William Lundigan

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William Paul Lundigan (born June 12, 1914 in Syracuse , New York , † December 20, 1975 in Duarte , California ) was an American actor .

life and career

William Lundigan's father owned a shoe shop in the New York borough, where he also helped out - at the same time he became interested in radio and acting from an early age. In the same building where Lundigan's father had his shoe shop was the radio station WFBL , where Lundigan became a radio announcer and presenter at the age of 16. During his law studies at Syracuse University , he also worked as a radio host at WFBL. He was also discovered there by a Universal Pictures talent agent who was enthusiastic about his baritone voice and guided him to Hollywood, where Lundigan played his first film role in Armored Car , directed by Lewis R. Foster , in 1937 .

In the late 1930s Lundigan came to Warner Brothers , where he starred in the western Lord of the Wild West and Land of the Wicked and the adventure film The Lord of the Seven Seas , starring alongside Errol Flynn . In a number of smaller film productions he was seen in leading roles as the leading men, mostly in the role of the friendly, sometimes naive "boy next door". Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wanted to make Lundigan a big star in the early 1940s, but Lundigan volunteered for a service in World War II out of patriotism , which interrupted his film career and made MGM boss Louis B. Mayer so angry that he was released him from his contract with MGM. Lundigan's subsequent film career took place mostly in B-category films . Lundigan himself said that it might have been his mistake to have always been cooperative and to have agreed to bad roles in bad films. One of his qualitatively best films was Elia Kazan's racial drama Pinky , in which he plays the lover of Jeanne Crain's main character, who knows nothing of her African American origins.

On television, Lundigan hosted the Climax and Shower of Stars series in the 1950s . In this role, he announced the program content and advertising for Chrysler Motors , which sponsored the shows. He also went on many tours as a promotional ambassador for Chrysler. After a leading role as Colonel Edward McCauley in the science fiction television series Men Into Space , the role offers for Lundigan were sparse from the 1960s, his last role he played in 1971 as a guest actor in the doctor series Marcus Welby . Lundigan turned his interests to politics, so he made 1964 advertising for the Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council .

In 1950 he was allowed to leave his prints at the TCL Chinese Theater . He was married to his wife, Rena Morgan Cournyn, from August 1945 until his death, and they had a daughter named Anastasia. Lundigan died of heart failure in December 1975 at the age of 61 and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Clipped From The Kansas City Times . In: The Kansas City Times . Kansas City, Missouri December 22, 1975 p. 27 ( newspapers.com [accessed March 2, 2019]).
  2. ↑ William Lundigan, Actor, Dead; Made 125 Films Over 38 Years . In: The New York Times . December 22, 1975, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed March 2, 2019]).
  3. ↑ William Lundigan | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved March 2, 2019 (American English).
  4. ↑ William Lundigan, Actor, Dead; Made 125 Films Over 38 Years . In: The New York Times . December 22, 1975, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed March 2, 2019]).
  5. ↑ William Lundigan at Find A Grave
  6. ^ The Impact of the Draft Goldwater Committee on the Republican Party by Jay D. Hartz. March 3, 2001, accessed March 2, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Clipped From The Times Standard . In: The Times Standard . Eureka, California December 22, 1975, pp. 3 ( newspapers.com [accessed March 2, 2019]).
  8. ↑ Clipped From Santa Cruz Sentinel . In: Santa Cruz Sentinel . Santa Cruz, California December 22, 1975, pp. 14 ( newspapers.com [accessed March 2, 2019]).
  9. ↑ William Lundigan at Find A Grave
personal data
SURNAME Lundigan, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lundigan, William Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Syracuse , New York
DATE OF DEATH 20th December 1975
Place of death Duarte , California