American film actor Dana Andrews (1909-1992) was a major Hollywood star during the 1940s. He continued acting in less prestigious roles till the 1980s. He is remembered for his roles as a police detective-lieutenant in the Film Noir Laura (1944) and as war veteran Fred Derry in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the latter being the role for which he received the most critical praise. During his career, he worked with such directors as Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang, William Wyler, Jean Renoir, and Elia Kazan.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 250. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Dana Andrews in Deep Waters (Henry King, 1948).
Uruguayan postcard by CF. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
Italian postcard by Zincografica, Firenze. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Dana Andrews and Dorothy McGuire in I Want You (Mark Robson, 1951), released in Italy as Di fronte all'uragano (In the face of the hurricane).
Carver Dana Andrews was born on a farmstead near Collins in southern Mississippi in Covington County in 1909. He was the third of 13 children of Charles Forrest Andrews, a Baptist minister, and his wife, the former Annis Speed. The family relocated subsequently to Huntsville in Walker County, Texas, the birthplace of his younger siblings, including future Hollywood actor Steve Forrest.
Andrews attended college at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and studied business administration in Houston. He left school in 1929 to take a job as an accountant with the Texas oil company Gulf. In 1931, at the height of the Great Depression, he quit his job, and hitchhiked to Los Angeles, hoping to break into show business.
He worked in various jobs, such as working at a gas station in the nearby community of Van Nuys. To help Andrews study music at night, the station owners stepped in ... with a deal: $50 a week for full-time study, in exchange for a five-year share of possible later earnings. Andrews studied opera and also entered the Pasadena Community Playhouse, the famed theatre company, and drama school. He appeared in scores of plays there in the 1930s, becoming a favourite of the company. He played opposite future star Robert Preston in a play about composers Gilbert and Sullivan, and soon thereafter was offered a contract by Samuel Goldwyn. Andrews signed the contract, but it still took two years before Goldwyn and 20th Century-Fox to whom Goldwyn had sold half of Andrews' contract had work for him.
Finally, nine years after arriving in Los Angeles, he made his film debut at 20th Century Fox in Lucky Cisco Kid (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1940) starring Cesar Romero. He was in Sailor's Lady (Allan Dwan, 1940), developed by Goldwyn but sold to Fox. Andrews was loaned to Edward Small to appear in Kit Carson (George B. Seitz, 1940) before Goldwyn used him for the first time in a Goldwyn production: William Wyler's The Westerner (1940), featuring Gary Cooper. Andrews had support parts in Fox films Tobacco Road (1941), directed by John Ford; Belle Starr (Irving Cummings, 1941), with Gene Tierney, billed third; and Swamp Water (1941), directed by Jean Renoir. His next film for Goldwyn was the comedy Ball of Fire (Billy Wilder, 1941), again teaming with Cooper, where Andrews played a gangster.
Back at Fox, Andrews was given his first lead, in the B-movie Berlin Correspondent (Eugene Forde, 1942). He was second lead to Tyrone Power in Crash Dive (Archie Mayo, 1943) and then appeared in the film adaptation of The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943) with Henry Fonda. He played an innocent lynching victim, a role often cited as one of his best. Andrews then went back to Goldwyn for The North Star (Lewis Milestone, 1943). He worked on a government propaganda film December 7th: The Movie (John Ford, Gregg Toland, 1943), then was used by Goldwyn again in Up in Arms (Elliott Nugent, 1944), supporting Danny Kaye. Andrews was reunited with Milestone at Fox for The Purple Heart (Lewis Milestone, 1944), then was in Wing and a Prayer (Henry Hathaway, 1944).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3503. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Dutch postcard, no. a.x. 230. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
One of Dana Andrews's famous roles was as a detective in Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944) with Gene Tierney at Fox. His matter-of-fact, deadpan acting style was perfectly suited to laconic city detective Mark McPherson. The Los Angeles Times: "The story of a cynical detective falling in love with a portrait of a supposed murder victim became a classic and seemed to vault Dana Andrews to a level of stardom that he would inhabit for the rest of his career."
He co-featured with Jeanne Crain in the musical State Fair (Walter Lang, 1945), a huge hit, and was reunited with Preminger for Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945). In 1946, he co-featured with Susan Hayward in an excellent Western, Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946). Andrews did another war film with Milestone, A Walk in the Sun (Lewis Milestone, 1945), then was loaned to Walter Wanger for a Western, Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946).
Andrews's second film with William Wyler, also for Goldwyn, was his most successful: The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946). It was both a popular and critical success with seven Oscars and became the role for which Andrews is best known. Andrews appeared in Boomerang! (1947), directed by Elia Kazan; opposite Merle Oberon in Night Song (John Cromwell, 1947), at RKO; and in Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger, 1947).
In 1947, he was voted the 23rd most popular actor in the U.S. Andrews starred in the anti-communist The Iron Curtain (William A. Wellman, 1948), reuniting him with Gene Tierney, then Deep Waters (1948). He made the comedy No Minor Vices (Lewis Milestone, 1948), then went to England for Britannia Mews (Jean Negulesco, 1949). Andrews went to Universal for Sword in the Desert (George Sherman, 1949), then Goldwyn called him back for My Foolish Heart (Mark Robson, 1949) with Susan Hayward. He also played a brutal police officer in Where the Sidewalk Ends (Otto Preminger, 1950), also with Tierney.
Around this time, alcoholism began to damage Andrews's career, and on two occasions it nearly cost him his life as he drove a car. Edge of Doom (Mark Robson, 1950) for Goldwyn was a flop. He went to RKO to make Sealed Cargo (Alfred L. Werker, 1951) which was the only film he made with his brother, Steve Forrest. At Fox, he was in The Frogmen (Lloyd Bacon, 1951). Goldwyn cast him in I Want You (Mark Robson, 1951), an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the success of The Best Years of Our Lives. From 1952 to 1954, Andrews was featured in the radio series, 'I Was a Communist for the FBI', about the experiences of Matt Cvetic, an FBI informant who infiltrated the Communist Party of the United States of America.
Vintage postcard.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 676. Photo: Universal.
Publicity still by Goldwyn Production / RKO Radio Pictures. Farley Granger and Dana Andrews in Edge of Doom (Mark Robson, 1950).
Dana Andrews's film career struggled in the 1950s. In 1952, with his studio contracts expired, he began to free-lance and formed his own production company, Lawrence Productions. Assignment: Paris (Robert Parrish, 1952) was not widely seen. He did Elephant Walk (William Dieterle, 1954) in Ceylon, a film better known for Vivien Leigh's nervous breakdown and replacement by Elizabeth Taylor.
Duel in the Jungle (George Marshall, 1954) was an adventure tale; Three Hours to Kill (Alfred L. Werker, 1954) and Smoke Signal (Jerry Hopper, 1955) were Westerns; Strange Lady in Town (Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) was a Greer Garson vehicle; Comanche (George Sherman, 1956), another Western. By the middle 1950s, Andrews was acting almost exclusively in B-movies.
However, his acting in two films for Fritz Lang during 1956, While The City Sleeps and Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, and two for Jacques Tourneur, Curse of the Demon (1957) and The Fearmakers (1958), is well regarded. Around this time he also appeared in Spring Reunion (Robert Pirosh, 1957), Zero Hour! (Hall Bartlett, 1957), and Enchanted Island (Allan Dwan, 1958).
By the late 1950s, work was increasingly harder to get. He was typed in films as a young hero, but he no longer looked the part. His hair was turning white. In 1952, Andrews had toured with his wife, Mary Todd, in 'The Glass Menagerie', and in 1958, he replaced Henry Fonda on Broadway in 'Two for the Seesaw'. He stayed in the play for a year, co-starring with Anne Bancroft. It briefly revitalised his career. Andrews began appearing on television on such shows as Playhouse 90, General Electric Theatre, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Twilight Zone, and The Dick Powell Theatre. He also continued to make films like Madison Avenue (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1961). He went to Broadway for 'The Captains and the Kings', which had a short run in 1962.
In 1963, he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild. In 1965, Andrews resumed film work with supporting roles in The Satan Bug (John Sturges, 1965) and In Harm's Way (Otto Preminger, 1965). He also had the lead in Crack in the World (Andrew Marton, 1965), and Brainstorm (William Conrad, 1965). However, he was cast increasingly in supporting roles: such as in the Eurospy film Berlino appuntamento per le spie (Operazione Polifemo)/Berlin, Appointment for the Spies (Vittorio Sala, 1965), The Loved One (Tony Richardson, 1965), and Battle of the Bulge (Ken Annakin, 1965) starring Henry Fonda.
Andrews still played leads in low-budget films like Hot Rods to Hell (John Brahm, 1967). By this time, Andrews had evolved into a character actor, as in the war film The Devil's Brigade (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1968) and the Italian production I diamanti che nessuno voleva rubare/No Diamonds for Ursula (Gino Mangini, 1967). Later, Andrews returned to the leading role of college president Tom Boswell on the soap opera Bright Promise (1969-1971).
Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. 3532. Photo: RKO Radio Films Foto archief: Film en Toneel.
Vintage postcard. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
Dana Andrews' increasing alcoholism caused him to lose the confidence of some producers. Andrews took steps to curb his addiction and eventually controlled his alcoholism. He worked actively with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and appeared in a television public service advertisement concerning the subject in 1972.
Andrews spent the 1970s in supporting Hollywood roles such as The Last Tycoon (Elia Kazan, 1976) starring Robert de Niro, and the TV film The Last Hurrah (Vincent Sherman, 1977), with Carroll O'Connor. He also appeared regularly on TV in such shows as Ironside, Get Christie Love!, Ellery Queen, The American Girls, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and The Love Boat.
It was at this time, the 1970s, that Andrews became involved in the real estate business. Andrews's final roles included the Mini-series Ike: The War Years (Boris Sagal, Melville Shavelson, 1979) in which he played General George C. Marshall, The Pilot (Cliff Robertson, 1980), and the soap opera Falcon Crest (1982-1983). His last film was Prince Jack (Bert Lovitt, 1985).
Andrews had married Janet Murray in 1932. Murray died in 1935 as a result of pneumonia. Their son, David (1933–1964), was a musician and composer who died from a cerebral hemorrhage. In 1939, Andrews married a Pasadena Playhouse actress, Mary Todd, by whom he had three children: Katharine, Stephen, and Susan. For two decades, the family lived in Toluca Lake, California.
During the last years of his life, Andrews suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He spent his final years living at the John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer's Disease in Los Alamitos, California. On 17 December 1992, 15 days before his 84th birthday, Andrews died of congestive heart failure and pneumonia. His wife died in 2003 at the age of 86.
Dutch postcard, no. 395. Photo: Universal International. Dana Andrews in Sword in the Desert (George Sherman, 1949).
Belgian card, no. 850. Photo: R.K.O. Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews in My Foolish Heart (Mark Robson, 1949).
Trailer Laura (1944). Source: BFI Trailers (YouTube).
Source: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Los Angeles Times, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 250. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Dana Andrews in Deep Waters (Henry King, 1948).
Uruguayan postcard by CF. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
Italian postcard by Zincografica, Firenze. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Dana Andrews and Dorothy McGuire in I Want You (Mark Robson, 1951), released in Italy as Di fronte all'uragano (In the face of the hurricane).
An innocent lynching victim
Carver Dana Andrews was born on a farmstead near Collins in southern Mississippi in Covington County in 1909. He was the third of 13 children of Charles Forrest Andrews, a Baptist minister, and his wife, the former Annis Speed. The family relocated subsequently to Huntsville in Walker County, Texas, the birthplace of his younger siblings, including future Hollywood actor Steve Forrest.
Andrews attended college at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and studied business administration in Houston. He left school in 1929 to take a job as an accountant with the Texas oil company Gulf. In 1931, at the height of the Great Depression, he quit his job, and hitchhiked to Los Angeles, hoping to break into show business.
He worked in various jobs, such as working at a gas station in the nearby community of Van Nuys. To help Andrews study music at night, the station owners stepped in ... with a deal: $50 a week for full-time study, in exchange for a five-year share of possible later earnings. Andrews studied opera and also entered the Pasadena Community Playhouse, the famed theatre company, and drama school. He appeared in scores of plays there in the 1930s, becoming a favourite of the company. He played opposite future star Robert Preston in a play about composers Gilbert and Sullivan, and soon thereafter was offered a contract by Samuel Goldwyn. Andrews signed the contract, but it still took two years before Goldwyn and 20th Century-Fox to whom Goldwyn had sold half of Andrews' contract had work for him.
Finally, nine years after arriving in Los Angeles, he made his film debut at 20th Century Fox in Lucky Cisco Kid (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1940) starring Cesar Romero. He was in Sailor's Lady (Allan Dwan, 1940), developed by Goldwyn but sold to Fox. Andrews was loaned to Edward Small to appear in Kit Carson (George B. Seitz, 1940) before Goldwyn used him for the first time in a Goldwyn production: William Wyler's The Westerner (1940), featuring Gary Cooper. Andrews had support parts in Fox films Tobacco Road (1941), directed by John Ford; Belle Starr (Irving Cummings, 1941), with Gene Tierney, billed third; and Swamp Water (1941), directed by Jean Renoir. His next film for Goldwyn was the comedy Ball of Fire (Billy Wilder, 1941), again teaming with Cooper, where Andrews played a gangster.
Back at Fox, Andrews was given his first lead, in the B-movie Berlin Correspondent (Eugene Forde, 1942). He was second lead to Tyrone Power in Crash Dive (Archie Mayo, 1943) and then appeared in the film adaptation of The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943) with Henry Fonda. He played an innocent lynching victim, a role often cited as one of his best. Andrews then went back to Goldwyn for The North Star (Lewis Milestone, 1943). He worked on a government propaganda film December 7th: The Movie (John Ford, Gregg Toland, 1943), then was used by Goldwyn again in Up in Arms (Elliott Nugent, 1944), supporting Danny Kaye. Andrews was reunited with Milestone at Fox for The Purple Heart (Lewis Milestone, 1944), then was in Wing and a Prayer (Henry Hathaway, 1944).
Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3503. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Dutch postcard, no. a.x. 230. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
A laconic city detective
One of Dana Andrews's famous roles was as a detective in Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944) with Gene Tierney at Fox. His matter-of-fact, deadpan acting style was perfectly suited to laconic city detective Mark McPherson. The Los Angeles Times: "The story of a cynical detective falling in love with a portrait of a supposed murder victim became a classic and seemed to vault Dana Andrews to a level of stardom that he would inhabit for the rest of his career."
He co-featured with Jeanne Crain in the musical State Fair (Walter Lang, 1945), a huge hit, and was reunited with Preminger for Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945). In 1946, he co-featured with Susan Hayward in an excellent Western, Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946). Andrews did another war film with Milestone, A Walk in the Sun (Lewis Milestone, 1945), then was loaned to Walter Wanger for a Western, Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946).
Andrews's second film with William Wyler, also for Goldwyn, was his most successful: The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946). It was both a popular and critical success with seven Oscars and became the role for which Andrews is best known. Andrews appeared in Boomerang! (1947), directed by Elia Kazan; opposite Merle Oberon in Night Song (John Cromwell, 1947), at RKO; and in Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger, 1947).
In 1947, he was voted the 23rd most popular actor in the U.S. Andrews starred in the anti-communist The Iron Curtain (William A. Wellman, 1948), reuniting him with Gene Tierney, then Deep Waters (1948). He made the comedy No Minor Vices (Lewis Milestone, 1948), then went to England for Britannia Mews (Jean Negulesco, 1949). Andrews went to Universal for Sword in the Desert (George Sherman, 1949), then Goldwyn called him back for My Foolish Heart (Mark Robson, 1949) with Susan Hayward. He also played a brutal police officer in Where the Sidewalk Ends (Otto Preminger, 1950), also with Tierney.
Around this time, alcoholism began to damage Andrews's career, and on two occasions it nearly cost him his life as he drove a car. Edge of Doom (Mark Robson, 1950) for Goldwyn was a flop. He went to RKO to make Sealed Cargo (Alfred L. Werker, 1951) which was the only film he made with his brother, Steve Forrest. At Fox, he was in The Frogmen (Lloyd Bacon, 1951). Goldwyn cast him in I Want You (Mark Robson, 1951), an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the success of The Best Years of Our Lives. From 1952 to 1954, Andrews was featured in the radio series, 'I Was a Communist for the FBI', about the experiences of Matt Cvetic, an FBI informant who infiltrated the Communist Party of the United States of America.
Vintage postcard.
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 676. Photo: Universal.
Publicity still by Goldwyn Production / RKO Radio Pictures. Farley Granger and Dana Andrews in Edge of Doom (Mark Robson, 1950).
A young hero who no longer looked the part
Dana Andrews's film career struggled in the 1950s. In 1952, with his studio contracts expired, he began to free-lance and formed his own production company, Lawrence Productions. Assignment: Paris (Robert Parrish, 1952) was not widely seen. He did Elephant Walk (William Dieterle, 1954) in Ceylon, a film better known for Vivien Leigh's nervous breakdown and replacement by Elizabeth Taylor.
Duel in the Jungle (George Marshall, 1954) was an adventure tale; Three Hours to Kill (Alfred L. Werker, 1954) and Smoke Signal (Jerry Hopper, 1955) were Westerns; Strange Lady in Town (Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) was a Greer Garson vehicle; Comanche (George Sherman, 1956), another Western. By the middle 1950s, Andrews was acting almost exclusively in B-movies.
However, his acting in two films for Fritz Lang during 1956, While The City Sleeps and Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, and two for Jacques Tourneur, Curse of the Demon (1957) and The Fearmakers (1958), is well regarded. Around this time he also appeared in Spring Reunion (Robert Pirosh, 1957), Zero Hour! (Hall Bartlett, 1957), and Enchanted Island (Allan Dwan, 1958).
By the late 1950s, work was increasingly harder to get. He was typed in films as a young hero, but he no longer looked the part. His hair was turning white. In 1952, Andrews had toured with his wife, Mary Todd, in 'The Glass Menagerie', and in 1958, he replaced Henry Fonda on Broadway in 'Two for the Seesaw'. He stayed in the play for a year, co-starring with Anne Bancroft. It briefly revitalised his career. Andrews began appearing on television on such shows as Playhouse 90, General Electric Theatre, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Twilight Zone, and The Dick Powell Theatre. He also continued to make films like Madison Avenue (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1961). He went to Broadway for 'The Captains and the Kings', which had a short run in 1962.
In 1963, he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild. In 1965, Andrews resumed film work with supporting roles in The Satan Bug (John Sturges, 1965) and In Harm's Way (Otto Preminger, 1965). He also had the lead in Crack in the World (Andrew Marton, 1965), and Brainstorm (William Conrad, 1965). However, he was cast increasingly in supporting roles: such as in the Eurospy film Berlino appuntamento per le spie (Operazione Polifemo)/Berlin, Appointment for the Spies (Vittorio Sala, 1965), The Loved One (Tony Richardson, 1965), and Battle of the Bulge (Ken Annakin, 1965) starring Henry Fonda.
Andrews still played leads in low-budget films like Hot Rods to Hell (John Brahm, 1967). By this time, Andrews had evolved into a character actor, as in the war film The Devil's Brigade (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1968) and the Italian production I diamanti che nessuno voleva rubare/No Diamonds for Ursula (Gino Mangini, 1967). Later, Andrews returned to the leading role of college president Tom Boswell on the soap opera Bright Promise (1969-1971).
Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. 3532. Photo: RKO Radio Films Foto archief: Film en Toneel.
Vintage postcard. Photo: RKO Radio Films.
Controlling his alcoholism
Dana Andrews' increasing alcoholism caused him to lose the confidence of some producers. Andrews took steps to curb his addiction and eventually controlled his alcoholism. He worked actively with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and appeared in a television public service advertisement concerning the subject in 1972.
Andrews spent the 1970s in supporting Hollywood roles such as The Last Tycoon (Elia Kazan, 1976) starring Robert de Niro, and the TV film The Last Hurrah (Vincent Sherman, 1977), with Carroll O'Connor. He also appeared regularly on TV in such shows as Ironside, Get Christie Love!, Ellery Queen, The American Girls, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and The Love Boat.
It was at this time, the 1970s, that Andrews became involved in the real estate business. Andrews's final roles included the Mini-series Ike: The War Years (Boris Sagal, Melville Shavelson, 1979) in which he played General George C. Marshall, The Pilot (Cliff Robertson, 1980), and the soap opera Falcon Crest (1982-1983). His last film was Prince Jack (Bert Lovitt, 1985).
Andrews had married Janet Murray in 1932. Murray died in 1935 as a result of pneumonia. Their son, David (1933–1964), was a musician and composer who died from a cerebral hemorrhage. In 1939, Andrews married a Pasadena Playhouse actress, Mary Todd, by whom he had three children: Katharine, Stephen, and Susan. For two decades, the family lived in Toluca Lake, California.
During the last years of his life, Andrews suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He spent his final years living at the John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer's Disease in Los Alamitos, California. On 17 December 1992, 15 days before his 84th birthday, Andrews died of congestive heart failure and pneumonia. His wife died in 2003 at the age of 86.
Dutch postcard, no. 395. Photo: Universal International. Dana Andrews in Sword in the Desert (George Sherman, 1949).
Belgian card, no. 850. Photo: R.K.O. Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews in My Foolish Heart (Mark Robson, 1949).
Trailer Laura (1944). Source: BFI Trailers (YouTube).
Source: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Los Angeles Times, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment