Keenan Wynn

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Keenan Wynn
Wynn in 1950
Born
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn

(1916-07-27)July 27, 1916
New York City, U.S.
DiedOctober 14, 1986(1986-10-14) (aged 70)
Brentwood, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1934–1986
Spouses
Eve Lynn Abbott
​
​
(m. 1938; div. 1947)​
Betty Jane Butler
​
​
(m. 1949; div. 1953)​
Sharley Hudson
​
(m. 1954)​
Children5, including Tracy Keenan Wynn and Ned Wynn
Parents
Relatives

Keenan and Ed Wynn in The Man in the Funny Suit (1960)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Keenan Wynn, Linda Evans, and Jack Ging in an episode of TV's The Eleventh Hour (1963)

Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most of his film and television roles.

Early life

Wynn was born on July 27, 1916, in

Jewish and his mother was of Irish Catholic background. Ed Wynn encouraged his son to become an actor,[citation needed] and to join The Lambs Club, which he did in 1937.[1]

Career

Theatre and radio

Wynn began his career as a stage actor. He appeared in several plays on Broadway, including Remember the Day (1935), Black Widow (1936), Hitch Your Wagon (1937), The Star Wagon (1938), One for the Money (1939), Two for the Show (1940), and The More the Merrier (1941).

Wynn starred in the radio show The Amazing Mr. Smith on Mutual Broadcasting System April 7 – June 30, 1941. He played the title role, "a carefree young man who runs into trouble galore and becomes an involuntary detective".[2]

Film and television

Wynn appeared in hundreds of films and television series between 1934 and 1986. He was a

Kiss Me, Kate (1953); The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956); The Absent-Minded Professor (1961); The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Dr. Strangelove
(1964).

The Wynns, father and son, both appeared in the original 1956 Playhouse 90 television production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight. The son was returning the favor: according to radio historian Elizabeth McLeod,[citation needed] Keenan had helped his father overcome professional collapse, a harrowing divorce, and a nervous breakdown to return to work a decade earlier, and now helped convince Serling and producer Martin Manulis that the elder Wynn should play the wistful trainer. Both he and his father also appeared in a subsequent TV drama called The Man in the Funny Suit (1960), which detailed the problems they had experienced while working on that series. In it, the Wynns, Serling, and many of the cast and crew played themselves. Keenan also featured in another Rod Serling production, a Twilight Zone episode entitled, "A World of His Own" (1960) as playwright Gregory West, who uniquely caused series creator Rod Serling to disappear.

On January 18, 1959, Wynn starred in S. J. Perelman's Hollywood satire, "Malice in Wonderland", broadcast on NBC's prestigious Sunday afternoon anthology series Omnibus.[3]

Wynn took a dramatic turn as Yost in the crime drama

Beach Party movie, Bikini Beach (1964) as a scheming newspaper publisher who wants to banish the local young people. Later he played Hezakiah in the comedy film The Great Race (1965). He was the voice of the Winter Warlock in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) and appeared in several Disney films, including Snowball Express (1972), Herbie Rides Again (1974) and The Shaggy D.A. (1976) (as a villain who learns Wilbur Daniels's secret and uses it against him). He appeared as villainous businessman Alonzo Hawk in three Disney films – The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, and Herbie Rides Again
.

He appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's musical Finian's Rainbow (1968), Sergio Leone's epic western Once Upon a Time in the West (also 1968), and Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). During this time, his guest television roles included Alias Smith and Jones (1971–1972), Emergency! (1975), Movin' On (1975) and The Bionic Woman (1978). Wynn appeared in ten episodes of TV's Dallas during the 1979–1980 season, playing the role of former Ewing family partner-turned-enemy Digger Barnes. David Wayne, a friend of Wynn's, had played Digger Barnes in 1978 but was unable to continue with the role because of his co-starring role on the CBS series, House Calls, starring Wayne Rogers.

Wynn was initially cast in

Clark Kent and Lois Lane at the Daily Planet) in April 1977. By June (production had moved to Pinewood Studios in England), Wynn collapsed from exhaustion and was rushed to a hospital. He was replaced by Jackie Cooper
.

He played Charles Picker Dobbs in "The Love Boat" S6 E11 "A Christmas Presence" which aired 12/18/1982. In 1983, he guest-starred in one of the last episodes of Taxi and Quincy, M.E. In 1984, he starred in the television film Call to Glory, which later became a weekly television series.

Personal life and last years

Tennessee Champ (1954)

Wynn was married to former stage actress Eve Lynn Abbott (1914–2004) until their divorce in 1947, whereupon Abbott married actor

Hudson Brothers. His granddaughter is actress Jessica Keenan Wynn
.

In his later years, Wynn undertook a number of philanthropic endeavors and supported several charity groups. He was a long-standing active member of the Westwood Sertoma service club, in West Los Angeles.

Death

During his last years, Wynn suffered from pancreatic cancer, which caused his death on October 14, 1986. His ashes are interred in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park in The Great Mausoleum, Daffodil Corridor, Columbarium of the Dawn, in a niche alongside his father Ed Wynn, his daughter Emily (February 13, 1960 – November 27, 1980), who died from lupus, and his aunt.

Filmography

Film

Television

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series)
     (1958) (Season 3 Episode 35: "Dip in the Pool") as William Botibol
  • Wagon Train – Episode: "The Luke O'Malley Story" (1958) as Luke O'Malley
  • The Untouchables (1959–1961) as Augie 'The Banker' Ciamino / Joe Fuselli
  • The Twilight Zone – Episode: "A World of His Own" (1960) as Gregory West
  • The Troubleshooters (1959–1960) as Kodiak
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series)
     (1961) (Season 6 Episode 17: "The Last Escape") as Joe Ferlini
  • Rawhide – Episode: "Incident at Cactus Wells" (1962) as Simon Royce
  • Combat! – Episode: "The Prisoner" (1962) as Colonel Clyde
  • Ben Casey – Episode: "Behold a Pale Horse" (1962) as O.J. Stanley
  • Death Valley Days – Episode: "Grass Man" (1962) as Josh Tavers
  • Bonanza
     – Episode: "Alias Joe Cartwright" (1964) as Sergeant O'Rourke
  • Combat! – Episode: "The Flying Machine" (1966) as Lt. Brannagan
  • The Wild Wild West – Episode: "The Night of the Freebooters" (1966) as Thorwald Wolfe
  • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – Episode: "Show Me the Way to Go Home" (1966) as Harry Purcell
  • Then Came Bronson – Episode: "The Old Motorcycle Fiasco" (1969) as Alex
  • Lancer – Episode: "Blue Skies for Willie Sharpe" (1970) as Kansas Bill Sharpe
  • Alias Smith and Jones (1971) as Artie Gorman / Horace Wingate / Charlie Utley
  • Mod Squad
     – Episode: "And a Little Child Shall Bleed Them" (1971) as Luther
  • Hawaii Five-O – Episode: "Journey Out of Limbo" (1972) as Hummel
  • Cannon – Episode: "The Island Caper" (1972) as Matt Dixon
  • Alias Smith and Jones – Episode: "What Happened at the XST?" (1972) as Artie Gorman
  • McMillan & Wife – Episode: "The Devil You Say" (1973) as Professor Zagmeyer
  • Hec Ramsey – Episode: "A Hard Road to Vengeance" (1973) as Bullard
  • The New Perry Mason – Episode: "The Case of the Telltale Trunk" (1973) as Victor Harding
  • The Girl With Something Extra
     – Episode: "Guess Who's Feeding the Pigeons" (1974) as Victor Lucas
  • Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–1975) as Captain Joe 'Mad Dog' Siska
  • Movin' On – Episode: "The Elephant Story" (1975) as Barnaby
  • Emergency! – Episode: "Back-Up" (1975) as Wild Bill
  • The Bob Newhart Show – Episode: "What's It All About, Albert?" (1975) as Dr. Albert
  • The Bionic Woman – Episode: "Rancho Outcast" (1978) as Gustave
  • Dallas – 10 episodes (1979–1980) as Digger Barnes
  • The Littlest Hobo - Episode: "The Balloonist" (1980) as Gus Appleton (uncredited)
  • Fantasy Island – Episode: "Mr. Nobody/La Liberatora" (1981) as Willie the promoter
  • One Day at a Time – Episode: "Small Wonder II (1981) as Randolph Ericson
  • The Greatest American Hero – Episode: "Good Samaritan" (1982) as Ira Hagert
  • Hardcastle and McCormick – Episode: "Just Another Round of That Old Song" (1983) as Henry Willard
  • Quincy, M.E. – Episode: "Whatever Happened to Morris Perlmutter?" (1983) as Morris Perlmutter
  • Manimal – Episode: "Scrimshaw" (1983) as Clancy Sea Dog Morgan
  • Taxi – Episode: "Tony's Baby" (1983) as Leo
  • Tales from the Darkside – Episode: "I'll Give You a Million" (1984) as Duncan
  • Highway to Heaven – Episode: "Popcorn, Peanuts and CrackerJacks" (1985) as Doc Brisby
  • Call to Glory (1984–1985) as Carl Sarnac

References

Notes

  1. ^ "The Lambs". the-lambs.org. The Lambs, Inc. November 6, 2015. (Member Roster 'W'). Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  2. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3
    . Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  3. ^ Adams, Val (January 1, 1959). "ROLE IN TV SATIRE FOR KEENAN WYNN / Actor Cast in Perelman's 'Malice in Wonderland'— Pact Deadline Extended". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  4. ^ "Supermanii.Com – Christopher Reeve". Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
  5. ^ Vallance, Tom (August 27, 2004). "Evie Wynn Johnson: Actress and ambitious Hollywood wife". The Independent. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  6. ISBN 978-1559722674
    . Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  7. ISBN 1578063779
    . Retrieved June 17, 2023.

External links

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