Guy Madison

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Guy Madison (actually Robert Ozell Mosley ; born January 19, 1922 in Bakersfield , California , † February 6, 1996 in Palm Springs , California) was an American actor who was best known for western roles.

Life

Guy Madison got into acting relatively late and by chance. He grew up as the son of a rail worker. After two years at Bakersfield College (he studied veterinary medicine) he worked briefly as a telephone cable attendant before joining the American Coast Guard in 1942 .

In 1944 he visited Hollywood as a tourist. His excellent appearance and his good figure in a sailor suit caught a talent scout for David O. Selznick and Madison got his first small film role: as a sailor in Selznicks As You Went Away ( Since You Went Away ). Selznick and his co-producer Henry Willson named the stranger Guy Madison : the guy girls would love to meet - and Madison after the Dolly Madison cookie . Madison spent a weekend in front of the camera and returned to the Coast Guard. After the film premiered, the studio received thousands of letters from moviegoers asking to see more of Madison.

Madison stayed with the Coast Guard until the end of the war, then in 1946 he signed a contract with RKO . He starred in a number of romantic comedies and dramas, but was repeatedly attacked by critics for his awkward acting. In 1949, his hasty marriage and subsequently his unhappy marriage to alcoholic colleague Gail Russell made negative headlines (divorce followed in 1954). Madison took acting lessons and gained experience with theater companies. His career was saved by a television series in 1951: he played the lead role in Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok for six years (at the same time he appeared in the role on the radio).

Due to the success of the TV series, he got a few roles in cinema Western before he went to Europe, where he held a series of spaghetti westerns occurred and adventure films whose quality decreased but quickly. Among other things, Guy Madison played the role of the Portuguese nobleman Yanez de Gomera in the films The Revenge of Sandokan and Sandokan and the Leopard at the side of Ray Danton. He was best known to German audiences as the devious Captain Bradley in the Karl May film Old Shatterhand . Madison returned to America in the 1970s, where he only had two cameo cinema roles and minor TV appearances.

Madison was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Western Star in 1954 . He is also remembered by two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ( TV and radio category ). Our Shooting Star is written above his name on Madison's tombstone ; Forever A Cowboy - Wild Bill Hickok , this saying is framed by two pistols in holsters.

Private

After marrying Gail Russell , Madison was married to Sheila Connolly from 1954 to 1963. From this marriage the children Dolly, Bridget and Erin were born. In Europe, Madison had another relationship. The son Robert comes from this relationship. When Madison tried to change a car tire on the Santa Monica Freeway in 1970, he was hit by another car. However, he was able to recover from the injuries.

death

In 1996, Guy Madison died of emphysema in Palm Springs at the age of 74 .

Filmography (selection)

Movies

watch TV

  • 1951-1958: Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
  • 1959: You Can't Win 'Em All
  • 1961: Jericho
  • 1986: Adventures of William Tell
  • 1987-1988: Crossbow
  • 1988: Red River

literature

  • Gregor Hauser: Muzzle flashes: The 50 best B-Westerns of the 50s and their stars . Verlag Reinhard Marheinecke 2015, ISBN 978-3-932053-85-6 . Pp. 193-195.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IMDb
  2. ↑ findagrave.com ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.findagrave.com

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Madison, Guy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ozell Mosley, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Bakersfield , California, United States
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1996
Place of death Palm Springs , California, United States