilder's film drama Reporters of Satan (1951). In 1951 he was best known for starring in the Korean War dramas Hell of Korea and The Last Attack . In particular, his portrayal of a soldier in the literary film adaptation The Last Attack , in which he was able to use his grim, serious acting style under the direction of Samuel Fuller , was often rated as outstanding.

As a result, Evans appeared in many Hollywood films of the 1950s and 1960s. The red-haired actor was unmistakable by his rough voice and a rather gruff appearance, which is why he was often entrusted with portraying "tough guys" in westerns or war films. Director Sam Fuller, who held Evans in high esteem, used him several times after his role in The Last Attack : In the drama Park Row - A newspaper for New York (1952) he played the lead role of a newspaper founder fighting for his independence and the physicist Boden in the psychological thriller Schock-Korridor (1963). Most of the time, he was only cast in supporting roles, with the exception of the British science fiction film The Monster of Loch Ness (1959), in which he went in search of the monster in the role of a marine biologist. Mostly he played serious roles, but Evans was able to show his comedic talent in 1959 as torpedo man Molumphry in the comedy company Petticoat by Blake Edwards on the side of Cary Grant and Tony Curtis .

Gene Evans had also worked as a television actor since the early 1950s. Between 1955 and 1956 he played the lead role alongside Anita Louise in the western series My Friend Flicka , of which 39 episodes were produced. He has guest roles in popular series such as A Thousand Miles of Dust , The People from Shiloh Ranch , Bonanza , Mannix , The Boss , Smoking Colts , Hart But Warm , The A-Team, and Murder Is Her Hobby . In the later part of his career he played mostly on television, also because the cinema offers had declined since the 1970s.

Gene Evans retired from the acting business in 1989 and shortly afterwards sold his house in California and moved to live with his family in Tennessee, where he had built another house in the mid-1970s. The father of three children died of heart failure in 1998 at the age of 75 .

Filmography (selection)

Movie

watch TV

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in the Independent on Gene Evans
  2. ^ Gene Evans at Allmovie
  3. ^ Obituary in the Independent on Gene Evans
  4. ^ Obituary for Gene Evans in the New York Times
personal data
SURNAME Evans, Gene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Holbrook , Arizona
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1998
Place of death Jackson , Tennessee