Wendell Corey Biography

Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 " November 8, 1968) was an American actor and politician.

Life and career

He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey (October 24, 1879 " October 23, 1951) and Julia Etta McKenney (April 11, 1882 " June 16, 1947). His father was a Congregationalist clergyman. Wendell was educated in Springfield.

Corey began his acting career on the stage, doing a number of productions in summer stock. While appearing with a Works Progress Administration theatre company in the late 1930s, he met his future wife, Alice Wiley. Corey and Wiley had one son and three daughters, Jonathan, Jennifer, Bonnie Alice, and Robin.

His Broadway debut was in Comes the Revelation (1942). After appearing in a number of supporting roles, he scored his first hit as a cynical newspaperman in Elmer Rice's comedy Dream Girl (1945). While appearing in the play, Corey was seen by producer Hal Wallis, who persuaded him to sign a contract with Paramount and pursue a motion picture career in Hollywood.

His movie debut came as a gangster in Desert Fury (1947) starring John Hodiak, Lizabeth Scott, and Mary Astor. Corey appeared in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster, and a year later as Janet Leigh's fiancé in the Robert Mitchum romantic comedy Holiday Affair. He co-starred with Stanwyck twice more in 1950 in The File on Thelma Jordon and The Furies, and also opposite Joan Crawford in Harriet Craig, which was released the same year.

Corey's memorable roles include that of police Lt. Thomas Doyle in Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. He appeared in The Big Knife (1955) starring Jack Palance, Ida Lupino and Shelley Winters, The Rainmaker (1956) starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn and Loving You (1957) starring Elvis Presley and Lizabeth Scott.

He starred with Casey Walters in the television series Harbor Command (1957"1958), co-starred on The Nanette Fabray Show (1961), and had the lead role in the medical drama The Eleventh Hour (1962"1963). With Fabray, Corey played a widower who married Fabray's character. Bobby Diamond also starred in the short-lived series. In The Eleventh Hour, Corey appeared as Dr. Theodore Bassett, co-starring with Jack Ging in the role of psychologist Paul Graham. In the second season of The Eleventh Hour, however, Corey was replaced by Ralph Bellamy, who assumed the role of psychiatrist Richard Starke.

Corey made guest appearances on a number of programs, including Target: The Corruptors!, Channing, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, Burke's Law, The Road West, and The Wild Wild West. He made a guest appearance during the final season of Perry Mason in 1966 as murder victim Jerome Klee in "The Case of the Unwelcome Well."

Corey served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1961 to 1963 and was a member of the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild. A Republican campaigner in national politics since 1956, Corey was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in April 1965. The conservative politician ran for the California seat in the United States Congress in 1966, but lost the primary election. He was still a councilman at the time of his death.

Death

He died at age fifty-four at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, of cirrhosis of the liver as a result of alcoholism. He is interred in Washington Cemetery in Washington, Massachusetts.

Wendell Corey has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in TV at 6328 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1947	Desert Fury	Johnny Ryan
1948	I Walk Alone	Dave
	The Search	Jerry Fisher
	Sorry, Wrong Number	Doctor Alexander
	Man-Eater of Kumaon	Dr. John Collins
1949	The Accused	Lt. Ted Dorgan
	Any Number Can Play	Robbin Elcott
	Holiday Affair	Carl Davis
1950	The File on Thelma Jordon	Cleve Marshall
	No Sad Songs for Me	Brad Scott
	The Furies	Rip Darrow
	Harriet Craig	Walter Craig
1951	The Great Missouri Raid	Frank James
	Rich, Young and Pretty	Jim Stauton Rogers
	The Wild Blue Yonder	Capt. Harold Calvert
1952	The Wild North	Constable Pedley
	Carbine Williams	Capt. H.T. Peoples
	My Man and I	Ansel Ames
1953	Jamaica Run	Todd Dacey
1954	Hell's Half Acre	Chet Chester
	Laughing Anne	Capt. Davidson

Year	Title	Role
1954	Rear Window	Det. Lt. Thomas J. "Tom" Doyle
1955	The Big Knife	Smiley Coy
	The Killer Is Loose	Leon Poole
	The Bold and the Brave	Fairchild
	The Rack	Maj. Sam Moulton
	The Rainmaker	Deputy Sheriff J.S. File
1957	Loving You	Walter "Tex" Warner
1958	The Light in the Forest	Wilse Owens
1959	Alias Jesse James	T.J. "Jesse" James
1964	Blood on the Arrow	Clint Mailer
1966	Agent for H.A.R.M.	Jim Graff
	Broken Sabre	Major Whitcomb
	Women of the Prehistoric Planet	Adm. David King
	Waco	Preacher Sam Stone
	Picture Mommy Dead	Clayborn
	Cyborg 2087	Sheriff
1967	Red Tomahawk	Sy Elkins
1968	Buckskin	Rep Marlowe
	The Star Maker	Paul Lemont
1969	The Astro-Zombies	Holman