David Wayne(1914-1995)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
His father was an insurance executive; his mother died when he was
four. He attended Western Michigan University, then worked as a
statistician in Cleveland, where he joined a Shakespeare repertory
company. Two years later, he had a minor role in "The American Way" in
New York. He was rejected by the army in World War II but volunteered
as an ambulance driver in North Africa. He returned to critical acclaim
on Broadway (Arthur Miller,
Eugene O'Neill). He earned a Tony award for acting ("Finian's Rainbow", 1947) for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He moved to Los Angeles in 1977
though his movie credits go back to
Portrait of Jennie (1948) and
Adam's Rib (1949). Among his many
television roles were a bank official in his own comedy series, Norby (1955), James Merrick, a heart patient in the episode Heartbeat (1957), the part of Inspector Queen
in the Manfred Lee's
Ellery Queen (1975) series and
of "Digger" Barnes in Dallas (1978).
In his last feature film, he played an inquisitive but slightly senile
train conductor in the irreverent comedy "Finders Keepers" (1985).
