Who-o-o? From out of the past, familiar faces with forgotten names now resurrected on the late. late, show!

Don Beddoe 1903 – 1991

 “I never became a big name but I got to play all sorts of men and that’s what all actors hope to do”.

 Don made over 182 films and 80 television appearances in his long career. His last role was that of Doc Cathay in “ Nickel Mountain” at the age of 81.

He was born to Welsh parents in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania on July 1st, 1903 . His father, a leading tenor of his day, sang at the coronation of England ’s King George V. Don didn’t have his father’s musical talent or any fascination with business (even though that was his major in college) but he loved college theatricals. So his mother invited the head of a famous stock company to dinner and Don was on his way to a stage career that lasted a decade. His debut in films came in 1937 with a bit role as the D.A.’s aide in “The 13th Man” (1937).

Don retired temporarily in 1970 to travel with his ailing wife of 30 years. But Evelyn died in early 1974 while they were in the Canary Islands . Later that year, Don remarried, this time to Joyce Rose, the travel agent that booked their first cruise. He didn’t realize until they were married several weeks that his new wife was known professionally as Joyce Mathews, the same gal that had married and divorced Milton Berle twice and did the same thing with showman Billy Rose. But the marriage lasted for Don’s lifetime.

Don Beddoe died in Laguna Beach , California on January 19 th, 1996 from natural causes.

Included in his long list of films…”Golden Boy” (1939), “O.S.S.”, (1946), “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946), “Carrie” (1952), “A Star is Born” (1954) and “Pillow Talk” (1959)

Toby Wing 1916 – 2001

 The girl with a “face like the morning sun” was eulogized as the one star who “made the Great Depression a little less depressing”.

Toby made 44 films, was one of the original Goldwyn Girls and had celebrity suitors by the dozens (including Maurice Chevalier, Alfred Vanderbilt, Franklin Roosevelt, Jr., Jackie Coogan, Toronto playboy Erksine Eaton and aviator Henry Tindall “Dick” Merrill). It was Dick Merrill, the flyboy who made the first transatlantic round trip, who won her heart. He was 21 years her senior but after only a 6-month courtship, they were married.

Toby was born Martha Virginia Wing on July 14 th, 1916 on a Richmond , Virginia estate and got her nickname from a family horse. However, the family lived for several years in the Panama Canal Zone where her army major father was stationed, before settling in Beverly Hills . Both Toby and her older sister, Pat became instantly star-struck. Toby made her film debut as the little girl in “A Boy of Flanders” (1927).

Jack Oakie introduced Toby to Samuel Goldwyn and she became a Goldwyn Girl along with Paulette Goddard, Anita Louise and Betty Grable. Toby went on to become the most famous pin-up in the country between Jean Harlow and Betty Grable. She was the gal in the white fox bra and bare midriff that Dick Powell crooned to with “Young and Healthy” in “ 42nd Street ”.

Toby died on March 22 nd, 2001 at her home in Mathews, Virginia . Some of her films were…”School For Girls” (1934), “Thoroughbred” (1935), “Mr. Cinderella” (1936), “True Confessions” (1937) and “Sweethearts” (1938).

Victor Kilian 1891 – 1979

“Stars and character actors do not mix socially in Hollywood ….in all the years I’ve lived here, the only actor who ever invited me to his home was Frederic March”.

One of 8 children Victor was born in Jersey City , New Jersey on March 6 th, 1891 and began working before he was 8. His first jobs seemed might heavy for a young boy…driving a wagon for his father’s laundry company, ditch digging, making bricks and longshoreman. Victor’s first stage appearance came in 1909 at the age of 19 and his movie debut was in the 1929 film “Gentlemen of the Press” with two other first-timers Brian Donlevy and Kay Francis.

Victor preferred the stage to film work even though he made over 126 pictures and at least 12 television appearances. He lost the use of one eye during the filming of “Reap the Wild Wind” in 1942 with John Wayne. In 1951 Kilian was blacklisted by the House UnAmerican Activities Commission (HUAC) making him persona non grata at every studio in town. When he finally got a movie role 6 ½ years later, actor Ward Bond had him fired. So Victor went back to Broadway and into television.

In 1961 Victor’s wife of 46 years passed away. They had one son. Victor was alone on the night of March 11 th, 1979 watching television when he was beaten to death by an intruder. He was 88 years old. The murder was never solved.

Some of the films he made….”The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (1938), “This Gun for Hire” (1942), “The Ox Bow Incident” (1943), “Spellbound” (1945) and “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947).

Raquel Torres 1908 – 1987

“Her first role as Fayaway in W. S. Van Dyke’s “White Shadows in the South Seas ” made her a star when the movie made Van Dyke a celebrated director.

Raquel only made 12 movies but it was her first that counted and made it possible for all the rest.

She was born Paula Marie Osterman in Herosillo , Mexico on November 11th, 1908 to a German-born father and a French-Spanish mother. After her mother died, both Paula and her sister Renee were put into a convent boarding school. Paula had her heart set on becoming an actress so when her father heard that MGM was looking for an unknown to play the lead in a big-budget film, he agreed to let her test for it. Paula got the role, a new name and a new career. As “Raquel Torres” she was off to the Marquesas Islands to play a “exotic, virginal South Seas native girl” named Fayaway.

“Woody” Van Dyke knew Raquel was capable of giving more fire in her first important scene. So, in typical Van Dyke fashion, Woody stopped work and, with a wink to the cameraman, he strolled over to have a word with his leading lady. In the middle of their polite conversation, he made a very derogatory remark about Mexico (a place he loved dearly) and Raquel reacted like a crazed wildcat. Woody strolled back to his chair and got the scene he wanted.

Raquel is probably best remembered for her role in “Duck Soup” in 1933 with the Marx Brothers. But, then in 1934, her career was abruptly ended by….marriage. She wed multimillionaire Stephen Ames who was less than enthusiastic about her career. He built her 2 identical mansions, one in Bel-Air and one in Malibu, (she kept both homes until she died). In 1959, five years after Stephen died on their 20th wedding anniversary, Raquel married actor Jon Hall. The marriage ended in divorce but Hall remained a friend and often stayed as a guest at one of her homes until his death in 1980.

Raquel suffered a stroke in June, 1987 and died two months later on August 10 th, 1987 at age 78. Included in the 12 films she made are….”The Desert Rider” (1929), “The Sea Bat” (1930), “So This is Africa” (1933) and “Go West, Young Man” (1936).

Chick Chandler 1905 – 1988

  He was a cameraman for Fox, a comic in burlesque, a second banana in vaudeville and even a leading man on Broadway. But no one would let him play a villain because he was just such a nice guy!

 He was born Fehmer Chandler on January 18, 1905 in Kingston, New York, the son of a surgeon and the nephew of Howard Chandler Christy, the famous illustrator and portrait painter. The childhood nickname, “Chick” stuck to him all his life. Both Chick and his brother were sent to Manlius Military Academy, a prep school for West Point, but when he decided to go into show business, his parents supported him.

Chick’s first job was assistant cameraman on several Pearl White films at William Fox’s New York City studio. He made his Broadway debut in “Pleasure Bound” and was in rehearsal for the title role in “The Great McGoo” when he got the call from RKO. Fannie Brice had seen him on stage and recommended they sign him. So Chick took off for Hollywood with Jean, his new bride, a former Earl Carroll model.

Chandler’s career in films and television would span four decades. During that time he was never put on suspension and never had a bad experience with any of the stars or directors he worked with. Chick retired in the early 1970s and died on September 30 th, 1988 just one day before the death of his wife of 30 years. He was 83.

His 116 films included…..”Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1938), “The Bride Came C.O.D.” (1944), “The Big Shot” (1942), “Battle Cry” (1955) and “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963)

Ann Doran 1911 – 2000

She never wanted to be a star. “I am happy in the leak light. The light is always trained on the star. Whatever leaked over, that’s what I got”.

Ann was probably best known for her role as James Dean’s mother in “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955) but she was one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood, beginning her career at the age of 4 under an assumed name. Acting wasn’t considered respectable and, to spare her father’s disapproving family, both Ann and her mother, silent actress Carrie Barnett, worked under aliases. Counted all together Ann has done at least 500 movies and over 1,000 television shows. But her only leading role that opposite Charles Starrett in “Rio Grande” (1939).

She was born Ann Lee Doran in Amarillo, Texas on July 28, 1911. The family moved to Hollywood hoping her father could regain his health after being wounded and gassed in WWI. Ann quit acting to attend UCLA hoping to to become a math teacher but her father died in 1932 and she had to drop out and go back to acting. “It was the only work I knew how to do and (Fox) was the easiest studio to reach by bus”. In the years from 1934 to 1936 Ann made 17 films. Her career would last through eight decades.

In 1990 SAG gave her its Ralph Morgan award for distinguished service to the organization. She had served as an officer and helped launch its John P. Dales Scholarship Fund.

Ann Doran died on September 19th, 2000 at a senior citizens complex in Carmichael, California. She was 89. Included among the many films she made were…..” Way Down East” (1935), “Stella Dallas” (1937), “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939), “The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers” (1946), “The Carpetbaggers” (1964) and her last film “Wildcats” (1986).

X Brands 1927 – 2000

  “I supported myself for years portraying American Indians….But you cannot come to know these great people, as I have been privileged to do, without coming to believe in God”.

X Brands is his real name. He was born Jay X Brands on July 24th, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri and the middle letter is a name not an initial. Since 1743, the tradition in the Brands family was to have one male member called “X”. In 1936 the family moved to Glendale, California and when X was old enough he was given his own horse and taught to ride. He became so good at it that by the time WWII broke out and he joined the Navy, he had already won prizes in several rodeos.

Brands reserve unit was again activated for the Korean War and when he returned from that conflict, he used the G.I. Bill to study acting. He made his film debut in “The Wild One” (1954) with Marlon Brando. He got the part because he was over 6’ tall and could ride a motorcycle.

Then casting directors decided that Brands made a very striking Indian even though he was a Caucasian of German-Dutch descent. So X decided he would be the best Indian he could be. In 1959 he met Brummett Echohawk of the Pawnees who wrote an open letter to the studios complementing Brands on his command of the tribal language. X was signed to play Jock Mahoney’s Indian sidekick “Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah” in the “Yancy Derringer” series. X continued to play Indians until real Native American groups began to protest the use of white actors in American Indian roles.

Suddenly out of a job, X put one of his hobbies to work for him. He loved flying so he began to teach it. By the 1970s Brands was playing pilots on the big and small screens. His last film was “Avalanche” with Rock Hudson in the role of Rock’s lawyer who flies the plane into a mountain.

Jay X Brands died of cancer in Northridge, California on May 15th, 2000. He was 72. Some of his 11 films included….”Naked Gun’ (1956), “She-Devil” (1957), “Escort West” (1958) and “Beau Geste” (1966.

Marion Martin 1908 – 1985

In 1928 she appeared in the “George White Scandals”. Actress Iris Adrian recalled “After the show, her parents came by to pick her up, cover up what everyone had been looking at all night, and take her home”.

 “The World’s Most Beautiful Showgirl” was born Marion Suplee in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was a Bethlehem Steel executive with enough money to keep her in exclusive private schools until the stock market crash of 1929 wiped out the family’s fortune. By that time, Marion was already appearing on Broadway. Her brother, on the other hand, became a priest and friend actress Iris Adrian claimed that Marion, the flashy, golddigging blonde of stage and screen, was not only religious offstage but “the kind that read the fine print”.

Florenz Ziegfeld cast her in his “Follies of 1931” and, although Marion had already been on Broadway for 5 years, she always considered Ziegfeld her mentor. She made her film debut in “Sinners in Paradise”’ with Madge Evans in 1938 and her career lasted through the 1940s. Her last film was “Key to the City” in 1950 with Loretta Young and Clark Gable.

In 1950 Marion married Jimmy Krzykowski, a Singer sewing machine repairman she met at church. They had no children but lived in Santa Monica with their casts, dogs, turtles and ducks. Marion retired from films because she didn’t like the changes taking place and so she spent her days doing hospital volunteer work.

Marion Martin died on August 13, 1985 at the age of 77. Shortly after her death, there was a memorial service for her at the San Juan Capistrano Mission. It was conducted by the mission’s pastor who just happened to be Marion’s brother.

Her resume of 90 films included….. “Boom Town” (1940), “Tales of Manhattan” (1942), “Lady of Burlesque” (1943), “That’s My Gal” (1947) and “Come to the Stable” (1949).