Oscar Profile #562: William Bendix

Born January 14, 1906 in New York, New York, William Bendix was a descendant of composer Mendelssohn. His uncle was composer and violinist Max Bennett. Is father, Oscar, played in a band. As a teenager, he was a bat boy for the New York Yankees and was befriended by Babe Ruth who he later played in the 1948 film biography of the Yankee slugger. He was fired for bringing the Babe hot dogs before a game.

Bendix married childhood friend Theresa Stefanotti in 1927. He began acting in 1930 with New Jersey’s Federal Theatre Project. He made his film debut in an uncredited role in 1940’s They Drive by Night. He was in seven films in 1942, making major impression in three of the year’s best, Woman of the Year in support of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, The Glass Key in support of Alan Ladd with whom he would co-star in ten films, and Wake Island for which he would receive his first and only Oscar nomination. Four more followed in 1943, including China and Guadalcanal Diary.

In 1944, Bendix began an 8-year-run as the star of the hit radio series, The Life of Riley about a factory worker and his family. At the same time, his film career flourished in such films as Lifeboat, The Hairy Ape, Grennwich Village, It’s in the Bag, A Bell for Adamo, Duffy’s Tavern, Two Years Before the Mast, Sentimental Journey, The Blue Dahlia, The Dark Corner, Calcutta, The Web, The Time of Your Life, the aforementioned The Babe Ruth Story, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

In 1948, a TV pilot was made of The Life of Riley was made with Lon Chaney. Jr. in Bendix’s radio role. The show ran for 26 episodes in the 1949-1950 season with Jackie Gleason in the role. At the same time Bendix starred in a 1949 feature film based on the character. He continued in film roles, most notably in 1951’s Detective Story. In 1953, he returned to The Life of Riley in its definitive incarnation, lasting through 1958.

Most of the actor’s post-Riley career was spent in guest appearances on TV shows such as Wagon Train and The Untouchables. He also had occasional supporting roles in such films as The Deep Six, Johnny Nobody, Boys’ Night Out, and For Love or Money.

In 1964, Bendix was contracted to star in a new CBS series opposite Martha Raye, but the network canceled the program due to the actor’s failing health. He sued, claiming damage to his career, stating he was capable of carrying out his responsibilities to the role. The case was settled out of court.

Suffering from a chronic stomach ailment that brought on malnutrition, followed by pneumonia, William Bendix died on December 14, 1964 at 58.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

WAKE ISLAND (1942), directed by John Farrow

This fictionalized version of the lost battle for Wake Island began filming in December 1941 while the battle was still being fought. Three endings were filmed. Which one would be used was based o how well the war was going at the time of its release in August 1942. It was a huge box-office hit resulting in four Oscar nominations – Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Supporting Actor for Bendix. Bendix and Robert Preston were basically the film’s comic relief in support of stars Brian Donlevy and Macdonald Carey. Bendix also supported Donlevy, along with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, in the same year’s The Glass Key.

LIFEBOAT (1944), directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Bendix was second-billed to Tallulah Bankhead in Hitchcock’s classic tale of survival following the sinking of a passenger vessel by a German U-boat during World War II. Bankhead won a New York Film critics award for Best Actress but failed to receive an Oscar nomination for her iconic portrayal of an acerbic journalist. Bendix plays a dying sailor. Walter Slezak plays the captain of the U-boat that sank them, who they reluctantly take aboard. Other passengers are played by Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn, and Canada Lee. Hitchcock’s cameo is in a newspaper ad.

THE LIFE OF RILEY (1949), directed by Irving Brecher

Groucho Marx wrote the original story of about a factory worker and his family as part of his radio series, expanding the role for Bendix in the highly successful series that ran from 1944-1951. Contractual obligations kept Bendix from reprising his role in the first TV series that ran from 1949-1950. Instead, he starred in this little seen film version with Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, and Beulah Bondi co-starring. Lon Chaney, Jr. played his role in the 1948 TV pilot and Jackie Gleason played it in the initial series. Bendix starred in the hit second TV series from 1953-1958 with Marjorie Reynolds, Tom D’Andrea and Gloria Blondell co-starring.

DETECTIVE STORY (1951), directed by William Wyler

Bendix had star billing along with Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker in this taut adaptation of the Broadway play. He plays the sympathetic detective to Douglas’ mean-spirited one. Parker plays Douglas’ wife with a secret of her own. The supporting cast includes Cathy O’Donnell, George Macready, Horace MacMahon, Gladys George, and Lee Grant as a young shoplifter. The film was nominated for four Oscars including Best Director, Screenplay, Actress (Parker) and Supporting Actress (Grant). Parker’s 20-minute, 10 second, role is the shortest to date to be nominated in her category.

FOR LOVE OR MONEY (1963), directed by Michael Gordon

Kirk Douglas, in a rare comedy role, and Mitzi Gaynor in her last film role, star in roles that seemed like Rock Hudson and Doris Day rejects in this one about a rich old lady (Thelma Ritter, a standout in a rare glamorous role) who hires a lawyer (Douglas) to play matchmaker to her three daughters. Gaynor is the eldest, Julie Newmar and Leslie Parrish the others. Gig Young, Dick Sargent, and William Window play their suitors. Bendix is Ritter’s major-domo in one of his last roles. Naturally, Douglas falls for Gaynor, and she for him. The usual complications get in their way. Worthy seeing for Ritter and the little bit we get of Bendix.