Following a stomach ailment, Bendix died at 58 from malnutrition and subsequent pneumonia. Bendix began his acting career at age 30 in the New Jersey Federal Theatre Project. His wife of 37 years, Theresa Stefanotti, and their two daughters survived him. to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Having performed in nightclubs even while grocer, and having portrayed taxicab drivers in a series of Broadway flops, he enjoyed his first notable performance on the Broadway stage in 1939, portraying the cop Krupp in William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life." In 1953, Bendix became available for a new television version, and this time the show was a hit. 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. William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. 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. He was born in New York on January 14, 1906, and had initially no idea of becoming an actor, his ambitions centring rather on baseball.
But more often than not, in his movies Bendix received less than top billing, inasmuch as so many of his film assignments involved supporting roles. William Bendix and his wife, Tess, wait for the doorman to call for their automobile as they leave a Hollywood theatre where they witnessed the premiere of Cinerama "Holiday". 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. I've had a long, varied, pleasant, eventful career. He was spotted in the play by Hal Roach, who signed him to a film contract. I thought, This guy could play it.
A color videotape of the broadcast survives. Bendix, named William after his paternal German grandfather, was born in Manhattan, the only child of Oscar and Hilda (Carnell) Bendix. He guest-starred in an episode of Mister Ed ("Pine Lake Lodge", 1961) which served as a back door pilot for a proposed sitcom that was not picked up. William Bendix is a member of the following lists: American film actors, American television actors and California Republicans.
Doug McClure, later Trampas on The Virginian, co-starred as his young understudy, Frank "Flip" Flippen. He worked as a grocer until the Great Depression. He is best remembered in films for the title role in The Babe Ruth Story. The second television version of The Life of Riley ran from 1953 to 1958, long enough for Riley to become a grandfather. Interred at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California, USA. He was interred at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles. 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 Marxfor the lead. Save a buck or two and keep on acting--that's all there is to it. photos, Bendix, William (& Wife) (Films & Television). film, It was Bendix's appearance in the Hal Roach-produced film The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942), playing a rugged blue-collar man, that led to his best remembered role. In 1927, Bendix married Theresa Stefanotti. Bendix starred in all 17 episodes of the NBC western series Overland Trail (1960) in the role of Frederick Thomas "Fred" Kelly, the crusty superintendent of the Overland Stage Company. He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name. Then creator and producer Irving Brecher saw Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in The McGuerins from Brooklyn. 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. On the other hand, that same craggy appearance had him in such roles as that of the thug Jeff in The Glass Key (1942), in which he repeatedly and gleefully uses his fists to beat star Alan Ladd's face to a pulp and then sadistically challenges Ladd, once he is healed, to come back and receive further "treatment"!
Father: Oscar Bendix; Mother: Hilda Carnell. Jim Beaver
Despite (or perhaps on account of) his looks he was often called upon to supply comedic support, as in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1948), when, portraying Sir Sagramore of King Arthur's Round Table in full suit of armor and pageboy wig, he waxeth eloquent, in his Brooklyn accent but in the most incongruent of Middle English dialects! In 1922, when he was 15, Bendix was a bat boy for the New York Yankees, and became a favorite of. pg. ISBN 0816023387. shared a link: https://www.allmovie.com/artist/william-bendix-p5281. Screen, stage, radio, and television actor. Bendix played the lead in Rod Serling's "The Time Element" (1958), a time-travel adventure episode about a man who travels back to 1941 and unsuccessfully tries to warn everyone in Honolulu about the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. His father was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and a musician who performed in local New York bands. William Bendix and Theresa Stefanotti were ma... Joan Carroll and William Bendix were in a rel... See
William Bendix was previously married to Theresa Stefanotti (1927 - 1964). He also portrayed the clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in both the radio and television versions of The Life of Riley. The reworked script cast Bendix as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Despite winning an Emmy award, the show was cancelled, in part because Gleason was less acceptable as Riley, since Bendix had been so identified with the part on radio. He played in supporting roles in dozens of Hollywood films, usually as a warm-hearted gangster, detective or serviceman. Bendix began … He received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Wake Island (1942).
Bendix's delivery and the spin he put on his lines made it work." The title of this film is lost to time, and Bendix did not appear again before the cameras for 31 years. I started out without any advantages, but I've been lucky and successful and I've had fun. He received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Wake Island (1942). - IMDb Mini Biography By: William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters.
[5] He played Nick the bartender in the film version of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life (1948) starring James Cagney. He was cast in The Blue Dahlia (1946), appearing for the second time alongside Ladd and Lake. The case was settled out of court.
His wife of 37 years, Theresa Stefanotti, and their two daughters survived him. He is most remembered for The Life of Riley, The Babe Ruth Story. Bendix worked in films, television and radio up until the end of his life, but always claimed the stage was his first love. of Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley (1949) and The Life of Riley (1953), perhaps William Bendix's finest and most memorable dramatic performance came in Lifeboat (1944), when he touchingly interprets the role of Gus, the shipwreck survivor whose gangrenous limb has to be removed, the absence of anesthesia notwithstanding.
Help us build our profile of William Bendix! In the 1944 presidential election, for instance, he attended the massive rally organized by David O. Selznick in the Los Angeles Coliseum in support of the Dewey-Bricker ticket as well as Governor Earl Warren of California, who became Dewey's running mate in 1948 and later the Chief Justice of the United States. Bill Takacs