William Bendix

Name: William Bendix
Date of Birth: January 04, 1906
Place of Birth: New York, New York, USA

Mini-bio: 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 Manhatta...( read more)n (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 _Life of Riley, The (1949/I)_ 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.Date of Death 14 December 1964, Los Angeles, California, USA (lobar pneumonia).

Post it anywhere	Link it anywhere
<div style="font-size:11px;text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/actor/william-bendix"> <img src="http://content6.flixster.com/photo/10/94/88/10948896_tml.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="William Bendix as Fred Kelly in Overland Trail (1957 - 1959)" /></a><br/><a href="http://www.flixster.com/actor/william-bendix">William Bendix</a></div>	<a href="http://www.flixster.com/actor/william-bendix">William Bendix</a>

report missing or incorrect data

William Bendix Wiki Profile

Welcome to the William Bendix wiki profile. This page is created by Flixster users like you with the help of friendly community Flixster Experts.

No Expert yet! Want your picture here? Click here.

Adding your knowledge to this page is easy. Just click the "EasyEdit" button below. To become a Flixster Expert or find out more about the program, click here.

No pages yet
Add a page

William Bendix Biography William Bendix Quotes William Bendix Best Movies and Characters

EasyEdit

(What's this?)

What's going on here?
Flixster members are collaborating to create the definitive resource for William Bendix information on the Internet. We're adding all the images, info, and ideas that best tell this actor's unique story. To add your knowledge of William Bendix, just log in and click the EasyEdit button at the top of the wiki pages. (Click here for help.)

William Bendix mini-bio: 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 _Life of Riley, The (1949/I)_ 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.Date of Death 14 December 1964, Los Angeles, California, USA (lobar pneumonia).