William Bendix
Encyclopedia
William Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor
, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story
and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley
. He also received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Wake Island
(1942).
, New York City, the only son of Oscar Bendix and Hilda (née Carnell) Bendix. As a youth in the early 1920s, Bendix was a batboy
for the New York Yankees
and said he saw Babe Ruth
hit more than a hundred home runs at Yankee Stadium. In 1927, he married Theresa Stefanotti. Bendix worked as a grocer until the Great Depression
.
films including a memorable performance in The Glass Key
(1942
), which also featured Brian Donlevy
, Alan Ladd
and Veronica Lake
. He soon gained more attention after appearing in Alfred Hitchcock
's Lifeboat
(1944
) as Gus, a wounded and dying American sailor.
Bendix's other well-known movie roles include his portrayal of baseball
player Babe Ruth
in The Babe Ruth Story
(1948
) and Sir Sagramore
opposite Bing Crosby
in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
(1949
), in which he took part in the famous trio, "Busy Doing Nothing". He also played Nick the bartender in the 1948 film version of William Saroyan
's The Time of Your Life
starring James Cagney
. Bendix had also appeared in the stage version, but in the role of Officer Krupp (a role played on film by Broderick Crawford
). In 1946 he was cast in The Blue Dahlia
for the second time alongside Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.
In 1949 Bendix starred in a film adaptation of his radio program The Life of Riley.
for the lead. With Bendix stumbling, bumbling, and skating almost perpetually on thin ice, stretching the patience of his otherwise loving wife and children, The Life of Riley
was a radio hit from 1944 through 1951, and Bendix even brought an adaptation of the film version to Lux Radio Theater
. He made Riley's frequent exclamation, "What a revoltin' development this is," into a national catchphrase.
Bendix wasn't able to play the role on television at first---a contracted film commitment prevented it. The role went to Jackie Gleason
and the show aired a single season beginning in October 1949. Despite winning an Emmy award, the show ended, in part because Gleason wasn't entirely acceptable as Riley when Bendix was so identified with it on radio. But Bendix was available for a new television version in 1953, and this time the show clicked. The second television version of The Life of Riley ran from 1953 to 1958---long enough for Riley to become a grandfather.
On the 1952 television program This Is Your Life
, it was claimed that he was a descendant of the 19th century composer Felix Mendelssohn
.
In 1958 Bendix played the lead in Rod Serling's The Time Element, a time-travel adventure about a man travels back to 1941 Honolulu and tries to warn everyone about the impending attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1958 Bendix appeared on NBC
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
. He returned for a second appearance on October 1, 1959, the fourth season premiere of the series in which he and his friend, Tennessee Ernie Ford
, perform a comedy skit about a safari
.
In 1960 Bendix starred in seventeen episodes of the NBC western
series Overland Trail
in the role of Frederick Thomas "Fred" Kelly, the crusty superintendent of the Overland Stage
Company. Doug McClure
, later Trampass on NBC's The Virginian
co-starred as his young understudy, Frank "Flip" Flippen. The program was similar to another offering on ABC
the following season, Stagecoach West
.
in 1964, the result of a chronic stomach ailment which brought on malnutrition and ultimately lobar pneumonia
. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery
. Bendix was survived by his wife Theresa and two children (Lorraine and Stephanie) from their 37 years of marriage.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story
The Babe Ruth Story
The Babe Ruth Story is a 1948 baseball film biography of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife. It was rush released while Ruth himself was still alive. It makes no mention whatsoever of Ruth's first wife,...
and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley
The Life of Riley
The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role, is a popular American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a long-run 1950s television series , and a 1958 Dell comic book...
. He also received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Wake Island
Wake Island (1942 film)
Wake Island is a 1942 American film written by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and directed by John Farrow. The film tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor...
(1942).
Early life
Bendix, named for his paternal grandfather, was born in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City, the only son of Oscar Bendix and Hilda (née Carnell) Bendix. As a youth in the early 1920s, Bendix was a batboy
Batboy
A batboy is an individual who carries the baseball bats around to a baseball team. A batboy may also lay out the equipment and mud the baseballs to be used in the game.Mascots and batboys had both been part of baseball since the 1880s....
for the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and said he saw Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
hit more than a hundred home runs at Yankee Stadium. In 1927, he married Theresa Stefanotti. Bendix worked as a grocer until the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Film
Bendix began his acting career at age 30, by way of the New Jersey Federal Theater Project, and made his film debut in 1942. He played in supporting roles in dozens of Hollywood films, usually as a warm-hearted Marine, gangster or detective. He started with appearances in film noirFilm noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
films including a memorable performance in The Glass Key
The Glass Key (1942 film)
The Glass Key is a 1942 film noir, directed by Stuart Heisler and based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The story had previously been adapted for film in 1935.-Plot:...
(1942
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
), which also featured Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
, Alan Ladd
Alan Ladd
-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
and Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
. He soon gained more attention after appearing in Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Lifeboat
Lifeboat (film)
Lifeboat is an American war film directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. The film stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee, and is set entirely on a lifeboat.The film is...
(1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) as Gus, a wounded and dying American sailor.
Bendix's other well-known movie roles include his portrayal of baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
in The Babe Ruth Story
The Babe Ruth Story
The Babe Ruth Story is a 1948 baseball film biography of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife. It was rush released while Ruth himself was still alive. It makes no mention whatsoever of Ruth's first wife,...
(1948
1948 in film
The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) and Sir Sagramore
Sagramore
Sir Sagramore of Hungary is a Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. His characterization varies from story to story, though he is surprisingly prolific; he appears in a number of early stories, such as Chrétien de Troyes' works, and he turns up in all the cyclical versions...
opposite Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949 film)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 musical comedy film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel of the same name that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(1949
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
), in which he took part in the famous trio, "Busy Doing Nothing". He also played Nick the bartender in the 1948 film version of William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
's The Time of Your Life
The Time of Your Life (film)
The Time of Your Life is a 1948 film starring James Cagney adapted from the 1939 William Saroyan play of the same title. The movie was adapted by Nathaniel Curtis, directed by H. C. Potter, and featured William Bendix as Nick, Wayne Morris as Tom, Broderick Crawford as Krupp, and Ward Bond as...
starring James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
. Bendix had also appeared in the stage version, but in the role of Officer Krupp (a role played on film by Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
). In 1946 he was cast in The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Dahlia
The Blue Dahlia is a 1946 film noir, directed by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. The film marks the third pairing of stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.-Plot:...
for the second time alongside Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.
In 1949 Bendix starred in a film adaptation of his radio program The Life of Riley.
Radio and television
It was Bendix's appearance in The McGuerins of Brooklyn, playing a rugged blue-collar man, that led to his most famous role. Producer/creator Irving Brecher saw Bendix as the perfect personification of Chester A. Riley, giving a second chance to a show whose audition failed when the sponsor spurned Groucho MarxGroucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
for the lead. With Bendix stumbling, bumbling, and skating almost perpetually on thin ice, stretching the patience of his otherwise loving wife and children, The Life of Riley
The Life of Riley
The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role, is a popular American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a long-run 1950s television series , and a 1958 Dell comic book...
was a radio hit from 1944 through 1951, and Bendix even brought an adaptation of the film version to Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
. He made Riley's frequent exclamation, "What a revoltin' development this is," into a national catchphrase.
Bendix wasn't able to play the role on television at first---a contracted film commitment prevented it. The role went to Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
and the show aired a single season beginning in October 1949. Despite winning an Emmy award, the show ended, in part because Gleason wasn't entirely acceptable as Riley when Bendix was so identified with it on radio. But Bendix was available for a new television version in 1953, and this time the show clicked. The second television version of The Life of Riley ran from 1953 to 1958---long enough for Riley to become a grandfather.
On the 1952 television program This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
, it was claimed that he was a descendant of the 19th century composer Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
.
In 1958 Bendix played the lead in Rod Serling's The Time Element, a time-travel adventure about a man travels back to 1941 Honolulu and tries to warn everyone about the impending attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1958 Bendix appeared on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
. He returned for a second appearance on October 1, 1959, the fourth season premiere of the series in which he and his friend, Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
, perform a comedy skit about a safari
Safari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
.
In 1960 Bendix starred in seventeen episodes of the NBC western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series Overland Trail
Overland Trail (TV series)
Overland Trail is a short-lived American Western series which aired on NBC from February 7 to June 6, 1960. The series starred William Bendix and Doug McClure,-Synopsis:...
in the role of Frederick Thomas "Fred" Kelly, the crusty superintendent of the Overland Stage
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
Company. Doug McClure
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
, later Trampass on NBC's The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
co-starred as his young understudy, Frank "Flip" Flippen. The program was similar to another offering on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
the following season, Stagecoach West
Stagecoach West (TV series)
Stagecoach West is a highly-acclaimed Western drama television series which ran for thirty-eight episodes on the ABC network from October 4, 1960, until June 27, 1961. Characters Luke Perry and Simon Kane operate the Timberland Stage Line from Missouri to San Francisco...
.
Death
Bendix died in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1964, the result of a chronic stomach ailment which brought on malnutrition and ultimately lobar pneumonia
Lobar pneumonia
Lobar pneumonia is a form of pneumonia that affects a large and continuous area of the lobe of a lung.It is one of the two anatomic classifications of pneumonia .- Symptoms :...
. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....
. Bendix was survived by his wife Theresa and two children (Lorraine and Stephanie) from their 37 years of marriage.
Selected filmography
- Woman of the YearWoman of the YearWoman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss....
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - Wake IslandWake Island (1942 film)Wake Island is a 1942 American film written by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and directed by John Farrow. The film tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor...
(1942) – Best Supporting Actor nomination - Who Done It? (1942)
- The Glass KeyThe Glass Key (1942 film)The Glass Key is a 1942 film noir, directed by Stuart Heisler and based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The story had previously been adapted for film in 1935.-Plot:...
(1942) - Guadalcanal DiaryGuadalcanal Diary (film)Guadalcanal Diary is a 1943 World War II war film starring Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn and the film debut of Richard Jaeckel...
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - LifeboatLifeboat (film)Lifeboat is an American war film directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. The film stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee, and is set entirely on a lifeboat.The film is...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) - The Hairy ApeThe Hairy Ape-Plot :The play tells the story of a brutish, unthinking laborer known as Yank, as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich...
(1944) - Greenwich Village (1944)
- It's in the BagIt's in the Bag!It's in the Bag! is a 1945 comedy film featuring Fred Allen in his only starring film role. The film was released by United Artists at a time when Allen was at the peak of his fame as one of the most popular radio comedians.-Characters and story:...
(1945) - A Bell for AdanoA Bell for AdanoA Bell for Adano is a film directed by Henry King starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney. The film was adapted from the novel A Bell for Adano by John Hersey, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. In his 1945 review of the film, Bosley Crowther wrote, "... this easily vulnerable picture, which came...
(19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) - Two Years Before the MastTwo Years Before the Mast (film)Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 adventure film based on Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s travel book of the same name. It starred Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva and Esther Fernández.-Plot summary:...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - The Dark CornerThe Dark CornerThe Dark Corner is a 1946 film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Lucille Ball, Mark Stevens and Clifton Webb. The film is an example of a classic film noir and features a rare dramatic role for Ball.-Plot:...
(1946) - The Blue DahliaThe Blue DahliaThe Blue Dahlia is a 1946 film noir, directed by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. The film marks the third pairing of stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.-Plot:...
(1946) - I'll Be YoursI'll Be YoursI'll Be Yours is a 1947 musical comedy film starring Deanna Durbin and directed by William A. Seiter. It was adapted by Felix Jackson from the screenplay for the 1935 non-musical film The Good Fairy by Preston Sturges, which was based on the play A jó tündér by Ferenc Molnár as translated and...
(1947) - The WebThe Web (film)The Web is a black-and-white 1947 thriller film starring Vincent Price. The film, directed by Michael Gordon, is considered film noir. It also features amongst its cast the science fiction/horror writer Fritz Leiber as Leopold Kroner.-Plot:...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Where There's LifeWhere There's LifeWhere There's Life is a 1947 comedy film. The film's title derives from a line in Don Quixote .-Plot:...
(1947) - The Time of Your LifeThe Time of Your Life (film)The Time of Your Life is a 1948 film starring James Cagney adapted from the 1939 William Saroyan play of the same title. The movie was adapted by Nathaniel Curtis, directed by H. C. Potter, and featured William Bendix as Nick, Wayne Morris as Tom, Broderick Crawford as Krupp, and Ward Bond as...
(19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) - The Babe Ruth StoryThe Babe Ruth StoryThe Babe Ruth Story is a 1948 baseball film biography of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife. It was rush released while Ruth himself was still alive. It makes no mention whatsoever of Ruth's first wife,...
(1948)
- Cover UpCover Up (film)Cover Up is a 1949 black-and-white mystery film written by and starring Dennis O'Keefe. O'Keefe is credited as screenwriter Jonathan Rix. The murder mystery takes place during the Christmas season.-Plot:...
(19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949 film)A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 musical comedy film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel of the same name that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(1949) - Streets of LaredoStreets of Laredo (film)Streets of Laredo is a 1949 western film starring William Holden, Macdonald Carey and William Bendix as three outlaws who rescue a young girl, played by Mona Freeman...
(1949) - The Big StealThe Big StealThe Big Steal is a 1949 black-and-white film noir/comedy reteaming Out of the Past stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer. The film was directed by Don Siegel, based on the short story "The Road to Carmichael's" by Richard Wormser.-Plot:...
(1949) - Kill the UmpireKill the UmpireKill the Umpire is a 1950 comedy starring William Bendix and Una Merkel, directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Frank Tashlin.-Plot:Bendix plays a former baseball player who continues to be a baseball fanatic whose devotion to the game has cost him several jobs, but who remains steadfast in one...
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) - Detective Story (19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) - Submarine CommandSubmarine commandSubmarine Command is a 1951 film starring William Holden, Don Taylor, Nancy Olson, William Bendix, and Darryl Hickman, directed by John Farrow...
(1951) - A Girl in Every PortA Girl in Every Port (1952 film)A Girl in Every Port is a 1952 comedy film about two sailors who buy a racehorse. It was based on the short story They Sell Sailors Elephants by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan.-Cast:*Groucho Marx as Benjamin Franklin 'Benny' Linn...
(19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) - Macao (1952)
- Blackbeard the PirateBlackbeard the PirateBlackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film made by RKO. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott.-Plot:...
(1952) - Dangerous MissionDangerous MissionDangerous Mission is a 1954 American dramatic color film noir thriller starring Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, Vincent Price and William Bendix. The movie was produced by Irwin Allen, directed by Louis King and released by RKO Pictures...
(19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) - CrashoutCrashout-Plot:Convict Van Duff is the leader of a large-scale prison break. The breakout works as the six survivors hide out in a forgotten mine working near the prison....
(19551955 in filmThe year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
) - The Deep SixThe Deep SixThe Deep Six is a 1958 Warnercolor World War II drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, was based on a novel with the same name by Martin Dibner...
(1958) - Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse: The Time Element (1958) - TV
- Idol on Parade (1959)
- Johnny NobodyJohnny NobodyJohnny Nobody is a 1961 UK drama film brought to the screen by Viceroy Films Limited under the production of John R. Sloan with executive production from Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli. The original story was by Albert Z. Carr with the screenplay by Patrick Kirwan. It was directed by the...
(1961) - Boys' Night OutBoys' Night Out (film)Boys' Night Out is an American comedy film released in 1962, starring Kim Novak, James Garner, and Tony Randall, and directed by Michael Gordon...
(19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
) - For Love or MoneyFor Love or Money (1963 film)For Love or Money is a 1963 romantic comedy film starring Kirk Douglas, Mitzi Gaynor and Thelma Ritter.-Plot summary:Lawyer Donald Kenneth "Deke" Gentry is given the task of playing matchmaker for the three daughters of his wealthy client Chloe Brasher .-Cast:* Kirk Douglas as Donald Kenneth...
(19631963 in filmThe year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
) - The Young and the Brave (1963)