Biography for
Dirk Wayne Summers More at IMDbPro »

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Son of Kate Davenport. Grandson of Harry Davenport and Phyllis Franklin. Great-Grandson of McKee Rankin. Nephew of Ned Davenport, and Arthur Rankin. Great-nephew of Mrs. Sidney Drew and Doris Rankin.

He has received two EMMY nominations: for writing; and for producing; the 1972 film Survival of Spaceship Earth (1972).

Because Chicago was home to Radio in its early days, as a child actor Dirk spent each "radio-season" (from September to May) in the 'Windy City.' His grandmother, Georgianna Hall, who mostly raised him, decided to turn over Dirk's formal education to the Jesuits and Religious School.

Apparently an A student, Dirk was advanced & skipped one year of grammar school, then completed his four years of high-school in under two years. He entered the University of Illinois (Urbana campus) (on a Scholarship) before his sixteenth birthday.

While at the University of Illinois he became a member of Phi Beta.

Professor Wesley Swanson (head of the University Theatre Arts department) remembered seeing Dirk as a boy in a Chicago production of "Bury The Dead;" and asked him to join his class and performance company. Subsequently Dirk was featured in several school productions, a few of which toured other cities and University campuses.

Always ahead of his time, Mr. Summers created two "boy-bands" in the early 1980s - "Outre" and "The Wumblies" - long before N-Sync, The Backstreet Boys, and others filled this market in the late "90s.

In the 1970s, he collaborated with his best friend (from grammar school days in Chicago) actress Joan Marshall, co-scripting TV sitcoms.

In 1959, he co-starred in a national tour of Sally Benson's "The Young And The Beautiful". Author Benson was the writer of the book that later became the memorable film Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), featuring Mr. Summers' grandfather, the beloved actor Harry Davenport.

Was named legal guardian for companion June Allyson and her late husband Dick Powell's children Dick Powell Jr. and Pamela Powell, as a result of a court petition.

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