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Keenan Wynn}’s portrait

Keenan Wynn

  • 70 years old
  • Male
  • Born Jul 27, 1916
  • Died Oct 14, 1986
  • United States
an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.
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About

Life

He was born in New York, New York as Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn, the son of Jewish American vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, and his Irish-American Catholic wife, the former Hilda Keenan, but took his stage name from his maternal grandfather, Frank Keenan, one of the first Broadway actors to star in Hollywood.
Keenan Wynn became an actor after Ed Wynn's encouragement, and the two appeared together in the original television production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956) as well as a subsequent television drama detailing the problems they'd experienced together while working on that show called The Man in the Funny Suit (1960); the Wynns, Serling, and much of the rest of the cast and crew played themselves.
Keenan Wynn appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows between 1934 and 1986. Early notable Wynn performances can be seen in See Here Private Hargrove (1944), Under the Clock (1945), Week-End at the Waldorf (45), The Hucksters (1947) and Annie Get Your Gun (1950). He had a featured role in Kiss Me, Kate (1953) and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). Promoter Jerry Marks in Frank Capra's A Hole In The Head (1959). His best-known part was as Col. "Bat" Guano in Dr. Strangelove (1964), the same year he starred in the Jerry Lewis comedy, The Patsy. He appeared as the villainous Alonzo P. Hawk in the "flubber" movies, The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and Son of Flubber (1963), in which his father appeared as well. Wynn took a dramatic turn as the tough as nails Yost in Point Blank (1967) with Lee Marvin. He was the voice of the Winter Warlock in the holiday classic Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town. He appeared with Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent in The Mechanic. He also appeared in other Disney films, including Herbie Rides Again (1974) (curiously, as Alonzo A. Hawk, although the character is virtually identical to the Flubber versions) and The Shaggy D.A. (1974). He had an uncredited role in Touch of Evil. He also appeared in such films as Finian's Rainbow, Laserblast, Joe Dante's Piranha, Robert Altman's Nashville, Dino De Laurentiis' Orca, and the cult favorite Parts: The Clonus Horror. He was a regular on Dallas from 1979-1980, playing the part of "Digger Barnes".
In later years, Wynn took time to support various philanthropic groups. He was an active member of the Westwood Sertoma service club, in West Los Angeles, for many years until his death from cancer at the age of 70.
One son, actor and writer Ned Wynn (born Edmond Keenan Wynn) wrote the autobiographical memoir We Will Always Live In Beverly Hills. His other son, Tracy Keenan Wynn is a screen writer, whose credits include The Longest Yard and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
He was uncle by marriage to the Hudson Brothers and his daughter Hilda is recently divorced from actor/singer/songwriter Paul Williams.

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Memories

Julie Holmes Mar 29, 2007

Rest In Peace

Julie Holmes Mar 29, 2007

Tucker then was cast as "Professor" Harold Hill by director Da Costa in the national production of The Music Man, and he played the role 2,008 times over the next five years, including a 56 week run at the legendary Shubert Theatre in Chicago. Following his "Music Man" run, Tucker starred in the Broadway production of Fair Game for Lovers (1964) and then turned to television for his most famous role, starring as frontier capitalist Sgt. Morgan O'Rourke in F Troop (1965 - 1967). Though the network run on ABC lasted only two seasons, the series has been in constant syndication since, reaching three generations of viewers. {Ironically enough two of his Gunsmoke episodes feature Tucker in his cavalry uniform again, as another comic sergeant, "Sgt. Emmett Holly"-who in one scene "marries" Miss Kitty!}

Following F Troop, Tucker returned to films in character parts (Barquero and Chisum, both 1970) and occasional leads (1975's The Wild McCullochs). On television Tucker was a frequent guest star, including a total of six appearances on Gunsmoke and the recurring role of Jarvis Castleberry, Flo's estranged father on the 1976-1985 TV series, Alice and its spinoff, Flo. Tucker was a regular on three series after F Troop: Dusty's Trail (1973) with Bob Denver; The Ghost Busters (1975-76) which reunited him with F Troop co-star Larry Storch; and Filthy Rich playing the second Big Guy Beck. (1982-83). He continued to be active on stage as well, starring in the national productions of "Plaza Suite", "Show Boat", and "That Championship Season".

Tucker returned to the big screen after an absence of several years in 1986, playing the hero, trucker Charlie Morrison, in Cannon's action film Thunder Run (1986). Unfortunately, Tucker's feature film comeback was short-lived, as he died from lung cancer on October 25, 1986, five months after the film's theatrical release. He was 67 years old.

Tucker is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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Julie Holmes

    Saskatchewan Canada