| David Wayne | |
|---|---|
from the trailer for Adam's Rib (1949) |
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| Born | Wayne James McMeekan January 30, 1914 Traverse City, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | February 9, 1995 (aged 81) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1938–1987 |
| Spouse | Jane Gordon (1941-1993; her death; 2 children) |
David Wayne (January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.
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Wayne was born Wayne James McMeekan in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen Matilda (née Mason) and John David McMeekan. He grew up in Bloomingdale, Michigan. Wayne's first major Broadway role was Og the leprechaun in Finian's Rainbow, for which he won the Theatre World Award and the first ever Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. While appearing in the play, he and co-star Albert Sharpe were recruited by producer David O. Selznick to play Irish characters in the film Portrait of Jennie (1948).
He was awarded a second Tony for Best Actor in a Play for The Teahouse of the August Moon and was nominated as Best Actor in a Musical for The Happy Time. He originated the role of Ensign Pulver in the classic stage comedy Mister Roberts and also appeared in Say, Darling, After the Fall, and Incident at Vichy.
In films, Wayne most often was cast as a supporting player, such as the charming cad opposite Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in Adam's Rib (1949). He portrayed the child killer, originally played by Peter Lorre, in the remake of M (1951), a chance to see him in a rare leading role, even rarer as an evil character. He costarred in The Tender Trap (1955) with Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, and Celeste Holm.
Wayne also appeared in four films with Marilyn Monroe (more than any other actor): As Young as You Feel (1951), We're Not Married (1952), O. Henry's Full House (1952) (although he was not in the same scene as Monroe), and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
Wayne appeared in the late 1950s on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. He starred as Darius Woodley in two 1961 episodes of NBC's The Outlaws television series with Barton MacLane. Wayne was also noted for his portrayal of Dr. Charles Dutton in the 1971 film version of Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. He also played the Mad Hatter, one of the recurring villains in the 1960s TV series Batman. In 1964, he guest-starred in the series finale, "Pay Now, Die Later", of CBS's drama, Mr. Broadway, starring Craig Stevens as public relations specialist Mike Bell. In the story line, Wayne's character, the wealthy John Zeck, hires Bell to prepare Zeck's obituary before his death.
In the 1960s, Wayne was a radio host on NBC's magazine program Monitor.
Wayne appeared as Uncle Timothy Jamison in the NBC sitcom, The Brian Keith Show. He co-starred with Jim Hutton in the 1970s television series Ellery Queen (as Queen's widowed father). From 1978 to 1979, Wayne played Digger Barnes on the CBS hit drama Dallas. He left that show to star in the television series House Calls with Lynn Redgrave and later Sharon Gless in the role of Dr. Weatherby, Keenan Wynn replaced him as Digger Barnes. He played "Big Daddy" -- Blanche's father on The Golden Girls -- after the death in 1986 of Murray Hamilton, the first actor to play that part.
In 1975, Wayne starred on Gunsmoke in the episode "I have Promises to Keep" as a controversial reverend who brought a church to Indian territory with ambitions of a school. The episode addresses many emotions of the post civil war period where the horrors of the Indian wars were fresh. Met with a vengeful townspeople the reverend is confronted by an unsupportive town. While coming back from delivering a prisoner in a nearby town, US Deputy Marshal Festus Hagen (played by Ken Curtis) gets involved and defends the reverend's mission. Wayne is in a lead role in this episode and thought to be one of his best performances.
Wayne died in Santa Monica, California in 1995, at age 81.
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