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Ingrid Bergman was one of the greatest actresses from Hollywood's lamented Golden Era. Her natural and unpretentious beauty and her immense acting talent made her one of the most celebrated figures in the history of American cinema. Bergman is also one of the most Oscar-awarded actresses, tied with Meryl Streep and Frances McDormand, all three of them second only to Katharine Hepburn.

Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29, 1915 in Stockholm, Sweden, to a German mother, Frieda Henrietta (Adler), and a Swedish father, Justus Samuel Bergman, an artist and photographer. Her mother died when she was only two and her father died when she was 12. She went to live with an elderly uncle.

The woman who would be one of the top stars in Hollywood in the 1940s had decided to become an actress after finishing her formal schooling. She had had a taste of acting at age 17 when she played an uncredited role of a girl standing in line in the Swedish film Landskamp (1932) in 1932 - not much of a beginning for a girl who would be known as "Sweden's illustrious gift to Hollywood." Her parents died when she was just a girl and the uncle she lived with didn't want to stand in the way of Ingrid's dream. The next year she enrolled at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm but decided that stage acting was not for her. It would be three more years before she would have another chance at a film. When she did, it was more than just a bit part. The film in question was Le conte du pont au moine (1935), where she had a speaking part as Elsa Edlund. After several films that year that established her as a class actress, Ingrid appeared in Intermezzo (1936) as Anita Hoffman. Luckily for her, American producer David O. Selznick saw it and sent a representative from Selznick International Pictures to gain rights to the story and have Ingrid signed to a contract. Once signed, she came to California and starred in United Artists' 1939 remake of her 1936 film, Envol vers le bonheur (1939), reprising her original role. The film was a hit and so was Ingrid.

Her beauty was unlike anything the movie industry had seen before and her acting was superb. Hollywood was about to find out that they had the most versatile actress the industry had ever seen. Here was a woman who truly cared about the craft she represented. The public fell in love with her. Ingrid was under contract to go back to Sweden to film Une seule nuit (1939) in 1939 and Quand la chair est faible (1940) in 1940. Back in the US she appeared in three films, all well-received. She made only one film in 1942, but it was the classic Casablanca (1942) opposite Humphrey Bogart.

Ingrid was choosing her roles well. In 1943 she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Pour qui sonne le glas (1943), the only film she made that year. The critics and public didn't forget her when she made Hantise (1944) the following year--her role of Paula Alquist got her the Oscar for Best Actress. In 1945 Ingrid played in La maison du docteur Edwardes (1945), L'intrigante de Saratoga (1945) and Les cloches de Sainte-Marie (1945), for which she received her third Oscar nomination for her role of Sister Benedict. She made no films in 1947, but bounced back with a fourth nomination for Jeanne d'Arc (1948). In 1949 she went to Italy to film Stromboli (1950), directed by Roberto Rossellini. She fell in love with him and left her husband, Dr. Peter Lindstrom, and daughter, Pia Lindström. America's "moral guardians" in the press and the pulpits were outraged. She was pregnant and decided to remain in Italy, where her son was born. In 1952 Ingrid had twins, Isotta and Isabella Rossellini, who became an outstanding actress in her own right, as did Pia.

Ingrid continued to make films in Italy and finally returned to Hollywood in 1956 in the title role in Anastasia (1956), which was filmed in England. For this she won her second Academy Award. She had scarcely missed a beat. Ingrid continued to bounce between Europe and the US making movies, and fine ones at that. A film with Ingrid Bergman was sure to be a quality production. In her final big-screen performance in 1978's Sonate d'automne (1978) she had her final Academy Award nomination. Though she didn't win, many felt it was the most sterling performance of her career. Ingrid retired, but not before she gave an outstanding performance in the mini-series Une femme nommée Golda (1982), a film about Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. For this she won an Emmy Award as Best Actress, but, unfortunately, she did not live to see the fruits of her labor.

Ingrid died from cancer on August 29, 1982, her 67th birthday, in London, England.

His father, Richard Head Welles, was a well-to-do inventor, his mother, Beatrice (Ives) Welles, a beautiful concert pianist; Orson Welles was gifted in many arts (magic, piano, painting) as a child. When his mother died in 1924 (when he was nine) he traveled the world with his father. He was orphaned at 15 after his father's death in 1930 and became the ward of Dr. Maurice Bernstein of Chicago. In 1931, he graduated from the Todd School in Woodstock, Illinois. He turned down college offers for a sketching tour of Ireland. He tried unsuccessfully to enter the London and Broadway stages, traveling some more in Morocco and Spain, where he fought in the bullring.

Recommendations by Thornton Wilder and Alexander Woollcott got him into Katharine Cornell's road company, with which he made his New York debut as Tybalt in 1934. The same year, he married, directed his first short, and appeared on radio for the first time. He began working with John Houseman and formed the Mercury Theatre with him in 1937. In 1938, they produced "The Mercury Theatre on the Air", famous for its broadcast version of "The War of the Worlds" (intended as a Halloween prank). His first film to be seen by the public was Citizen Kane (1941), a commercial failure losing RKO $150,000, but regarded by many as the best film ever made. Many of his subsequent films were commercial failures and he exiled himself to Europe in 1948.

In 1956, he directed La Soif du mal (1958); it failed in the United States but won a prize at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. In 1975, in spite of all his box-office failures, he received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1984, the Directors Guild of America awarded him its highest honor, the D.W. Griffith Award. His reputation as a filmmaker steadily climbed thereafter.

One of Hollywood's finest character / "Method" actors, Eli Wallach was in demand for over 60 years (first film/TV role was 1949) on stage and screen, and has worked alongside the world's biggest stars, including Clark Gable, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, Peter O'Toole, and Al Pacino, to name but a few.

Wallach was born on 7 December 1915 in Brooklyn, NY, to Jewish parents who emigrated from Poland, and was one of the few Jewish kids in his mostly Italian neighborhood. His parents, Bertha (Schorr) and Abraham Wallach, owned a candy store, Bertha's Candy Store. He went on to graduate with a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin, but gained his dramatic training with the Actors Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his debut on Broadway in 1945, and won a Tony Award in 1951 for portraying Alvaro Mangiacavallo in the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo".

Wallach made a strong screen debut in 1956 in the film version of the Tennessee Williams play La Poupée de chair (1956), shined as "Dancer", the nattily dressed hitman, in director Don Siegel's film-noir classic La ronde du crime (1958), and co-starred in the heist film Les sept voleurs (1960). Director John Sturges then cast Wallach as vicious Mexican bandit Calvera in Les 7 mercenaires (1960), the western adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa epic Les 7 Samouraïs (1954). Les désaxés (1961), in the star-spangled western opus La Conquête de l'Ouest (1962), the underrated WW2 film Les vainqueurs (1963), as a kidnapper in La baie aux émeraudes (1964), in the sea epic Lord Jim (1965) and in the romantic comedy Comment voler un million de dollars (1966).

Looking for a third lead actor in the final episode of the "Dollars Trilogy", Italian director Sergio Leone cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money-hungry (but somehow lovable) bandit "Tuco" in the spectacular Le Bon, la Brute et le Truand (1966) (aka "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), arguably his most memorable performance. Wallach kept busy throughout the remainder of the '60s and into the '70s with good roles in L'Or de Mackenna (1969), Permission d'aimer (1973), Jo le fou (1974), Les Grands Fonds (1977) and as Steve McQueen's bail buddy in Le Chasseur (1980).

The 1980s was an interesting period for Wallach, as he was regularly cast as an aging doctor, a Mafia figure or an over-the-hill hitman, such as in Le chant du bourreau (1982), Our Family Honor (1985), Coup double (1986), Cinglée (1987), The Two Jakes - Piège pour un privé (1990) and as the candy-addicted "Don Altabello" in Le Parrain, 3e partie (1990). At 75+ years of age, Wallach's quality of work was still first class and into the 1990s and beyond, he has remained in demand. He lent fine support to Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1990), Jeux d'influence (1992), Un flic à New York: règlement de comptes (1998) and Au nom d'Anna (2000). Most recently Wallach showed up as a fast-talking liquor store owner in Mystic River (2003) and in the comedic drama King of the Corner (2004).

In early 2005, Eli Wallach released his much anticipated autobiography, "The Good, The Bad And Me: In My Anecdotage", an enjoyable reading from one of the screen's most inventive and enduring actors.

Eli Wallach was very much a family man who remained married to his wife Anne Jackson for 66 years. When Wallach died at 98, in 2014, in Manhattan, NY, he was survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

Harry Morgan was a prolific character actor who starred in over 100 films and was a stage performer. Known to a younger generation of fans as "Col. Sherman T. Potter" on M.A.S.H. (1972). Also known for his commanding personality throughout his career, he tackled movies and television in a way no other actor would do it.

Born Harry Bratsberg in Detroit, Michigan to Anna Olsen, a homemaker who immigrated from Sweden, and Henry Bratsberg, a mechanic who immigrated from Norway. After graduating from Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan, he took on a salesman job before becoming a successful actor.

Several of his most memorable film roles were: La Piste d'Omaha (1942), in the next quarter-century, he would also appear in L'étrange incident (1943), Le porte-avions X (1944), La Foire aux illusions (1945), Le château du dragon (1946), Ils étaient tous mes fils (1948), Feu rouge (1949), J'ai grandi en prison (1950), La main qui venge (1950) where he met future Dragnet 1967 (1967) co-star Jack Webb, who would be best friends until Webb's death, late in 1982, along with Échec au hold-up (1950). His films credits also include: Le train sifflera trois fois (1952), Romance inachevée (1954), Strategic Air Command (1955), among many others. He also co-starred with James Garner in Ne tirez pas sur le shérif (1969) and Tueur malgré lui (1971).

On television, he is fondly remembered as Spring Byington's jokingly henpecked neighbor, "Pete Porter" on December Bride (1954), where he became the show's scene-stealer. It was also based on a popular radio show that transferred into television. The show was an immediate success to viewers, which led him into starring his own short-lived spin-off series, Pete and Gladys (1960), which co-starred Cara Williams, who met Morgan in the movie, The Saxon Charm (1948).

Morgan began his eight-year association with old friend, Jack Webb, and Universal, starting with Dragnet 1967 (1967), which he played Off. Bill Gannon. For the second time, like December Bride (1954) before this, it was an immediate hit, where it tackled a lot of topics. Dragnet was canceled in 1970, after a 4-season run, due to Morgan's best friend and co-star (Jack Webb) leaving the show to continue producing other shows, such as Adam-12 (1968) and Emergency! (1972). Morgan would later work with Webb in both short-lived series, The D.A. (1971), opposite Robert Conrad and Hec Ramsey (1972), opposite Richard Boone. After those roles, Morgan ended his contract with both Universal and Mark VII, to sign with 20th Century Fox.

Morgan's biggest role was that of a tough-talking, commanding, fun-loving, serious Army Officer, "Col. Sherman T. Potter" on M.A.S.H. (1972), when he replaced McLean Stevenson, who left the show to unsuccessfully star in his own sitcom. For the third time, the show was still a hit with fans, and at 60, he was nominated for Emmies nine times and won his first and only Emmy in 1980, for Outstanding Supporting Actor. By 1983, M*A*S*H's series was getting very expensive, as well as with the cast, hence, CBS reduced it to 16 episodes. Despite M*A*S*H's finale in 1983, Morgan went on to star in a short-lived spin-off series After MASH (1983), co-starring Jamie Farr and William Christopher, from the original M.A.S.H. (1972) series, without series' star Alan Alda.

He also co-starred in 2 more short-lived series, as he was over 70, beginning with Blacke's Magic (1986) with Hal Linden and his final role with You Can't Take It with You (1987). That same year, he reprised his role, for a second time as "Off. Bill Gannon" in the film, Dragnet (1987), which starred Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. Then, he guest-starred in several shows such as: La cinquième dimension (1985), Le rebelle (1992), The Jeff Foxworthy Show (1995), for the third time, he also reprised his "Off. Bill Gannon" role, supplying his voice on Les Simpson (1989). Towards the end of his acting career, as he reached 80, he had a recurring role as the older college professor on 3e planète après le soleil (1996), opposite John Lithgow. Afterwards, he retired from show business and lived with his family. Harry Morgan died on December 7, 2011 at 96. On confirming his death, his son Charles said that he had been recently treated for pneumonia. Morgan was also one of the oldest living Hollywood male actors.

Anthony Quinn was born Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (some sources indicate Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca) on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, to Manuela (Oaxaca) and Francisco Quinn, who became an assistant cameraman at a Los Angeles (CA) film studio.

After starting life in extremely modest circumstances in Mexico, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and Echo Park neighborhoods. He played in the band of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson as a youth and as a deputy preacher. He attended Polytechnic High School and later Belmont High, but eventually dropped out. The young Quinn boxed (which stood him in good stead as a stage actor, when he played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" to rave reviews in Chicago), then later studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the great architect's studio, Taliesin, in Arizona. Quinn was close to Wright, who encouraged him when he decided to give acting a try. Made his credited film debut in Sur parole (1936). After a brief apprenticeship on stage, Quinn hit Hollywood in 1936 and picked up a variety of small roles in several films at Paramount, including an Indian warrior in Une aventure de Buffalo Bill (1936), which was directed by the man who later became his father-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille.

As a contract player at Paramount, Quinn's roles were mainly ethnic types, such as an Arab chieftain in the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope comedy, En route pour le Maroc (1942). As a Mexican national, he was exempt from the draft. With many other actors in military service during WWII, he was able to move up into better supporting roles. He married DeMille's daughter Katherine DeMille, which afforded him entrance to the top circles of Hollywood society. He became disenchanted with his career and did not renew his Paramount contract despite the advice of others, including his father-in-law, with whom he did not get along (whom Quinn reportedly felt had never accepted him due to his Mexican roots; the two men were also on opposite ends of the political spectrum) but they eventually were able to develop a civil relationship. Quinn returned to the stage to hone his craft. His portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in Chicago and on Broadway (where he replaced the legendary Marlon Brando, who is forever associated with the role) made his reputation and boosted his film career when he returned to the movies.

Brando and Elia Kazan, who directed "Streetcar" on Broadway and on film (Un tramway nommé désir (1951)), were crucial to Quinn's future success. Kazan, knowing the two were potential rivals due to their acclaimed portrayals of Kowalski, cast Quinn as Brando's brother in his biographical film of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, Viva Zapata ! (1952). Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for 1952, making him the first Mexican to win an Oscar. It was not to be his lone appearance in the winner's circle: he won his second Supporting Actor Oscar in 1957 for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli's biographical film of Vincent van Gogh, La vie passionnée de Vincent van Gogh (1956), opposite Kirk Douglas. Over the next decade Quinn lived in Italy and became a major figure in world cinema, as many studios shot films in Italy to take advantage of the lower costs ("runaway production" had battered the industry since its beginnings in the New York/New Jersey area in the 1910s). He appeared in several Italian films, giving one of his greatest performances as the circus strongman who brutalizes the sweet soul played by Giulietta Masina in her husband Federico Fellini's masterpiece La strada (1954). He met his second wife, Jolanda Addolori, a wardrobe assistant, while he was in Rome filming Barabbas (1961).

Alternating between Europe and Hollywood, Quinn built his reputation and entered the front rank of character actors and character leads. He received his third Oscar nomination (and first for Best Actor) for George Cukor's ...car, sauvage est le vent ! (1957). He played a Greek resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation in the monster hit Les Canons de Navarone (1961) and received kudos for his portrayal of a once-great boxer on his way down in Rod Serling's Requiem pour un champion (1962). He went back to playing ethnic roles, such as an Arab warlord in David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence d'Arabie (1962), and he played the eponymous lead in the "sword-and-sandal" blockbuster Barabbas (1961). Two years later, he reached the zenith of his career, playing Zorba the Greek in the film of the same name (a.k.a. Zorba le grec (1964)), which brought him his fourth, and last, Oscar nomination as Best Actor. The 1960s were kind to him: he played character leads in such major films as The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) and Le Secret de Santa Vittoria (1969). However, his appearance in the title role in the film adaptation of John Fowles' novel, Jeux pervers (1968), did nothing to save the film, which was one of that decade's notorious turkeys.

In the 1960s, Quinn told Life magazine that he would fight against typecasting. Unfortunately, the following decade saw him slip back into playing ethnic types again, in such critical bombs as L'empire du Grec (1978). He starred as the Hispanic mayor of a southwestern city on the short-lived television series L'homme de la cité (1971), but his career lost its momentum during the 1970s. Aside from playing a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis in the cinematic roman-a-clef L'empire du Grec (1978), his other major roles of the decade were as Hamza in the controversial Le message (1976) (a.k.a. "Mohammad, Messenger of God"); as the Italian patriarch in L'héritage (1976); yet another Arab in Caravans (1978); and as a Mexican patriarch in The Children of Sanchez (1978). In 1983, he reprised his most famous role, Zorba the Greek, on Broadway in the revival of the musical "Zorba" for 362 performances (opposite Lila Kedrova, who had also appeared in the film, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance). His career slowed during the 1990s but he continued to work steadily in films and television, including an appearance with frequent film co-star Maureen O'Hara in Ta mère ou moi ! (1991).

Quinn lived out the latter years of his life in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his time painting and sculpting. Beginning in 1982, he held numerous major exhibitions in cities such as Vienna, Paris, and Seoul. He died in a hospital in Boston at age 86 from pneumonia and respiratory failure linked to his battle with throat cancer.

Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants Natalina Della (Garaventa), from Northern Italy, and Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, a Sicilian boxer, fireman, and bar owner. Growing up on the gritty streets of Hoboken made Sinatra determined to work hard to get ahead. Starting out as a saloon singer in musty little dives (he carried his own P.A. system), he eventually got work as a band singer, first with The Hoboken Four, then with Harry James and then Tommy Dorsey. With the help of George Evans (Sinatra's genius press agent), his image was shaped into that of a street thug and punk who was saved by his first wife, Nancy Barbato Sinatra. In 1942 he started his solo career, instantly finding fame as the king of the bobbysoxers--the young women and girls who were his fans--and becoming the most popular singer of the era among teenage music fans. About that time his film career was also starting in earnest, and after appearances in a few small films, he struck box-office gold with a lead role in Escale à Hollywood (1945) with Gene Kelly, a Best Picture nominee at the 1946 Academy Awards. Sinatra was awarded a special Oscar for his part in a short film that spoke out against intolerance, The House I Live In (1945). His career on a high, Sinatra went from strength to strength on record, stage and screen, peaking in 1949, once again with Gene Kelly, in the MGM musical Un jour à New-York (1949) and Match d'amour (1949). A controversial public affair with screen siren Ava Gardner broke up his marriage to Nancy Barbato Sinatra and did his career little good, and his record sales dwindled. He continued to act, although in lesser films such as Quand tu me souris (1952), and a vocal cord hemorrhage all but ended his career. He fought back, though, finally securing a role he desperately wanted--Maggio in Tant qu'il y aura des hommes (1953). He won an Oscar for best supporting actor and followed this with a scintillating performance as a cold-blooded assassin hired to kill the US President in Je dois tuer (1954). Arguably a career-best performance--garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor--was his role as a pathetic heroin addict in the powerful drama L'homme au bras d'or (1955).

Known as "One-Take Charlie" for his approach to acting that strove for spontaneity and energy, rather than perfection, Sinatra was an instinctive actor who was best at playing parts that mirrored his own personality. He continued to give strong and memorable performances in such films as Blanches colombes et vilains messieurs (1955), Le pantin brisé (1957) and Comme un torrent (1958). In the late 1950s and 1960s Sinatra became somewhat prolific as a producer, turning out such films as Un trou dans la tête (1959), Les 3 sergents (1962) and the very successful Les 7 Voleurs de Chicago (1964). Lighter roles alongside "Rat Pack" buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. were lucrative, especially the famed L'inconnu de Las Vegas (1960). On the other hand, he alternated such projects with much more serious offerings, such as Un crime dans la tête (1962), regarded by many critics as Sinatra's finest picture. He made his directorial debut with the World War II picture L'île des braves (1965), which was the first Japanese/American co-production. That same year L'express du colonel von Ryan (1965) was a box office sensation. In 1967 Sinatra returned to familiar territory in Sidney J. Furie's Chantage au meurtre (1967), once again playing as assassin in his only film to be shot in the U.K. and Germany. That same year he starred as a private investigator in Tony Rome est dangereux ! (1967), a role he reprised in the sequel, La Femme en ciment (1968). He also starred with Lee Remick in Le Détective (1968), a film daring for its time with its theme of murders involving rich and powerful homosexual men, and it was a major box-office success.

After appearing in the poorly received comic western Un beau salaud (1970), Sinatra didn't act again for seven years, returning with a made-for-TV cops-and-mob-guys thriller Contrat à Cherry Street (1977), which he also produced. Based on the novel by William Rosenberg, this fable of fed-up cops turning vigilante against the mob boasted a stellar cast and was a ratings success. Sinatra returned to the big screen in De plein fouet (1980), once again playing a New York detective, in a moving and understated performance that was a fitting coda to his career as a leading man. He made one more appearance on the big screen with a cameo in Cannonball 2 (1984) and a final acting performance in Magnum (1980), in 1987, as a retired police detective seeking vengeance on the killers of his granddaughter, in an episode entitled Laura (1987).

He had one of Hollywood's most distinctive faces and a stentorian baritone voice to match. Character actor John Dehner, was born John Forkum in Staten Island, New York, the son of a globe-trotting artist. He attended school in France and Norway, in the process learning to speak four languages fluently. Back in the U.S., he graduated from high school in New York and proceeded to study for a diploma in art at the University of California. Any plans he might have had of following in his father's footsteps were derailed, however, when the acting bug suddenly took hold. In short order, the cash-strapped Dehner relocated to sunny California in search of a job. He worked for a while as a professional pianist and band leader but was then able to finagle a position as an assistant animator with Disney Studios for a salary of $18 a week. Dehner had a hand in several classic feature sequences, including Fantasia (1940) and Bambi (1942), as well as a few Donald Duck and Pluto cartoons. He returned to Disney in later years as a narrator and also played the part of Viceroy Don Esteban in an episode of the TV series Zorro (1957).

After leaving the Disney art department, Dehner did a stint as a public relations officer in the army during World War II and then returned to California as a radio announcer and news editor for stations KMBC and KFWB. In the course of many years, Dehner amassed a remarkable series of radio acting credits, most notably starring as Paladin in "Have Gun - Will Travel" and in similarly popular action programs like "Gunsmoke" and "Fort Laramie" (this, in spite of turning down several offers to play Marshall Matt Dillon on TV because he did not want to be typecast in westerns!). In films from the mid-40s, Dehner served a lengthy apprenticeship in assorted bit parts before graduating as one of Hollywood's most reliable villains, be they suave gamblers, crooked bankers, grifters or gunslingers. Just as often, his authoritarian demeanor proved perfect casting for stern fathers, military brass or cops. In Le Gaucher (1958), Dehner received second billing as Pat Garrett, co-starring opposite Paul Newman's Billy the Kid. On the small screen, he invariably made an impact as guest star in myriad classic TV shows, including Yancy Derringer (1958), Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), The Roaring 20's (1960), Maverick (1957), Bronco (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Rawhide (1959) and Doris comédie (1968) (a regular part during seasons four and five, as Doris's editor Cy Bennett). Dehner appeared in three episodes of La quatrième dimension (1959), reserving one of his best performances (displaying a wonderfully dry comic talent) as the titular huckster in late 1800s Arizona, in the episode "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" (1963).

One of Hollywood's most hard-working character actors, John Dehner died in Santa Barbara, California, on February 4 at the age of 76.

The son of a circuit-riding Methodist preacher in rural Alabama, Pat Buttram became one of America's best-known comic entertainers. He left Alabama a month before his 18th birthday to attend the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. An announcer from radio station WLS was on hand to interview members of the crowd and settled on Pat as a typical visitor from the South. The interview that followed was anything but typical. Pat made a hit with his hilarious observations on the fair and was immediately offered a job with the station. This led to a long and happy association with the popular "National Barn Dance" radio program. During those years Pat met Gene Autry, who took a liking to the young comic and later brought him to Hollywood to replace Smiley Burnette, who had found other work while Gene served in WWII. Together Pat and Gene made many western films and a television series, The Gene Autry Show (1950), which aired from 1950 until 1956. They remained close friends until Pat's death in 1994.

In 1952 Pat married actress Sheila Ryan, whom he had met on the set of Mule Train (1950). Over the next 40 years Pat prospered in radio, films and television, making stand-up appearances on Toast of the Town (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show") and lending his vocal talents to many animated television shows and films, including several Walt Disney features. In the early 1960s he revealed a flair for dramatic acting when Alfred Hitchcock tapped him for roles in two Suspicion (1962) episodes. His big television break came in 1965 with the role of "Mr. Haney" in the long-running CBS comedy Les arpents verts (1965). Throughout his career Pat was in constant demand as a toastmaster and after-dinner speaker, where his agile and sophisticated wit belied his "countrified" appearance. In 1982 Pat founded the Golden Boot Awards to honor actors, directors, stunt people and other industry professionals who have made significant contributions to the western film genre. Proceeds from the annual event are donated to the Motion Picture Health and Welfare Fund.

Born Barbara Lillian Combes, she attended Los Angeles Junior College in the mid-1930s and then moved to New York City, where she worked as a model. In 1945, she received a contract from MGM, and she appeared in several films during the late 1940s and 1950s, sometimes without screen credit. In the 1950s, she turned to television and appeared in shows including the sitcoms Professional Father (1955) and The Brothers (1956), as well as guest-starring on "The Abbott and Costello Show", the David Niven anthology series, Four Star Playhouse (1952), and the sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve (1957). In 1957, Billingsley began starring in the sitcom, Leave It to Beaver (1957), as "June Cleaver", mother to "Wally" and "Theodore", nicknamed "Beaver". She appeared in her most famous role for 234 episodes, remaining with the show until it ended after six seasons. After 17 years of semi-retirement, Billingsley returned to movies in 1980's Y a-t-il un pilote dans l'avion ? (1980), creating another iconic role by spoofing her wholesome image with a brief appearance in this send-up of 1970s disaster movies, as a middle-aged white passenger who could translate between a white stewardess and two African-American passengers, because "I speak jive". She also appeared in Still the Beaver (1983), which ran from 1983 to 1989, and voiced the character of "Nanny" in the Les Muppet Babies (1984) cartoon series, from 1984 to 1991. Billingsley continued to act occasionally, including appearances on the sitcoms, Roseanne (1988) and La maison en folie (1988), and died at her home, after having dealt for several years with the effects of a rheumatoid disease.

Lorne Greene was born Lyon Himan "Chaim" Green on February 12, 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He began acting while attending Canada's Queen's University, and after graduation got a job in radio broadcasting. His rich, deep, authoritative voice quickly propelled him to prominence as Canada's top newscaster. He left Canada in the early 1950s for a film career in Hollywood, and soon began appearing regularly in television, films and on radio. His greatest successes came in two television series, the long-running Western Bonanza (1959), in which he played the patriarch of a wealthy frontier family, and the science-fiction series Galactica (1978). In 1969 he was awarded Officer of the Order of Canada for his services to the performing arts and community.

Lorne Greene died at age 72 of pneumonia following heart surgery on September 11, 1987 in Santa Monica, CA.

Gary Merrill was born August 2, 1915, in Hartford, Connecticut. He began his career acting in summer stock plays. He married Barbara Leeds, an actress, and then served a brief stint in the army. After the army, he landed in New York, where he was chosen to join the already popular play "Born Yesterday". In 1950 he was cast in the part of Bill Sampson in Ève... (1950). It would be his first time meeting Bette Davis and they became an instant couple. After their respective divorces, they were married in Mexico. She was 42 and he was 35. During their marriage they adopted two children, Margot and Michael, and after ten years of fighting and financial problems they divorced. Merrill did not marry again, though he was involved with Rita Hayworth for a time. Later in his career Merrill made a lucrative living doing voice-overs for radio and television commercials. In 1988 he published his autobiography, "Bette, Rita, And The Rest Of My Life". He died of lung cancer at the age of 74.

William Hopper was born on 26 January 1915 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Perry Mason (1957), À des millions de kilomètres de la Terre (1957) and La Mauvaise Graine (1956). He was married to Jane Gilbert and Jeanette Juanita Ward. He died on 6 March 1970 in Palm Springs, California, USA.

Emmy and Tony Award-winner Barnard Hughes forged a career as one of American's most successful character actors, equally at home and successful on stage, the silver screen, and television. Most of his success came after middle-age. He made his Broadway debut in 1939 in Mary McCarthy's "Please, Mrs. Garibaldi", a flop that lasted only four performances. He appeared in another 22 Broadway shows, his last being Noël Coward's "Waiting in the Wings, which closed in the year 2000. His Broadway career lasted spanned 61 years and eight decades. Along the way, he won the 1978 Tony Award as best Actor in a play for Da (1988), his most famous role, which also brought him the Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actor in a Play. (He won a lifetime achievement Drama Desk Award in 2000.) He also was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1973 for Much Ado About Nothing (1973), which was fitting, as it was in Shakespeare repertory that he honed his craft. Hughes was born Bernard Aloysius Kiernan Hughes on July 16, 1915, in Bedford Hills, New York, to Irish immigrants Marcella "Madge" (Kiernan) and Owen Hughes. Bedford Hills is a hamlet lying 41 miles north of the heart of Broadway in Times Square (He changed the spelling of his Christian name on the advice of a numerologist; thespians are very superstitious). After graduating from the La Salle Academy and attending Manhattan College, he joined New York City's Shakespeare Fellowship Repertory Co. He was a member of the company for two years. He did not actually appear on Broadway in Shakespeare until 1964, when he played Marcellus to Richard Burton's Hamlet (1964). Off-Broadway, he played Polonius to Stacy Keach's Obie Award-winning Hamlet in 1972. His only other Shakespearean turn on the boards of the Great White Way was as Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing" in the 1972-73 season, which brought him his first Tony nomination. Off-Broadway, he also appeared as the Chorus in "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" and Sir John Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor". Back on Broadway, his most prominent role other than "Da" (which he also played in the roadshow tour) was as the Old Man opposite Alec Baldwin in Le baiser empoisonné (1992). Hughes had a 54 year-long screen career, equally adept in television as in movies. He was a regular on the soap opera Haine et passion (1952) from 1961-66. Though Hughes was a highly effective dramatic actor, he had a flair for comedy and appeared on such sit-coms as _"The Phil Silvers Show" (TV series) and _"Car 54, Where Are You?" (1962)_ before having recurring roles on "All In the Family" (1971) as a priest and on The Bob Newhart Show (1972) as Bob's father in the 1970s. He eventually headlined his own sit-com in the mid '70s, Doc (1975), which had a successful first season but was canceled early into its second after the network demanded changes to boost ratings. Instead, the ratings sank. His break-through performance in the movies arguably was a the messianic doctor who was a victim of malpractice and turned avenger in Paddy Chayefsky's L'hôpital (1971) in 1971. It came two years after a small but memorable part in Best Picture Oscar winner Macadam cowboy (1969), as he middle-aged gay mamma's boy who picks up self-styled "hustler" Joe Buck with disastrous consequences. Hughes married actress Helen Stenborg in 1950 and they remained married until his death on July 11, 2006, five days before what would have been his 91st birthday. The couple had two children, theatrical director Doug Hughes (who was also a Tony-winner) and a daughter, actress Laura Hughes.

One of the movies' most memorable tough guys, Simon Oakland actually began his career as a concert violinist, turning to acting in the late 1940s. After a long string of roles in Broadway hits, including "Light Up the Sky," "The Shrike" and "Inherit the Wind," Oakland made his film debut as the tough but compassionate journalist who speaks up for Susan Hayward's "Barbara Graham" in Je veux vivre! (1958). He would go on to play a long series of tough guy types, albeit usually on the right side of the law, in such films as La canonnière du Yang-Tsé (1966), Tony Rome est dangereux ! (1967), Psychose (1960), and, most notably, nasty Lieutenant Schrank in West Side Story (1961). He was also a frequently seen face on TV, at one point serving as a regular or semi-regular on four different series at once. Much respected by his co-workers as a total professional, he died, after a long battle with cancer, one day after his 68th birthday.

Veteran performer John Randolph was a Tony Award-winning character actor whose union and social activism in the '40s and '50s caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. The balding performer may not have been a household name, but he was a regular face in movies and TV for over four decades.

He was born Emanuel Cohen on June 1, 1915, in New York City, to Jewish immigrants from Romania and Russia, mother Dorothy (Shorr), an insurance agent, and father Louis Cohen, a hat manufacturer. When his father died and his mother remarried, his stepfather, Joseph Lippman, renamed him Mortimer.

He began his dramatic training in the '30s, studying under Stella Adler and changing his name to the less ethnic moniker of "John Randolph". He served in the Army Air Force during WWII and married actress Sarah Cunningham in Chicago in 1945 while performing in Orson Welles's stage production of "Native Son". They had two children, Martha and Harrison.

After the war, Randolph become one of the original members of the Actors Studio. After making his film debut with La cité sans voiles (1948), his passionate, outspoken leftist views and defense of other accused figures led to Randolph and his wife being blacklisted. In 1955, they were both called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Although Randolph lost many jobs during this 15-year blacklist, he continued to find work onstage, mainly in New York.

Finally, director John Frankenheimer broke the Hollywood blacklist after casting Randolph, along with fellow "marked" actors Will Geer and Jeff Corey, in L'opération diabolique (1966), in which he played a disillusioned older man surgically made to look decades younger (now played by Rock Hudson). Randolph continued to flourish in films and TV following this breakthrough with important roles in Serpico (1973), Frances (1982), L'honneur des Prizzi (1985) and Vous avez un mess@ge (1998), along with the TV movies The Missiles of October (1974) and "Lincoln" (1975) (mini). He also played the recurring role of Roseanne Barr's father on her popular sitcom.

In 1987, he was the recipient of both Tony and Drama Desk awards for his close-to-home portrayal of a Communist, left-wing grandfather in Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound". Randolph continued his activism into the 1980s, heading the Council of American-Soviet Friendship, a cultural exchange organization. He died of natural causes at age 88.

Daniel Seymour Katz (Dan Seymour's original name) attended Senn High School in Chicago and graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.S. in Fine Arts. While in college, he worked in many school plays and also worked at night as an emcee at various Chicago nightclubs becoming quite successful. He moved to Hollywood, where his rotund build (265 pounds), and swarthy looks made him perfect for a Hollywood heavy, and changed his name. He wed Evelyn Schwartz in 1949. The couple had two children: Jeff (born 1950) and Greg (born 1954).

Handsome, dapper Argentine-born actor who came to Hollywood as a romantic lead in several colourful MGM extravaganzas and then succeeded in living up to his Latin Lover image in real life. Lamas studied drama at school in his native country and later enrolled in a law course at college. His strong leaning towards athletic pursuits prevailed and he abandoned his studies to take up horse riding, winning trophies fencing and boxing (middleweight amateur title) and becoming the South American Freestyle Swimming Champion of 1937. While still in his teens he appeared on stage, then on radio, and by the age of 24 in his first motion picture.

All this sporting publicity aroused interest in Hollywood and, in 1951, Lamas was signed by MGM to charm the likes of Lana Turner and Esther Williams in A-grade productions like La veuve joyeuse (1952) and Traversons La Manche (1953). He also spent time 'on loan' to Paramount who featured him in several Pine-Thomas B-movies, such as the 3-D Technicolour Sangaree (1953) and L'appel de l'or (1954). His sole appearance on Broadway was in the 1957 play 'Happy Hunting'. There was considerable friction between him and co-star Ethel Merman, both on and off-stage. Lamas was nonetheless nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor, but had the misfortune of coming up against Rex Harrison's Professor Higgins in 'My Fair Lady'.

In real life, Lamas proudly lived up to his reputation as a ladies man. With two ex-wives back in Argentina, he conducted well-publicised affairs with most of his female co-stars, including one with Lana Turner which began while filming 'The Merry Widow'. Actress Arlene Dahl, who appeared with him in 'Sangaree' and Le diamant bleu (1953), became his third wife, and fellow swimming champion Esther Williams his fourth.

In 1963, Lamas directed the Spanish film La fuente mágica (1963), with himself and wife Esther Williams playing the lead roles. From then on, he began to concentrate on television, alternating between acting (notable in a recurring role as playboy Ramon de Vega in Match contre la vie (1965) and directing episodes of shows like Mannix (1967), Opération danger (1971), The Rookies (1972) and House Calls (1979).

Oscar-winner Edmond O'Brien was one of the most respected character actors in American cinema, from his heyday of the mid-1940s through the late 1960s. Born on September 10, 1915, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, O'Brien learned the craft of performance as a magician, reportedly tutored by neighbor Harry Houdini. He took part in student theatrics in high school and majored in drama at Fordham University, dropping out after six months. He made his Broadway debut at the age of 21 in 1936 and, later that year, played "The Gravedigger" in the great Shakespearean actor John Gielgud's legendary production of "Hamlet". Four years later, he would play 'Mercutio' to the 'Romeo' of another legendary Shakespearean, Laurence Olivier, in Olivier's 1940 Brodway production of "Romeo & Juliet".

O'Brien worked with another magician, Orson Welles, in the Mercury Theater's production of "Julius Caesar", appearing as 'Mark Antony'. He would later play 'Casca' in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's film of the play, Jules César (1953).

Although it has been stated that he made his debut as an uncredited extra in the 1938 film, Échappé de prison (1938), the truth is that his stage work impressed RKO boss Pandro S. Berman, who brought him to Hollywood to appear in the plum supporting part of 'Gringoire' in Quasimodo (1939), which starred Charles Laughton in the title role. After returning from his wartime service with the Army Air Force, O'Brien built up a distinguished career as a supporting actor in A-list films, and as an occasional character lead, such as in Mort à l'arrivée (1949).

O'Brien won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in La comtesse aux pieds nus (1954) and also received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as a drunken senator who ferrets out an attempted coup d'etat in Sept jours en mai (1964). He also appeared as crusty old-timer 'Freddy Sykes', who antagonizes Ben Johnson's character 'Tector Gorch' in director Sam Peckinpah's classic Western, La Horde sauvage (1969). Increasingly, O'Brien appeared on television in the 1960s and '70s, but managed a turn in his old boss Welles' unfinished film, De l'autre côté du vent (2018).

He married and divorced actresses Nancy Kelly and Olga San Juan, the latter being the mother of his three children, including actors Maria O'Brien and Brendan O'Brien. He died in May of 1985 in Inglewood, California, of Alzheimer's Disease and was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Jo Van Fleet was born on December 29, 1915 in Oakland, California. She established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish and Eva Marie Saint. Her first film role was playing the estranged mother of James Dean's character in À l'est d'Eden (1955). This debut performance earned Van Fleet an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her subsequent film work was steady through 1960, then very sporadic, and include such films as La rose tatouée (1955), Une femme en enfer (1955), Le roi et quatre reines (1956), Règlements de comptes à O.K. Corral (1957) and Luke la main froide (1967).

In 1958, Van Fleet was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in "Look Homeward, Angel" on Broadway. Other films include Le fleuve sauvage (1960), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965) and Le baiser papillon (1968). Her television work include Alfred Hitchcock présente (1955), Bonanza (1959), Thriller (1960) and Les mystères de l'Ouest (1965).

Jo Van Fleet died at age 80 of undisclosed causes on June 10, 1996 in Queens, New York City.

This owl-faced comic actor enjoyed his first featured film role in the RKO production Too Many Girls (1940), in which he reprised the role of "JoJo Jordan" that he had played in the Broadway stage version of that musical. (Into the pantheon of pop-music standards came one that Bracken had introduced in "Too Many Girls", the melancholy "I Didn't Know What Time It Was"). But the then 20-year-old Eddie Bracken was by no means new to show business in general or Hollywood in particular. He had played in vaudeville and performed in nightclubs by the time he was 9, and had just later appeared on screen in four of the Hal Roach "Our Gang" comedy two-reeler film shorts. It was on account of his appearances in musicals and comedies as a shy, giggling, clumsy, stammering, sentimental, self-effacing, would-be hero that Bracken achieved popularity, not to say star status, among movie audiences of the 1940s. The director Preston Sturges served up those attributes of Eddie Bracken particularly well in two of Sturges's more memorable comedies. As "Norval Jones" in Miracle au village (1943) (filmed in 1942; released 1944), Bracken portrays a man whose destiny others have foisted upon him. A certain "Trudy Kockenlocker" (played by Betty Hutton), having attended a party for military servicemen, later finds herself to be pregnant but has no recollection of who the father might be. So she persuades the always-befuddled Norval to take credit for the child and marry her. Somehow, Norval emerges a true hero in the end, but you'll have to see the film to discover why. As Norval Jones was physically unfit for military service, so also was "Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith", with Eddie Bracken in the role, in Preston Sturges's Héros d'occasion (1944). Solely on the basis of his father's reputation as a World War I U.S. Marine hero, a group of saloon-hopping World War II-era U.S. Marines, led by a crusty senior-level sergeant (played to a tee by William Demarest), elevate the physical reject Truesmith into a modern, combat-decorated veteran, and then usher him into an election campaign for Truesmith's hometown mayoralty. The complications, including a love interest (in the person of actress Ella Raines, are by now well under way. As Eddie Bracken's age increased his popularity -- or perhaps that of the genre of film vehicles that was his forte -- decreased, and in 1953 he essentially retired from the screen, moving on to pursue theatrical ventures. But he would return to Hollywood eventually, and we have been fortunate to see him in character roles in theatrical and TV films through the 80's and 90's.

Ben Wright was born May 5, 1915, to an English mother and an American father in London, England, UK. At 16, he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where classmates included such future stars as Ida Lupino. Upon graduating, he acted in several West End stage productions. When WWII broke out, he enlisted and served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He came to America in 1946 to attend a cousin's wedding and settled in Hollywood. He began his American acting career in radio, establishing himself as a master of dialects with such roles as Hey Boy, the Chinese servant, on "Have Gun, Will Travel" with John Dehner. His talent for dialects also kept him busy in the many WWII-related films and TV shows of the 1950s and '60s wherein he played countless Germans and Frenchmen as well as a variety of Englishmen for which he ensured the dialects were accurate depending on which part of England they were from. After years of radio, TV, stage and film work, he entered semi-retirement in the late 1970s, accepting occasional voice work and small guest appearances on TV. On June 16, 1989, after completing his last role, providing the voice of Grimsby in Disney's La Petite Sirène (1989), he entered St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank for quadruple bypass surgery from which he never recovered. He died of heart failure July 2, 1989.

A solid film and TV player bearing a strong, honest persona for most his career, this innocent-eyed, boyishly handsome blond "B" actor of the 1940s and '50s was born in Brooklyn on May 21, 1915, and educated there at the Pratt Institute. A natural athlete, Bill Williams was a professional swimmer who broke into the entertainment business combining his swimming and dancing skills performing in aquatic underwater shows. Gaining experience as a performer in vaudeville and stock shows (both here and England), he started appearing in extra or bit parts in films following WWII army duty. He made his debut in Murder in the Blue Room (1944) and could be glimpsed here and there as various student, soldier or rookie types for the first couple of years.

By the time the war ended, RKO Pictures had him under contract and gave him co-star billing in such promising entries as Amoureuse (1946) in which he played Robert Mitchum's ex-GI buddy, and the film noir piece Deadline at Dawn (1946) as a sailor who gets tangled up with both murder and lovelies Susan Hayward and Lola Lane. In 1945 fellow RKO actress Barbara Hale asked the director of À l'Ouest du Pecos (1945), Edward Killy, to hire Bill so they could spend time together (see Barbara Hale's personal quotes). They married a year later and went on to co-star together in the light comedy A Likely Story (1947) and the film noir suspense film Le pigeon d'argile (1949). They had two daughters and a son.

Bill was a reliable "nice guy" lead and second lead. While he showed steady improvement and likability in films, he had a difficult time rising above the benign "B" adventure material he was shoehorned into playing (L'Homme de Kansas City (1949), Rookie Fireman (1950), La piste des caribous (1950), to name a few). In the early '50s he started checking out the relatively new medium of TV as a viable means of employment. He scored big with the kiddies as the title hero in the syndicated The Adventures of Kit Carson (1951), which ran for three seasons, and later shifted to lighter, less strenuous work as Betty White's hubby in the promising but short-lived domestic comedy Date with the Angels (1957). In 1960 he returned to his watery roots with the "Sea Hunt" inspired adventure Assignment: Underwater (1960) but the program was short-lived. He also appeared in guest assignments in such popular TV shows as "Rawhide," "77 Sunset Strip," and "Hawaiian Eye," not to mention multiple episodes of wife Barbara's series "Perry Mason," in which she co-starred as girl Friday Della Street.

While Bill continued to perform throughout the 1970s and into the early '80s in character roles, he was seen less and less as his interest waned. Bill and Barbara did appear together in the films Le pistolero de l'enfer (1968) and L'Invasion des araignées géantes (1975), as well as occasionally on TV. Their middle child, son William Katt, a blond stunner who went on to fame in the movie Carrie au bal du diable (1976) and the weekly series spoof Ralph Super-héros (1981), obviously got his incredibly good looks from his dad. Bill died of a brain tumor in 1992.

William Talman is best known for his role as Hamilton Burger, the district attorney who perpetually lost to Perry Mason in the long-running series Perry Mason (1957). Talman was an accomplished screenwriter and stage and screen actor, and appeared in numerous roles on television as a character actor from the mid-'50s until his death from lung cancer in August of 1968.

He was born William Whitney Talman Jr. on February 4, 1915, in Detroit, Michigan, the first son of William Talman Sr. and Ada B. Talman. His father was vice-president of an electrical company that manufactured industrial heat-measuring recording devices and yachts. During an interview with "TV Guide" in April of 1963, Talman told writer Richard Gehman that his father made a good deal of money, "enough to send me to school in a limousine each day. Public school. That meant I had to fight my way in and out." In school Talman developed an avid interest in athletics, especially boxing and baseball. He furthered his interest in boxing early in life by fighting on the local parish boxing team of the Episcopal Church. At one point in his life he played semi-professional baseball. He was educated at Cranbrook School and later attended Dartmouth College, where his interest in acting first took hold. He left Dartmouth in his sophomore year after an incident in which a freshman he knew "loaned" him a car so that he could go visit a girlfriend at Smith College. A bus forced the car off of the road and it hit a tree. A boy who was with them was killed and it later turned out that the car was stolen. Talman was asked to resign from Dartmouth, which he did. Although invited back the next year, he never returned.

Talman began his acting career on Broadway in the early 1940s. His first roles were in "Beverly Hills", "Yokel Boy" and "Of Mice and Men." He was appearing in "Spring Again" at Henry Miller's Theatre in January of 1942 when he received his draft notice for induction into the US army. Prior to leaving for active duty he married actress Lynne Carter. He entered the army as a private and saw 30 months of service in the Pacific, where he won a commission and eventually was promoted to the rank of major. During the war his assignments included the managing of a school that trained soldiers to put on shows. At one point he was in charge of training boxing and baseball teams. He was proud of the fact that his teams won both the boxing and baseball championships of the Western Pacific. Talman returned to Broadway after the war. Two of his more notable postwar roles were in Joseph M. Hyman's and Bernard Hart's production of "Dear Ruth" in 1946 and Henry Adrian's production of "A Young Man's Fancy" in 1947. In 1949 the actor moved to Hollywood and began making films. His first picture was L'ange endiablé (1949), in which he played gangster Bunny Harris. Other movie and television roles soon followed. In 1951 his wife sued him for divorce, citing extreme cruelty. She claimed that Talman had criticized her publicly in front of their friends. The divorce was granted in September of 1952 with custody of the couple's three-year-old daughter, Lynda, and 24% of Talman's income awarded to his former spouse. He went on to perform in over 17 films, several of which he starred in. Some of his more notable films include Racket (1951), Armored Car Robbery (1950), La rivière de la dernière chance (1955), Le Pacte des tueurs (1955), Une minute avant l'heure H (1952) and Two-Gun Lady (1955). His best known role was as escaped killer and kidnapper Emmett Myers in the classic film noir Le Voyage de la peur (1953), directed by Ida Lupino. He also co-wrote two feature films, L'homme qui vécut deux fois (1956) and Joe Dakota (1957).

Talman married actress Barbara Read in 1952. The couple had two children, Barbie and Billy, but they separated in September of 1959. In a tragic turn of events, his former wife took her own life in December of 1963 by closing up her house and turning on the gas jets. Notes she left behind blamed ill health for her action. In March of 1960 Talman made headlines when he was arrested during a police raid of an alleged "wild nude party" being held at the home of an acquaintance, Richard Reibold. The incident caused CBS to invoke a morals clause in his contract that cost him his job on "Perry Mason." The charges were eventually dropped after a trial that was closely followed by the newspapers and sensationalized by the tabloids. Talman always maintained his innocence, and following the trial the judge in the case criticized the police for arresting him. He remained off the show until December of 1960, when CBS reinstated him after a flood of fan mail from supporters. He married Margaret (Peggy) Flanigan and adopted her two children from a previous marriage, Steve and Debbie. After the "Perry Mason" show ended in 1966, Talman went on a six-week tour of Vietnam to entertain the troops. Upon his return home, it was discovered that he had lung cancer. His last film was Le ranch de l'injustice (1967), with Doris Day.

Near the end of his life, Talman did something that, while common nowadays, was an extraordinarily courageous thing for an actor to do at that time. A heavy smoker for most of his life, he was angered by a newspaper article he read about actors being afraid to make anti-smoking messages for fear of losing opportunities to make lucrative cigarette commercials. He decided to do something about it. Talman volunteered to make a short film for the American Cancer Society, part of which was shown in late 1968 and 1969 as a television anti-smoking commercial. He was the first actor to ever make such a commercial. When the message was being filmed, Talman knew he was dying, was in a great deal of pain and was in fact under heavy sedation for it. The short film begins, "Before I die I want to do what I can to leave a world free of cancer for my six children . . . ",

William Talman died of cardiac arrest due to complications from lung cancer at West Valley Community Hospital in Encino, California, on August 30, 1968, at the age of 53. Although his life was short, he left an enduring legacy through his writing, his acting, his heroism and his never-ending championing of the underdog.

Priscilla Lane attended the Eagin School of Dramatic Arts in New York before she began touring with her sisters in the Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians Dance Band. She was a popular singer with her sisters and, after 5 years, she was signed to a Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers in 1937. Her first film was Varsity Show (1937) where she had the hard task of portraying a singer with the Fred Waring Band. Priscilla was to play the nice girl against the temperamental star played by her sister Rosemary Lane. Over the years, Priscilla would play an assortment of girlfriends, daughters and fiancees. She would team with her two sisters, Rosemary Lane and Lola Lane, to make a series of dramas beginning with the film Rêves de jeunesse (1938). That film would be the one that made John Garfield a star. In most of her films, all Priscilla had to do was to look attractive and give a good supporting performance. Priscilla would also co-star with Wayne Morris in three 1938 releases. In Les fantastiques années 20 (1939), she would play the girlfriend of James Cagney. In Arsenic et vieilles dentelles (1944), which was released 3 years after it was filmed, she would play the fiancee of Cary Grant. When Alfred Hitchcock was unable to get Barbara Stanwyck, he cast Priscilla in Cinquième colonne (1942) where she was on the run with the hero. By that time, her movie career was almost finished and she would appear in just a couple of films over the next five years before retiring in 1948.

Stanley Adams (born Abramowitz) had a lengthy career on both stage and screen, the majority of which was spent playing minor supporting roles. A possible exception was the part of Rusty Trawler, a pint sized millionaire in the classic romantic comedy Diamants sur canapé (1961). Otherwise, he portrayed innumerable minor ethnic villains, bartenders and avuncular, fast-talking characters, known in the credits only by their first names. On television, conversely, he proved himself more of a scene stealer, particularly in the 1960s and early '70s, when his face popped up on just about every major prime time show. He was at his best as pool hustler Sure-shot Wilson in an episode of The Odd Couple (1970), Rollo, a quirky time-traveling scientist on La quatrième dimension (1959), and - famously - as 'asteroid detecting', tribble-dispensing galactic entrepreneur Cyrano Jones on Star Trek (1966). Alas, he may also be remembered as a sentient space carrot named Tybo on Perdus dans l'espace (1965)....

His suicide in April 1977 has been attributed to severe depression as a result of a back injury, sustained earlier in the decade. Apart from the obvious pain, it would almost certainly have limited his employment opportunities.