Richard Denning(1914-1998)
- Actor
Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Louis Albert Denninger Jr. was the son
of a garment manufacturer who relocated and set up shop in Los Angeles
when Louis Jr. was 18 months old. After finishing school, Denninger
enrolled at Woodbury Business College and majored in business and
accounting, graduating cum laude with a master's in business
administration. But Denninger, who never liked accounting, started
becoming involved in little theater groups as a hobby and was
encouraged to compete in a radio contest called "Do You Want to Be an
Actor?", winning a screen test at Warner Brothers. Warners wasn't
interested in him because he looked too much like another well-known
actor under contract, but by now he had his heart set on a movie
career. Denninger was soon signed by Paramount, who insisted on
changing his name (to "Richard Denning") because his real name,
Denninger, sounded too much like gunman
John Dillinger's. He retired and
moved to Maui but was asked to play the governor in TV's
Hawaii Five-O (1968). He agreed
to play the governor as long as he didn't have to be in every episode.
It ran for 12 years, ending in 1980. Five years later, his actress-wife
Evelyn Ankers died at their up-country
Maui home (cancer). "I'm very grateful for a career that wasn't
spectacular, but always made a good living or filled in "in-between,"
Denning said of his acting days. "I have wonderful memories of it, but
I don't really miss it."