Guy Madison

Guy Madison
Madison in 1957
Born	Robert Ozell Moseley (1922-01-19)January 19, 1922 Pumpkin Center, California, U.S.
Died	February 6, 1996(1996-02-06) (aged 74) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Emphysema
Resting place	Forest Lawn Cemetery, Cathedral City
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Bakersfield College
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	1944–1988
Spouse(s)	Gail Russell (m. 1949–1954) Sheila Connolly (m.1954–1963)
Children	3
Website	www.guymadison.com

Guy Madison (January 19, 1922 – February 6, 1996) was an American film and television actor.

Early life

Madison was born Robert Ozell Moseley in Pumpkin Center, California. He attended Bakersfield College, a junior college, for two years and then worked briefly as a telephone lineman before joining the United States Navy in 1942, during World War II. ^[1] He had three brothers, Wayne, Harold and David, and a sister, Rosemary. Wayne Moseley was an actor, using the stage name Wayne Mallory.^[2]

Career

In 1944, Madison was visiting Hollywood on leave when his young Navy man's boyish good looks and physique caught the eye of Henry Willson, the head of talent at David O. Selznick's newly formed Vanguard Pictures. Willson was widely known for his stable of good-looking, marginally talented actors with unusual names that he had bestowed upon them, and he immediately rechristened Moseley as Madison and cast him in a bit part as a sailor in Selznick's Since You Went Away. Following the film's release in 1944, the studio received thousands of letters from fans wanting to know more about him.

Madison was signed by RKO Pictures in 1946 and began appearing in romantic comedies and dramas. In 1951 he was cast as the title character in the television series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, co-starring Andy Devine as his pal, Pete "Jingles" Jones. The series ran for seven years. During the run of the show, sixteen feature films were released by Monogram Pictures between 1952 and 1955 that consisted of combined episodes of the series.^[3] Following his television series, he appeared in several more films before leaving for Europe, where he found greater success in sword-and-sandal, spaghetti Western and macaroni combat films.

Personal life

Madison married the actress Gail Russell in 1949. They separated in 1953 and divorced in October 1954.^[4]

Later that month, Madison married actress Sheila Connolly in Juarez, Mexico. They had three daughters: Bridget, Erin, and Dolly. They separated in November 1960 and divorced in April, 1963. He had an affair with Gia Scala and, before her death, she made him beneficiary to her portion of the Screen Actors Pension Fund.^[5][6][7] He also had a son, Robert Madison (born in Rome in 1967), who also became an actor. Madison's grandson by daughter Bridget, Spencer T. Karol, was killed in action during military service in Iraq in 2003.

Death

Madison died of emphysema at the Desert Hospital Hospice in Palm Springs, California, on February 6, 1996, at the age of 74.^[8] He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.^[9] His friend, the actor turned stockbroker Don Burnett, spoke at his funeral.

For his contribution to the radio and television industries, Madison has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star for his contributions to radio is located at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard; the star for his television contributions is located at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 1996, a Golden Palm Star was dedicated to Madison on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, in Palm Springs, California.^[10]

Filmography

Awards

References

Further reading

• Wise, James. Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1997. ISBN 1557509379. OCLC 36824724.

External links

• Official website
• Guy Madison on IMDb
• Guy Madison at Brian's Drive-in Theater