William Bendix(1906-1964)
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
William Bendix was not a son of Brooklyn, New York, although because of
his stereotypical "Brooklyn accent" it has been widely supposed that he
was. Bendix was actually born in the Borough of Manhattan (New York
City proper), in a midtown flat hard by the tracks of the long-since
defunct Third-Avenue Elevated Railway. (Manhattan sections of the "El,"
as New Yorkers called it, were demolished circa 1956.)
Jut-jawed, broken-nosed and burly, Bendix began his acting career after
the ravages of the Great Depression had killed his erstwhile grocery
business. Having performed in nightclubs even while grocer, and having
portrayed taxicab drivers in a series of Broadway flops, he enjoyed his
first notable performance on the Broadway stage in 1939, portraying the
cop Krupp in William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life." His Hollywood
feature debut came about in one of his few starring roles, in
Hal Roach's
Brooklyn Orchid (1942). But more
often than not, in his movies Bendix received less than top billing,
inasmuch as so many of his film assignments involved supporting roles.
Despite (or perhaps on account of) his looks he was often called upon
to supply comedic support, as in
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949),
when, portraying Sir Sagramore of King Arthur's Round Table in full
suit of armor and pageboy wig, he waxeth eloquent, in his Brooklyn
accent but in the most incongruent of Middle English dialects! On the
other hand, that same craggy appearance had him in such roles as that
of the thug Jeff in
The Glass Key (1942), in which he
repeatedly and gleefully uses his fists to beat star
Alan Ladd's face to a pulp and then
sadistically challenges Ladd, once he is healed, to come back and
receive further "treatment"! Although he will always be fondly
remembered for his light-comedy portrayals (in *three* of the mass
media!) of Chester A. Riley in
The Life of Riley (1949) and
The Life of Riley (1953),
perhaps William Bendix's finest and most memorable dramatic performance
came in Lifeboat (1944), when he
touchingly interprets the role of Gus, the shipwreck survivor whose
gangrenous limb has to be removed, the absence of anesthesia
notwithstanding.
his stereotypical "Brooklyn accent" it has been widely supposed that he
was. Bendix was actually born in the Borough of Manhattan (New York
City proper), in a midtown flat hard by the tracks of the long-since
defunct Third-Avenue Elevated Railway. (Manhattan sections of the "El,"
as New Yorkers called it, were demolished circa 1956.)
Jut-jawed, broken-nosed and burly, Bendix began his acting career after
the ravages of the Great Depression had killed his erstwhile grocery
business. Having performed in nightclubs even while grocer, and having
portrayed taxicab drivers in a series of Broadway flops, he enjoyed his
first notable performance on the Broadway stage in 1939, portraying the
cop Krupp in William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life." His Hollywood
feature debut came about in one of his few starring roles, in
Hal Roach's
Brooklyn Orchid (1942). But more
often than not, in his movies Bendix received less than top billing,
inasmuch as so many of his film assignments involved supporting roles.
Despite (or perhaps on account of) his looks he was often called upon
to supply comedic support, as in
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949),
when, portraying Sir Sagramore of King Arthur's Round Table in full
suit of armor and pageboy wig, he waxeth eloquent, in his Brooklyn
accent but in the most incongruent of Middle English dialects! On the
other hand, that same craggy appearance had him in such roles as that
of the thug Jeff in
The Glass Key (1942), in which he
repeatedly and gleefully uses his fists to beat star
Alan Ladd's face to a pulp and then
sadistically challenges Ladd, once he is healed, to come back and
receive further "treatment"! Although he will always be fondly
remembered for his light-comedy portrayals (in *three* of the mass
media!) of Chester A. Riley in
The Life of Riley (1949) and
The Life of Riley (1953),
perhaps William Bendix's finest and most memorable dramatic performance
came in Lifeboat (1944), when he
touchingly interprets the role of Gus, the shipwreck survivor whose
gangrenous limb has to be removed, the absence of anesthesia
notwithstanding.