Keenan Wynn

Infobox actor
name = Keenan Wynn

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caption = from the trailer for "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950)
birthname = Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn
birthdate = birth date|1916|7|27|mf=y
birthplace = New York, New York, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1986|10|14|1916|7|27|mf=n
deathplace = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
restingplace = Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) California
spouse = Sharley Hudson (1954 - 1986) (his death) 3 children
Betty Jane Butler (1949 -1953) (divorced)
Eve Lynn Abbott (1938 - 1947) (divorced) 2 children

parents = Ed Wynn
imdb_id = 943978

Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.

Early life and career

He was born in New York, New York as Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn, the son of Jewish American vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, and his Irish-American Catholic wife, the former Hilda Keenan, but took his stage name from his maternal grandfather, Frank Keenan, one of the first Broadway actors to star in Hollywood.

Keenan Wynn became an actor with Ed Wynn's encouragement, and the two appeared together in the original television production of Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight" as well as a subsequent TV drama detailing the problems they'd experienced while working on that show called "The Man in the Funny Suit". The Wynns, Serling and much of the cast and crew played themselves in that. Keenan was also in another of Rod Serling's episode of "The Twilight Zone" "A World of His Own".

Film and television credits

Keenan Wynn appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows between 1934 and 1986. Early notable Wynn performances can be seen in "See Here Private Hargrove", "The Clock", "Week-End at the Waldorf", "Royal Wedding", "The Thrill of Brazil" [cite news |work=Christian Science Monitor |title=Keenan Wynn, Evelyn Keyes In 'The Thrill of Brazil' |date=1946-09-27 |page=4 |quote=For those who like South American rhythms, enjoy vigorous Brazilian dancing, and the singing of Tito Guizar, "The Thrill of Brazil," a Columbia musical starring Keenan Wynn and Evelyn Keyes, at the State and Orpheum, is a fiesta.] , and "Annie Get Your Gun". He had a featured role in "Kiss Me, Kate" and "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit". A brief but memorable Wynn performance came as U.S. Army Colonel "Bat" Guano in "Dr. Strangelove". He appeared as villainous Alonzo P. Hawk in the "flubber" movies, "The Absent-Minded Professor" and "Son of Flubber", in which his father and eldest son appeared as well. Wynn took a dramatic turn as Yost in "Point Blank" with Lee Marvin. He played Hezakiah in the 1965 movie, "The Great Race". He was the voice of the Winter Warlock in the holiday classic "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" and was in several Disney films, including "Herbie Rides Again" (curiously, as Alonzo "A". Hawk, although the character is virtually identical to the "Flubber" versions), "Snowball Express", and "The Shaggy D.A.". He had an uncredited role in "Touch of Evil". He also appeared in "Phone Call from a Stranger", "Finian's Rainbow", "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Laserblast", Joe Dante's "Piranha", Robert Altman's "Nashville", Dino De Laurentiis' "Orca", Sidney Lumet's "That Kind of Woman" and "Just Tell Me What You Want", and the cult favorite '. He was a regular on "Dallas" from 1979-1980, playing the part of "Digger Barnes". Both "Laserblast" and ' would later be featured on the American movie-mocking television series "Mystery Science Theater 3000." He guest-starred as a quarrelsome aging actor on an episode of "Quincy ME". In the 2nd season (1975) of the NBC series Movin'On (Claude Akins-Frank Converse) Wynn starred as a stow-a-way in a semi-trailer hauling an elephant. Wynn co-ctarred with David Janssen in the 1972 made for TV movie Hijack! about two truck drivers hired to haul a secret cargo across the country.

Wynn was initially cast to play Perry White [ [http://www.supermanii.com/facts.php Supermanii.Com - Christopher Reeve ] ] (Clark Kent and Lois Lane's boss at the Daily Planet) in 1978's "" in April 1977. However, by June 1977 (as production moved to Pinewood Studios in England), Wynn collapsed from extreme exhaustion after being rushed to the hospital. Wynn was ultimately replaced by Jackie Cooper.

Later life and death

In later years, Wynn took time to support various philanthropic groups. He was an active member of the Westwood Sertoma service club, in West Los Angeles, for many years until his death from cancer at the age of 70. He is buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Personal

Wynn was married to Eve Lynn Abbott (1914-2004) until their divorce in 1947, whereupon Abbott married actor Van Johnson. One son, actor and writer Ned Wynn (born Edmond Keenan Wynn) wrote the autobiographical memoir "We Will Always Live In Beverly Hills". His other son, Tracy Keenan Wynn, is a screenwriter whose credits include "The Longest Yard" and "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".

He was uncle by marriage to the Hudson Brothers and his daughter Hilda is recently divorced from actor/singer/songwriter Paul Williams.

References

External links

*imdb|id=0943978
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2069&pt Find-A-Grave profile for Keenan Wynn]

Persondata
NAME= Wynn, Keenan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Wynn, Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= birth date|1916|7|27|mf=y
PLACE OF BIRTH= New York, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH= 1986-10-14
PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles, California, U.S.