Will Wright (actor)
Will Wright (born March 26, 1894 in San Francisco , California as William H. Wright , † June 19, 1962 in Hollywood , California) was an American character actor. Between 1934 and 1962 he made a total of 225 film and television appearances.
life and career
After Will Wright first worked as a newspaper reporter, he began his acting career with the vaudeville stages, later in the theater and on the radio. In 1934 he made his screen debut in the short film Pure Feud , but initially stayed at the theater. From 1940 he was seen regularly as a supporting actor in Hollywood films, his specialty being grouchy and curious characters, who often looked much older than he actually was. Wright appeared particularly frequently in westerns , including River of No Return (1954), Three Rivals (1955), Duel at Dawn (1958), and One Shot and 50 Dead (1959). Wright voiced the owl in Walt Disney's 1942 cartoon film Bambi . One of his best roles is the hotel detective in the film noir The Blue Dahlia (1946), who turns out to be a murderer at the end of the film.
From the 1950s onwards, Wright appeared on television in series such as I Love Lucy , Bonanza , Father Is The Best , Maverick and Bat Masterson . He had one of his last roles in the year he died in A Bait for the Beast (1962) alongside Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum . Will Wright died of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , Los Angeles, aged 68 . He left behind his wife, Nell, with whom he had been married since 1920 and had one child.
Filmography (selection)
- 1934: Pure Feud (short film)
- 1940: Blondie Plays Cupid
- 1941: Blossoms in the Dust (Blossoms in the Dust)
- 1941: A great guy (Honky Tonk)
- 1941: The Shadow of the Thin Man (Shadow of the Thin Man)
- 1942: Saboteurs (saboteurs)
- 1942: Six Fates (Tales of Manhattan)
- 1942: Bambi (voice)
- 1942: Tennessee Johnson
- 1942: The Major and the Minor (The Major and the Minor)
- 1943: The Hell of Oklahoma (In Old Oklahoma)
- 1943: Courageous Women (So Proudly We Hail)
- 1944: Wilson
- 1945: Rhapsody in Blue (Rhapsody in Blue)
- 1945: Love Fair (State Fair)
- 1945: Uncle Harry's Strange Affair (The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry)
- 1945: Street of Temptation (Scarlet Street)
- 1946: The Blue Dahlia (The Blue Dahlia)
- 1946: The Jazz Singer (The Jolson Story)
- 1946: The Road to Utopia (Road to Utopia)
- 1946: The sky is blue (Blue Skies)
- 1947: The vultures eat the last one (The Long Night)
- 1948: Green Grass of Wyoming
- 1948: Just for the sake of my wife (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House)
- 1948: act of violence (Act of Violence)
- 1948: Whispering Smith
- 1948: They live at night (They Live by Night)
- 1949: The man who wanted to rule (All the King's Men)
- 1949: Marriage War (Adam's Rib)
- 1949: Little Brave Jo (Little Women)
- 1950: A Ticket to Tomahawk
- 1950: Hatred is Blind (No Way Out)
- 1950: Mortal Enmity (Dallas)
- 1950: House by the River (House by the River)
- 1951: People Will Talk
- 1951: Vengeance Valley (Vengeance Valley)
- 1951: Conspiracy in the Night Express (The Tall Target)
- 1952: Five Pearls (O. Henry's Full House)
- 1953: The Wild (The Wild One)
- 1953: Niagara
- 1954: River of No Return (River of No Return)
- 1954: Johnny Guitar - When Women Hate (Johnny Guitar)
- 1954: Under Two Flags (The Raid)
- 1955: Three Rivals (The Tall Men)
- 1955: ... and not as a stranger (Not as a Stranger)
- 1955: The Man with the Golden Arm (The Man with the Golden Arm)
- 1955: The Kentucky Man (The Kentuckian)
- 1955: Damned Silence (The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell)
- 1958: Duel at dawn (Gunman's Walk)
- 1958: 5 in one fell swoop (Rock-a-Bye Baby)
- 1958–1962: Maverick (TV series, 6 episodes)
- 1959: One shot and 50 dead (aka Jesse James)
- 1960: Inherit the Wind (Inherit the Wind)
- 1960–1962: Andy Griffith Show (TV series, 3 episodes)
- 1960–1962: Bonanza (TV series, 3 episodes)
- 1961: The Deadly Companions
- 1962: A Bait for the Beast (Cape Fear)
Web links
- Will Wright in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Will Wright at Find A Grave
- ↑ Will Wright on Allmovie
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Wright, Will |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American character actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 26, 1894 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | San Francisco , California |
DATE OF DEATH | June 19, 1962 |
Place of death | Hollywood , California |