Biography for
Brandon De Wilde

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Date of Birth

9 April 1942, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Date of Death

6 July 1972, Denver, Colorado, USA (road accident)

Birth Name

Andre Brandon De Wilde

Mini Biography

Born into a theatrical family, he made a much-acclaimed Broadway debut at the age of nine in "The Member of the Wedding." He was the first child actor to win the Donaldson Award and went on to repeat his role in the film version directed by Fred Zinnemann in 1952. As the blonde, blue-eyed Joey who idolizes the strange gunman (Alan Ladd) in Shane (1953), he stole the picture and was rewarded with an Oscar nomination the following year. He starred in his own television series "Jamie" (1953) during 1953-54 and made his mark as a screen adolescent during the 1960s, playing younger brothers in All Fall Down (1962) and Hud (1963) starring Paul Newman. However, he managed to keep his career building up to his adult status. While en route to appear in a play "Butterflies Are Free," he was tragically killed in a car accident. He was only thirty years old.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

Janice Gero	(25 March 1972 - ?) (his death)
Susan M. Maw	(1963 - 1969) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Although he was the only one of the four principal players not nominated for an Oscar for the 1963 film Hud (1963), Brandon got to share Oscar night glory nevertheless when he went on stage to accept the Best Supporting Actor trophy for co-star Melvyn Douglas, who was in Israel at the time. Patricia Neal won for "best actress," but Paul Newman lost "best actor" to Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (1963).

When he died he left behind one small son.

The son of a stage-manager father and actress mother. Made his stage debut at age seven in 492 performances of the Broadway hit, "The Member of the Wedding." He also became the first juvenile to win the Donaldson Award.

De Wilde is pronounced duh-WIL-duh.

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