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Keenan Wynn

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Keenan Wynn
Wynn in 1950
Born
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn

(1916-07-27)July 27, 1916
New York City, U.S.
DiedOctober 14, 1986(1986-10-14)(aged 70)
Brentwood,California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park,Glendale, California,U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1934–1986
Spouses
Eve Lynn Abbott
​
​
(m.1938;div.1947)​
Betty Jane Butler
​
​
(m.1949;div.1953)​
Sharley Hudson
​
(m.1954)​
Children5, includingTracy Keenan WynnandNed Wynn
Parents
Relatives

Keenan andEd WynninThe Man in the Funny Suit(1960)
Annie Get Your Gun(1950)
Keenan Wynn,Linda Evans,andJack Gingin an episode of TV'sThe Eleventh Hour(1963)

Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn(July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an Americancharacter actor.His expressive face was hisstock-in-trade;and though he rarely carried thelead role,he had prominent billing in most of his film and television roles.

Early life

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Wynn was born on July 27, 1916, inNew York City,the son ofvaudevillecomedianEd Wynnand his wife, the formerHilda Keenan.He took hisstage namefrom hismaternal grandfather,Frank Keenan,one of the firstBroadwayactors to star inHollywood.His father wasJewishand his mother was ofIrish Catholicbackground. Ed Wynn encouraged his son to become an actor,[citation needed]and to joinThe Lambs Club,which he did in 1937.[1]

Career

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Theatre and radio

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Wynn began his career as a stage actor. He appeared in several plays on Broadway, includingRemember the Day(1935),Black Widow(1936),Hitch Your Wagon(1937),The Star Wagon(1938),One for the Money(1939),Two for the Show(1940), andThe More the Merrier(1941).

Wynn starred in the radio showThe Amazing Mr. SmithonMutual Broadcasting SystemApril 7 – June 30, 1941. He played the title role, "a carefree young man who runs into trouble galore and becomes an involuntary detective".[2]

Film and television

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Wynn appeared in hundreds of films and television series between 1934 and 1986. He was aMetro-Goldwyn-Mayercontract player during the 1940s and 1950s. He had a brief role as a belligerent, unsympathetic drunk in the wartime romanceThe Clock(1945). Arguably his most dynamic performance was a small role inThe Hucksters(1948) withClark Gable.His early postwar credits includeThe Three Musketeers(1948), playing D'Artagnan's servant;Annie Get Your Gun(1950);Royal Wedding(1951);Kiss Me, Kate(1953);The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit(1956);The Absent-Minded Professor(1961);The Americanization of Emily(1964) andDr. Strangelove(1964).

The Wynns, father and son, both appeared in the original 1956Playhouse 90television production ofRod Serling'sRequiem for a Heavyweight.The son was returning the favor: according to radio historian Elizabeth McLeod,[citation needed]Keenan had helped his father overcome professional collapse, a harrowing divorce, and a nervous breakdown to return to work a decade earlier, and now helped convince Serling and producerMartin Manulisthat the elder Wynn should play the wistful trainer. Both he and his father also appeared in a subsequent TV drama calledThe Man in the Funny Suit(1960), which detailed the problems they had experienced while working on that series. In it, the Wynns, Serling, and many of the cast and crew played themselves. Keenan also featured in another Rod Serling production, aTwilight Zoneepisode entitled, "A World of His Own"(1960) as playwright Gregory West, who uniquely caused series creator Rod Serling to disappear.

On January 18, 1959, Wynn starred inS. J. Perelman's Hollywood satire, "Malice in Wonderland", broadcast onNBC's prestigious Sunday afternoon anthology seriesOmnibus.[3]

Wynn took a dramatic turn as Yost in the crime dramaPoint Blank(1967) withLee Marvin.He had a leading role in the thirdBeach Partymovie,Bikini Beach(1964) as a scheming newspaper publisher who wants to banish the local young people. Later he played Hezakiah in the comedy filmThe Great Race(1965). He was the voice of the Winter Warlock inSanta Claus Is Comin' to Town(1970) and appeared in severalDisneyfilms, includingSnowball Express(1972),Herbie Rides Again(1974) andThe Shaggy D.A.(1976) (as a villain who learns Wilbur Daniels's secret and uses it against him). He appeared as villainous businessman Alonzo Hawk in three Disney films –The Absent-Minded Professor,Son of Flubber,andHerbie Rides Again.

He appeared inFrancis Ford Coppola's musicalFinian's Rainbow(1968),Sergio Leone's epic westernOnce Upon a Time in the West(also 1968), andRobert Altman'sNashville(1975). During this time, his guest television roles includedAlias Smith and Jones(1971–1972),Emergency!(1975),Movin' On(1975) andThe Bionic Woman(1978). Wynn appeared in ten episodes of TV'sDallasduring the 1979–1980 season, playing the role of former Ewing family partner-turned-enemyDigger Barnes.David Wayne,a friend of Wynn's, had played Digger Barnes in 1978 but was unable to continue with the role because of his co-starring role on the CBS series,House Calls,starringWayne Rogers.

Wynn was initially cast inSuperman(1978) to playPerry White[4](the Boss ofClark KentandLois Laneat theDaily Planet) in April 1977. By June (production had moved toPinewood Studiosin England), Wynn collapsed from exhaustion and was rushed to a hospital. He was replaced byJackie Cooper.

He played Charles Picker Dobbs on a 1982 episode ofThe Love Boat.In 1983, he guest-starred in one of the last episodes ofTaxiandQuincy, M.E.In 1984, he starred in the television filmCall to Glory,which later became a weekly television series.

Personal life and last years

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Tennessee Champ(1954)

Wynn was married to former stage actress Eve Lynn Abbott (1914–2004) until their divorce in 1947, whereupon Abbott married actorVan Johnson,one of the couple's closest friends.[5]Abbott contended her marriage to Wynn was a happy one, but that her divorce and remarriage were engineered by MGM studio BossLouis B. Mayer,who refused to renew Wynn's contract unless Abbott divorced him and married Johnson, who was the subject of rumors that he was homosexual.[6][7]One son, actor and writerNed Wynn(born Edmond Keenan Wynn), wrote theautobiographical memoirWe Will Always Live In Beverly Hills.His other son,Tracy Keenan Wynn,is a screenwriter whose credits includeThe Longest YardandThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman(both 1974). His daughter Hilda was married toPaul Williams.He was an uncle by marriage to theHudson Brothers.His granddaughter is actressJessica Keenan Wynn.

In his later years, Wynn undertook a number of philanthropic endeavors and supported several charity groups. He was a long-standing active member of the WestwoodSertomaservice club,inWest Los Angeles.

Death

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During his last years, Wynn suffered frompancreatic cancer,which caused his death on October 14, 1986. His ashes are interred inGlendale'sForest Lawn Memorial Parkin The Great Mausoleum, Daffodil Corridor, Columbarium of the Dawn, in a niche alongside his father Ed Wynn, his daughter Emily (February 13, 1960 – November 27, 1980), who died fromlupus,and his aunt.

Filmography

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Film

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Television

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References

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Notes

  1. ^"The Lambs".the-lambs.org.The Lambs, Inc.November 6, 2015. (Member Roster 'W'). Archived fromthe originalon May 31, 2022.RetrievedDecember 3,2021.
  2. ^Dunning, John(1998).On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio(Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 24.ISBN978-0-19-507678-3.RetrievedSeptember 9,2019.
  3. ^Adams, Val (January 1, 1959)."ROLE IN TV SATIRE FOR KEENAN WYNN / Actor Cast in Perelman's 'Malice in Wonderland'— Pact Deadline Extended".The New York Times.RetrievedNovember 20,2019.
  4. ^"Supermanii.Com – Christopher Reeve".Archived fromthe originalon March 3, 2017.RetrievedMarch 18,2008.
  5. ^Vallance, Tom (August 27, 2004)."Evie Wynn Johnson: Actress and ambitious Hollywood wife".The Independent.RetrievedMay 29,2016.
  6. ^Heymann, C. David (2011).Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor.New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 81.ISBN978-1559722674.RetrievedMay 29,2016.
  7. ^Davis, Ronald L. (2001).Van Johnson: MGM's Golden Boy.Jackson MS: Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 113.ISBN1578063779.RetrievedJune 17,2023.
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