Macdonald Carey

Macdonald Carey
Carey in 1969
Born	Edward Macdonald Carey (1913-03-15)March 15, 1913 Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Died	March 21, 1994(1994-03-21) (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Burial place	Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Iowa
Occupation(s)	Actor, singer
Years active	1938–1994
Spouse	Elizabeth Heckscher ​ ​ (m. 1943; div. 1969)​
Partner	Lois Kraines (1973–1994) (his death)
Children	6, including Aras Baskauskas (grandson)
Awards	Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series 1974 Days of Our Lives 1975 Days of Our Lives

Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast member.^[1]

He first made his career starring in various B-movies of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s (with a few A-picture exceptions like Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt). He was known in many Hollywood circles as "King of the Bs", sharing the throne with his "queen", Lucille Ball.

Biography

Early life

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Carey graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City with a bachelor's degree in 1935, after attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a year where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He became involved with the drama school at the University of Iowa and decided to become an actor.^[2]

Career

Radio and Broadway

Carey toured with the Globe Players. He began to work steadily on radio, including playing Dick Grosvenor on the soap opera Stella Dallas^[3] and Ridgeway Tearle in John's Other Wife,^[4] both in the early 1940s. He was also in Lights Out.^[5]

Carey was on Broadway in Lady in the Dark (1941) opposite Gertrude Lawrence, Danny Kaye and Victor Mature. His performance led to him receiving a contract offer from Paramount. He later recalled, "1941 was probably the greatest year of my life. I got my first big hit with Lady in the Dark, I got married and I signed with Paramount Pictures. I only wish I could remember it all better." The reason was his alcoholism.^[6]

Film appearances and World War II service

Carey made his film debut in

In 1947 Carey returned to Paramount. They put him back into leading roles: Suddenly, It's Spring (1947), directed by Leisen, co-starring Paulette Goddard; Hazard (1948), again with Goddard; and Dream Girl (1948), supporting Betty Hutton, directed by Leisen.

Carey played Cesare Borgia in Bride of Vengeance (1948) alongside Goddard, directed by Leisen, but it was a flop. More popular was a Western, Streets of Laredo (1949), but William Holden was the hero; Carey was the villain.

In 1949 he co-starred as "Nick Carraway" in Alan Ladd's version of The Great Gatsby. Carey followed this with Song of Surrender (1949), once again directed by Leisen.

Universal borrowed Carey for two films: a Western with Maureen O'Hara, Comanche Territory (1950), and South Sea Sinner (1950) with Shelley Winters.

Back at Paramount he was in a low budget film noir, The Lawless (1950) directed by Joseph Losey. Back at Paramount he was a villain to Ray Milland in Copper Canyon (1950), directed by John Farrow. At Paramount he was Jesse James in The Great Missouri Raid (1951) and was in Mystery Submarine (1950) at Universal.

Carey supported Red Skelton at MGM in Excuse My Dust (1951).

At 20th Century Fox Carey supported Betty Grable in Meet Me After the Show (1951) and Claudette Colbert in Let's Make It Legal (1951). He went back to Universal for Cave of Outlaws (1951)

He continued to appear in films like My Wife's Best Friend (1952), at Fox with Anne Baxter; Count the Hours (1953), with Teresa Wright at RKO; Hannah Lee (1953), a Western with John Ireland; It's Everybody's Business (1953), and Málaga (1954) with Maureen O'Hara.

Later films included Stranger at My Door (1956), a Western for Republic Pictures, and Odongo (1956) for Warwick Films.

Carey returned to Broadway in Anniversary Waltz (1954–55), directed by Moss Hart, which was a big hit and ran for two years.^[8]

Television

While still a featured player in films, Carey began appearing on television in episodes of

He was also featured on General Electric Theater, Screen Directors Playhouse, The Alcoa Hour, and Climax!. Carey managed a single, starring turn as a young professor traveling cross-country in the fifth season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Coyote Moon") as well.

Dr. Christian

In 1956, Carey took over the role of the kindly small-town physician Dr. Christian, a character created in the late 1930s by actor Jean Hersholt on radio and in films. Carey portrayed Dr. Christian on syndicated television for one season.

Carey guested on

Carey was in the Western film Man or Gun (1958), for Republic. and The Redeemer (1959). He played patriot Patrick Henry in John Paul Jones (1959), directed by John Farrow who had worked with Carey at Paramount. He appeared in Blue Denim (1959).

Lock Up

Carey starred as crusading Herb Maris in the 1950s syndicated series Lock-Up. A total of seventy-eight episodes were made between 1959 and 1961.^[9]

Carey guest starred on

Carey went to England to make the films The Devil's Agent (1962) and The Damned (known as These Are the Damned in the US) (1963), for director Joseph Losey. He was also in Stranglehold (1962),

In the first season of

Carey supported Sandra Dee in Tammy and the Doctor (1963). He guest starred in the 1964–1965 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show on ABC. He appeared as Mr. Edwards in the 1963 episode "Pay the Two Dollars" of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus. He could also be seen on Burke's Law, Branded, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Run for Your Life, Ben Casey, Lassie, and Bewitched.

Days of Our Lives

Carey played Tom Horton on Days of Our Lives from its first episode in 1965.^[10] Carey said he took the show "because I couldn't get a movie at the time".^[2] He continued as Tom Horton until his death from lung cancer^[11] in Beverly Hills, California, in 1994, six days after his 81st birthday.

During this time, Carey suffered from a drinking problem, and eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1982.^[12][13]

A longtime pipe smoker, he was seen in many films and early episodes of Days of Our Lives with it. He was ordered by his doctor to quit in September 1991 after having to take a leave of absence from Days in order to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his lungs. He returned to the show in November of that year.^[12]

He is most recognized today as the voice who recites the epigraph each day before the program begins: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives." From 1966 to 1994 he would also intone, "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the Days of Our Lives." (After Carey's death, the producers, out of respect for Carey's family, decided not to use the second part of the opening tagline.) At each intermission, his voice also says "We will return for the second half of Days of Our Lives in just a moment".^[14] Since the Horton family is still regarded as the core of Days of our Lives, his memory has been allowed to remain imprinted on the show by leaving the voice-overs intact. He also served as voice-over for the very first PBS ident, in which he said "This is PBS ... the Public Broadcasting Service."^[15]

Other appearances

Carey continued to act in other productions during his run on Days. He had roles in

He was in the films Foes (1977), End of the World (1977), and Summer of Fear (1978), and had a small part in American Gigolo (1980).

Carey was in the TV movie The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980) and the films Access Code (1984) and It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987). He guest starred on Finder of Lost Loves, and Murder, She Wrote. His last non-Days role was in A Message from Holly (1992).

Carey did the onstage introduction for the "Stars of the Days Of Our Lives" and musical artist/director Ricky Dee at the Greek Theatre (1992)^[16]

Published work

Carey wrote several books of poetry, and a 1991 autobiography, The Days of My Life. For his contribution to television, Carey has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6536 Hollywood Boulevard.^[17]

Personal life

Carey was married to Elizabeth Heckscher from 1943 until their divorce in 1969. They had six children:

Carey was a Roman Catholic, and a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.^[19]

Selected filmography

Radio appearances

Awards

• Daytime Emmy Awards
  • (1974)
    Daytime Emmy Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series for Days of Our Lives
  • (1975)
    Daytime Emmy Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series for Days of Our Lives
• Soap Opera Digest Awards
  • (1984)
    Mature Role in a Daytime Serial for Days of Our Lives^[25]
  • (1985)
    Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Actor in a Mature Role in a Daytime Serial for Days of Our Lives^[25]
  • (1990) Soap Opera Digest Editors Choice award[26]

References

Bibliography

• Carey, Macdonald (1991). The Days of My Life. New York: St. Martin's Press.
  ISBN 0-312-05410-6
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macdonald Carey.