Jack De Mave(1933-2025)

Jack De Mave was born in New Jersey and spent most of his formative years exposed to the two exciting worlds of theater and boxing. The roar of the crowd was music to his ears. Jack's dad was the original "Golden Boy", a leading contender for the heavyweight championship of the world in the late 1920s. he fought 87 professional bouts, losing only 11. After seeing De Mave, Sr., fight, Clifford Odets got the idea for the play "Golden Boy", although the story line was in no way based on real life. Jack's father retired from the ring years before Jack was born, but, as a boy, Jack loved to frequent Stillman's Gym or Dempsey's restaurant, meeting his dad's friends such as Gene Tunney, Rocky Marciano, Mickey walker and Jack Dempsey. Jack's godfather was Primo Carnera). As a very young man, jack was considering boxing as a career. But that changed after seeing Paul Muni in "Inherit the Wind" on Broadway. Jack's mother had been casting director for Broadway producer John Golden years before and it was under the Golden banner that Muni had his first big stage success. Jack visited Muni back stage after the performance and the actor's words turned Jack to acting. Jack's training was solidly launched when he won a scholarship to work with Mary Welch and he was schooled in the classical and contemporary theater. His first professional stage appearance was playing opposite Inger Stevens in "Picnic". His portrayal of "Hal" won rave notices. He thane appeared as "Mannion" in the New York City Center Production of "Mr. Roberts" starring Charlton Heston. That brought him to the attention of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, with whom he appeared as "Pedro Cabral" in "The Visit", the Lunt's last play. Jack considers working with the famed acting couple one of his most rewarding experiences. During his association with them (both on Broadway and in the national touring company) Jack met such theatrical legends as Laurence Olivier and Noel Coward. Jack feels his greatest mistake was in not taking advantage of a scholarship arranged by the Lunts for him at the Royal Academy in London. Jack did, however, study for two years with Lee Strasberg, which he feels was of great value to him. Marilyn Monroe was studying with Strasberg at that time and Jack fondly remembers working on a scene with her for class just before she left to film "Bus Stop." He acted opposite another news-making lady in the person of Princess Lee Radziwill, co-starring with Lee in "The Philadelphia Story." The public interest attending the Princess' stage debut landed them in the center of Life magazine, plus many other magazine and newspaper layouts around the country. Some of Mr. De Mave's other stage experiences include co-starring with Ann Blyth in "Sound of Music," Nanette Fabray in Applause" and with Maureen Reagan in "Any Wednesday." He also co-starred in "Sweeney Todd," "Guys and Dolls" and "The Hasty Heart." Jack most recently appeared in the Ray Milland role of "Dial M for Murder" opposite Hope Lange and in the off-Broadway productions of "Richard the Second" and "Macbeth" in New York. Jack's first television appearance was in the Kraft Theater production of "Kings Bounty," with Christopher Plummer. Jack then moved to Hollywood where his TV career continued with guest-starring roles on "Daniel Boone," The F.B.I," "The Fugitive," "Adam -12," "Marcus Welby, M.D." "Ellery Queen'" and a "TV Pilot film called "Boot Hill." He then took the starring role of "Ranger Bob Ericson" on the new "Lassie" TV series, which he did for three years. Upon leaving the "Lassie" series, Jack guest-starred in the recurring role of Armond Linton on the "Mary Tyler Moore" show. Jack also kept busy as a romantic interest for leading ladies such as Doris Day, Valerie Harper, Kelly McGillis, Susan Lucci and Sandy Duncan. One of Jack's happiest experiences was costarring with Bette Davis in a TV Movie for NBC entitled "Hello Mother, Goodbye" in which he appeared as her newscaster son. Jack says Ms. Davis was one of his all-time favorites. Jack also appeared in recurring roles on several daytime dramas such as "General Hospital," "Loving" and "The Bold and The Beautiful." Jack's first theatrical film was "Splendor in the Grass," wherein he seduced Natalie Wood, a scene added by Eli Kazan and Willian Inge during production. However, in editing the film they thought the scene was too graphic for that time to include. Other films followed and featured Jack with Rock Hudson and Claudia Cardinale in "Blindfold." "Seventeen Seventy-Six" as John Penn and "Man Without a Face" with Mel Gibson.