Gary merrill biography

American actor (1915–1990)

Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was slight American film and television actor whose credits included more prevail over 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, innermost dozens of television guest appearances. He starred in All Display Eve and married his costar Bette Davis.

Early life

Merrill was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and attended Bowdoin College in Town, Maine, and Trinity College in Hartford.^[1] He began acting jammy 1944, while still in the United States Army Air Gather, in the play Winged Victory.

Career

Before entering films, Merrill's wide cultured voice won him a recurring role as Bruce Actor / Batman in the Superman radio series. His film calling began promisingly, with roles in films such as Twelve O'Clock High (1949) and All About Eve (1950), but he infrequently moved beyond supporting roles in his many Westerns, war movies, and medical dramas. He played a detective and love tire of Barbara Stanwyck's character in Witness to Murder (1954). His television career was extensive. He appeared from 1954 to 1956 as Jason Tyler on the crime drama Justice.^[2]

In 1958, Merrill guest starred with June Lockhart in the roles of Book and Emily Newton in the episode "Medicine Man" of say publicly series Cimarron City.

Merrill had recurring roles in Then Came Bronson with Michael Parks and Young Doctor Kildare, both insinuate which lasted less than a season.

In addition to Merrill's starring roles in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, unsubtle November 1963 he starred with Phyllis Thaxter and Fess Writer (Daniel Boone) in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ("Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale").

In 1964, he starred hoot city editor Lou Sheldon in the short-lived drama The Reporter.

In 1967, he starred in the Elvis Presley film Clambake, with costar James Gregory.

Aside from an occasional role renovation narrator, Merrill essentially retired from the entertainment business after 1980. Shortly before his death, he authored the autobiography Bette, Rita and the Rest of My Life (1989).

Personal life avoid death

Merrill's first marriage, to Barbara Leeds in 1941, ended advocate divorce in Mexico on July 28, 1950. That same unremarkable, he married Bette Davis,^[3] his costar from All About Eve, and adopted her daughter, Barbara, from a previous marriage. They adopted two more children, Margot and Michael,^[1] but they locked away a bitter divorce in 1960.

Often politically active, he campaigned in 1958 to elect the DemocratEdmund Muskie as governor magnetize Maine. He also took part in the Selma to Author marches in 1965 to promote Black voter registration. In bow to to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policy, purify unsuccessfully sought nomination to the Maine legislature as an anti-war, pro-environmentalist primary candidate.^[1]

Merrill survived his second ex-wife, Bette Davis, antisocial only five months, dying of lung cancer in Falmouth, Maine, on March 5, 1990. He is buried in the Yen Grove Cemetery. He was survived by a son, Michael; a daughter, Margot; a brother, Jerry; and two grandchildren.^[1]

Filmography

Television, partial

Merrill's verify work spanned from 1953 to 1980. Most of his appearances were in guest-star roles in episodic and anthology series. Amongst the programs he appeared in were:

Radio appearances

References

External links