William Bendix

Acting

William Bendix

Born January 14, 1906 · New York City, New York, USA

Died December 14, 1964 · aged 58

William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley. He also received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Wake Island (1942).

Known For

Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village · 1944
Greenwich Village
6.71944
MovieComedyMusic
In 1922, a would-be classical composer gets involved with people putting on a musical revue.
LifeboatLifeboat · 1944
Lifeboat
7.41944
MovieWarDrama
During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.
Guadalcanal DiaryGuadalcanal Diary · 1943
Guadalcanal Diary
5.61943
MovieActionWar
Concentrating on the personal lives of those involved, a war correspondent takes us through the preparations, landing and initial campaign on Guadalcanal during WWII.
Who Done It?Who Done It? · 1942
Who Done It?
7.01942
MovieComedyMystery
Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.
Woman of the YearWoman of the Year · 1942
Woman of the Year
7.01942
MovieComedyRomance
Rival reporters Sam Craig and Tess Harding fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
The Glass KeyThe Glass Key · 1942
The Glass Key
6.61942
MovieCrimeMystery
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Detective StoryDetective Story · 1951
Detective Story
7.01951
MovieCrimeDrama
Tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod, leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.
Boys' Night OutBoys' Night Out · 1962
Boys' Night Out
5.91962
MovieComedyRomance
Fred, George, Doug and Howie are quickly reaching middle-age. Three of them are married, only Fred is still a bachelor. They want something different than their ordinary marriages, children and TV-dinners. In secret, they get themselves an apartment with a beautiful young woman, Kathy, for romantic rendezvous. But Kathy does not tell them that she is a sociology student researching the sexual life of the white middle-class male.

Filmography

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The Deep SixThe Deep Six · 1958
The Deep Six
5.71958
MovieWarDrama
The conflict between duty and conscience is explored in the WWII drama The Deep Six. Alan Ladd stars as Naval gunnery officer Alec Austin, a Quaker whose sincere pacifist sentiments do not sit well with his crew members. When he refuses to fire upon an unidentified plane, the word spreads that Austin cannot be relied upon in battle (never mind that the plane turns out to be one of ours). To prove that he's worthy of command, Austin volunteers for a dangerous mission: the rescue of a group of US pilots on a Japanese-held island. The ubiquitous William Bendix costars as Frenchy Shapiro (!), Austin's Jewish petty officer and severest critic. If the film has a villain, it is Keenan Wynn as ambitious Lt. Commander Edge, who seems to despise anyone who isn't a mainline WASP.

'Frenchy' Shapiro

Wagon TrainWagon Train · 1957
Wagon Train
6.61957
SeriesWesternDrama
The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.

Capt. Matthew Cobb

Lights OutLights Out · 1949
Lights Out
6.01949
SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyCrime
Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television. In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contributed three of the scripts. NBC asked Cooper to write the script for the premiere, "First Person Singular", which is told entirely from the point of view of an unseen murderer who kills his obnoxious wife and winds up being executed. Variety gave this first episode a rave review ("undoubtedly one of the best dramatic shows yet seen on a television screen"), but Lights Out did not become a regular NBC-TV series until 1949.