Date of Birth : Oct 25th 1928
In 1948 he joined the Cherry Lane Theatre Group off Broadway which also included actress Beatrice Arthur. Before becoming successful at acting, he worked a variety of jobs which included being a waiter, dishwasher, day laborer, and messenger boy. Several years later he garnered rave reviews and a Tony Award nomination for his Broadway performance of the play A Hatful of Rain.
When he reprised his role in the film version in 1957, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He followed that with roles in several major films, including Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd with Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal, Career with Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine, The Long Hot Summer with Paul Newman and Orson Welles, Period of Adjustment with Jane Fonda, The Pleasure Seekers with Ann-Margret and Carol Lynley, The Drowning Pool with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and Rio Conchos with Richard Boone and Stuart Whitman. He guest starred in such television series as Jack Palance’s circus drama, The Greatest Show on Earth, which aired on ABC from 1963-1964. That same season, he appeared in the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point.
Eager to act in any medium, he became a series lead in Valentine’s Day, The Name of the Game (and its pilot TV-movie Fame Is the Name of the Game), and Matt Helm. In the 1980s he starred in the Aaron Spelling-produced series Finder of Lost Loves. During his career, his behavior on movie productions became the subject of Hollywood gossip. The stories alleged fiery disputes with directors, sulking in his dressing room, and outbursts with other actors.
CAREER
City Hall ( 1996 )
Death Wish II ( 1982 )
The Drowning Pool ( 1975 )
Across 110th Street ( 1973 )