William Bendix

William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough,

Bendix was born in Manhattan, the only child of Oscar and Hilda (Carnell) Bendix, and was named William after his German paternal grandfather. His uncle was composer, conductor, and violinist Max Bendix.^[1] In the early 1920s, Bendix was a batboy for the New York Yankees and said he saw Babe Ruth hit more than 100 home runs at Yankee Stadium. However, he was fired after fulfilling Ruth's request for a large order of hot dogs and soda before a game, which resulted in Ruth being unable to play that day. He worked as a grocer until the Great Depression.^[2]

Career

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Film

Bendix began his acting career at age 30 in the New Jersey

Bendix's other film roles include his portrayal of Babe Ruth in The Babe Ruth Story (1948) – a film roundly considered one of the worst sports biopics in film history^[3][4][5] – and Sir Sagramore opposite Bing Crosby in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), in which he took part in the trio, "Busy Doing Nothing".^[6] He played Nick the bartender in the film version of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life (1948) starring James Cagney. Bendix had appeared in the stage version, but in the role of Officer Krupp (a role played on film by Broderick Crawford). He was cast in The Blue Dahlia (1946), appearing for the second time alongside Ladd and Lake. He also starred in a film adaptation of his radio program The Life of Riley (1949).

Radio and television

Bendix's appearance in the Hal Roach-produced film The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942), playing a rugged blue-collar man, led to his best-remembered role. Producer and 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 Marx 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 brought an adaptation of the film version to Lux Radio Theatre.

The show began as a proposed Groucho Marx radio series, The Flotsam Family, but the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for the comedian. Then creator and producer Irving Brecher saw Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in The McGuerins from Brooklyn. Brecher stated, "He was a Brooklyn guy and there was something about him. I thought, This guy could play it. He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name. So I took The Flotsam Family script, revised it, made it a Brooklyn Family, took out the flippancies and made it more meat-and-potatoes, and thought of a new title, The Life of Riley. Bendix's delivery and the spin he put on his lines made it work." The reworked script cast Bendix as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. His frequent exclamation of indignation – "What a revoltin' development this is!" – became one of the catchphrases of the 1940s. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four.

Bendix was not able to play the role on television because of a contracted film commitment. The part instead went to

On the 1952 television program This Is Your Life, hosted by Ralph Edwards, Bendix was claimed to be a descendant of the 19th-century composer Felix Mendelssohn.

Bendix played the lead in

In the fall of 1964, an American situation comedy starring Bendix and Martha Raye was scheduled to air on CBS, but due to Bendix's shaky health, the network decided not to air the program. This action resulted in a lawsuit from Bendix for $2.658 million in May, with the actor stating that the decision hurt his career and that he was in excellent health and could perform all of the requirements of the agreement. The case was settled out of court. Bendix died on December 14, 1964, of complications from pneumonia.[9]

Reflections

Bendix saw advantages to both film and stage work. "“Films take tremendous pressure off – you can always reshoot a scene. But on the stage you can work with a part, build it from performance to performance.”^[2]

As a professional, he was pragmatic and unsentimental about his career. His credo, he remarked, was, “Save a buck or two and keep on acting – that's me.” In an interview in 1960 he summed up his life: “I've had a long, – varied, pleasant, eventful career. I don't hate anybody and I don't have any bitter thoughts. I started out without any advantages, but I've been lucky and successful and I've had fun.” ^[2]

Personal life

Bendix married a childhood friend, Theresa Stefanotti, on October 22, 1927. They remained married until his death 37 years later in 1964. The couple had a daughter, Lorraine, and adopted another, Stephanie.^[2]

Bendix died in Los Angeles at age 58 in 1964 as the result of a chronic stomach ailment that brought on malnutrition and ultimately lobar pneumonia.^{[citation needed]} He was interred at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles.

Bendix was a

Los Angeles Coliseum in support of the Dewey-Bricker ticket as well as Governor Earl Warren of California.^[10]

Complete filmography

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes
1940	They Drive by Night	Truck Driver Watching Pinball Game	Raoul Walsh	uncredited
1942	Brooklyn Orchid	Timothy "Tim" McGuerin	Kurt Neumann
	Woman of the Year	"Pinkie" Peters	George Stevens
	Wake Island	Pvt. Aloysius K. "Smacksie" Randall	John Farrow	Best Supporting Actor nomination
	The Glass Key	Jeff	Stuart Heisler
	Who Done It?	Detective Brannigan
	Star Spangled Rhythm	Herman the Husband in Bob Hope Skit	Paul Weatherwax
	Two Mugs from Brooklyn	Timothy 'Tim' McGuerin	Kurt Neumann
1943	The Crystal Ball	Biff Carter	Elliott Nugent
	Taxi, Mister	Tim McGuerin	Kurt Neumann
	China	Johnny Sparrow	John Farrow
	Hostages	Underground Leader	Frank Tuttle
	Guadalcanal Diary	Corp. Taxi Potts	Lewis Seiler
1944	Lifeboat	Gus Smith	Alfred Hitchcock
	Skirmish on the Home Front	Herb Miller		short
	The Hairy Ape	Hank Smith	Alfred Santell
	Abroad with Two Yanks	Biff Koraski	John E. Burch (assistant)
	Greenwich Village	Danny O'Mara	Walter Lang
1945	It's in the Bag	William Bendix	Richard Wallace
	Don Juan Quilligan	Patrick Michael "Don Juan" Quilligan	Frank Tuttle
	A Bell for Adano	Sgt. Borth	Henry King
	Duffy's Tavern	William Bendix	Hal Walker
1946	Sentimental Journey	Donnelly - Uncle Don	Walter Lang
	The Blue Dahlia	Buzz Wanchek	George Marshall
	The Dark Corner	Stauffer a.k.a. Fred Foss	Henry Hathaway
	White Tie and Tails	Larry Lundie	Charles Barton[1]
	Two Years Before the Mast	First Mate Amazeen	John Farrow
	Rough But Hopeful	Himself		short
1947	I'll Be Yours	Wechsberg	William A. Seiter
	Calcutta	Pedro Blake	John Farrow
	Blaze of Noon	Porkie Scott	John Farrow
	The Web	Lt. Damico	Michael Gordon
	Variety Girl	Himself	George Marshall
	Where There's Life	Victor O'Brien	Sidney Lanfield
1948	The Time of Your Life	Nick	H. C. Potter
	The Babe Ruth Story	George Herman 'Babe' Ruth	Roy Del Ruth
	Race Street	Lt. Barney Runson	Edwin L. Marin
	10,000 Kids and a Cop	Neighborhood Policeman		short documentary
1949	Cover Up	Sheriff Larry Best	Alfred E. Green
	The Life of Riley	Chester A. Riley	Irving Brecher
	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court	Sir Sagramore	Tay Garnett
	Streets of Laredo	Reuben "Wahoo" Jones	Leslie Fenton
	The Big Steal	Capt. Vincent Blake	Don Siegel
	Johnny Holiday	Sgt. Walker	Willis Goldbeck
1950	Kill the Umpire	Bill "Two Call" Johnson	Lloyd Bacon
1951	Gambling House	Joe Farrow	Ted Tetzlaff
	Detective Story	Det. Lou Brody	William Wyler
	Submarine Command	CPO Boyer	John Farrow
1952	A Girl in Every Port	Timothy Aloysius "Tim" Dunnovan	Chester Erskine
	Macao	Lawrence C. Trumble	Nicholas Ray
	Blackbeard the Pirate	Ben Worley	Raoul Walsh
1954	Dangerous Mission	Chief Ranger Joe Parker	Louis King
1955	Crashout	Van Morgan Duff	Lewis R. Foster
1956	Battle Stations	Buck Fitzpatrick
1958	The Deep Six	"Frenchy" Shapiro	Rudolph Maté
1959	Idol on Parade	Sgt. Lush	John Gilling
	The Ransom of Red Chief	Bill Driscoll		TV movie
	The Rough and the Smooth	Reg Barker	Robert Siodmak
1961	Johnny Nobody	James Ronald Mulcahy	Nigel Patrick
	The Phony American	Sergeant Harrigan, USAF	Ákos Ráthonyi
1962	Boys' Night Out	Slattery	Michael Gordon
1963	For Love or Money	Joe Fogel	Michael Gordon
	The Young and the Brave	Sgt. Peter L. Kane	Francis D. Lyon
1964	Law of the Lawless	Sheriff Ed Tanner	William F. Claxton
	Young Fury	Blacksmith, Joe	Christian Nyby

Partial television credits

• The Life of Riley (1953–1958)
• The Time Element
  " (TV series, 1958) as Peter Jenson
• The Untouchables: "The Tri-State Gang" (TV series, 1959) as Wally Legenza
• Overland Trail, a 1960 Western series starring Bendix and Doug McClure

Dramatic radio appearances

• Cavalcade of America (1952) -- Portraying Lou Diamond in "The Marine Who Was 200 Years Old^[11]

Year	Program	Episode/source
February 28, 1944	Lux Radio Theatre	Guadalcanal Diary
January 23, 1950	Lux Radio Theatre	I'll Be Yours
May 8, 1950	Lux Radio Theatre	Life Of Riley

References

1. ^ Bruce Eder (2015). "William Bendix - About This Person - Movies & TV". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2015.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "William Bendix, Actor, 58, Is Dead; Stage and Screen Veteran Capped Career With Riley", New York Times, December 15, 1964
3. ^ "Worst Movie Biopics: Real-Life Catastrophes". Moviefone. November 5, 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
4. ^ Hal Erickson (2015). "The Babe Ruth Story (1948)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
5. Spokane Chronicle
   .
6. ^ "Busy Doing Nothing – From the film "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" (1949)". International Lyrics Playground. Bing Crosby, William Bendix, Cedric Hardwicke (Film Soundtrack)- 1949
7. ^ "Ford Show – Season 4". ernieford.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
8. ^ Irvin, Richard. "Spinning Laughter: Profiles of 111 Proposed Comedy Spin-offs and Sequels that Never Became a Series". BearManor Media – via Google Books.
9. ISBN 978-0786414055
   .
10. ISBN 978-0-253-35683-3
    .
11. Newspapers.com.

• Smithsonian Collection: Old Time Radio All-Time Favourites, liner notes from audio cassette box set. Joe Bevilaqua. Radio Spirits: Schiller Park, 1994.
• John Dunning, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Bendix.

• William Bendix at
  IMDb
• William Bendix at the Internet Broadway Database
• William Bendix at AllMovie
• William Bendix at Find a Grave
• The short film William Bendix in Riley, Savings Bonds Salesman (c. 1943–44) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.