Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actors found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

ANTHONY CARUSO (1916-2003)

The American character actor appeared in more than one hundred films, usually playing villains, gangsters, Native Americans, or a variety of ethnic characters. He made his film debut in 1940 and was often uncredited throughout the decade. Caruso's fortunes changed overnight after playing mobster Louis Ciavelli in The Asphalt Jungle (1950). By the mid-1950s, television became his medium, working steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s on numerous popular series in Westerns, police dramas and comedies, where he often parodied a gangster persona. Caruso's face became very familiar. In the fantasy world of Hollywood, Caruso's life was 180 degrees from his many tough-guy roles. His passion for gardening and cooking, along with his wife of sixty-three years, continued after retirement from acting in 1990.

Discover more about Carsuso's career at IMBD.

Across The Pond

Eagle-Lion Films was the American name for a subsidiary distribution of the UK's entertainment conglomerate, The Rank Organization. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank established an Eagle-Lion Films production under a reciprocal distribution arrangement with the US company, Pathé Industries. As a note, the Arthur Rank films can be recognized by a sweaty, shirtless man banging an enormous gong before the credits roll. From 1946 to 1949, led by Arthur Krim, Eagle-Lion produced its own B-movies yet most were not profitable, partly due to the large salaries for its actors and producers. 

Eagle-Lion changed its mode of production, using independent producers as a source for new films. Bryan Foy, the former head of the B-picture unit at Warner Bros., was one along with Edward Small, Walter Wanger and George Pal, best known as a special effects wizard. They began making lower-budgeted films, enjoying particular success with film noir. Of ten pictures released during Krim's three years, five earned a substantial profit: T-Men, Raw Deal, Canon City, He Walked By Night, along with an Abbott & Costello comedy, The Noose Hangs High. By 1951, with financial difficulties still looming, Krim was offered the leadership of United Artists which took over distribution of Eagle-Lion's current projects. In 1954, the film lot was purchased by the Ziv Company for production of its syndicated television programs, the more popular being Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, and The Cisco Kid.

Parallels

This is more of a parallel to B-movie careers than an exact resemblance. Willard Parker (Worster Van Eps 1912-1996), right, signed with Warner Bros and Columbia, while John Archer (Ralph Bowman 1915-1999) signed with Universal and Republic. Archer had numerous television guest spots, making him, arguably, the more familiar figure; however, Parker's three-year, single-series Tales of the Texas Rangers was popular. 

Both started their careers in the late 1930s, and both died at age 84, three years apart. Alas, I would like to tell you they married the same woman (not at the same time), but that would prevent you from believing any of this.

Models First

These rather obscure actresses had similar career paths and appearances. If you are a fan of B-movies or the early days of television, you may confuse them. From left are Merry Anders (1934-2012) and Barbara Lawrence (1930-2013). As was the case for many actresses, both were noticed as models first. Lawrence had bit parts in movies but her televised work dominated. She only had a dozen years of acting before retiring. Anders, on the other hand, continued working for nearly fifty years, mostly in television. She was most visible in the television comedy, How To Marry A Millionaire for fifty-two episodes (1957-59).

Reel Character Series

 

Allison Hayes (Mary Jane Hayes 1930-1977) was an American film and television actress often cast either in good or bad women roles. The statuesque brunette was an obvious model candidate and competed in the Miss America pageant in 1949. Like many attractive actresses wanting to get at least a toe through the acting door, her "exposure" led her to Hollywood and Universal Pictures by 1954. She had a small role in the comedy, Francis Joins the WACS, then, via a contract dispute, signed with Columbia Pictures in 1955 with a more significant role in, Chicago Syndicate opposite Dennis O'Keefe. That same year, she was the fiancé of Rod Cameron in, Double Jeopardy She appeared in the 1956 films, Steel Jungle, and Mohawk. That same year she suffered a broken arm after a riding accident during the filming of Gunslinger. After recovering, she began appearing more on television.

In 1958, Hayes' most infamous role—being a blonde notwithstanding—was the female out for revenge in the first woman's lib film, The Attack of The 50 Foot Woman. That same year she was a Communist operative duped by secret agent, Gene Barry, in Hong Kong Confidential and teamed with Barry again for seven episodes of his television series, Bat Masterson. The following year she was the female lead in Counterplot opposite Forest Tucker. It was back to television for five appearances on Perry Mason from 1960-65. She continued her occasional movie bit parts in the 1963 comedy, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed, and the Elvis Presley musical-comedy, Tickle Me, in 1965. She ended her career with two appearances on, Gomer Pyle: USMC, in 1967.

In spite of the low-budget projects and many secondary roles, she accounted for herself surprisingly well as a professional actress. By the 1970s, Hayes became terminally ill from lead poisoning and was later diagnosed with leukemia. She died at the age of forty-six.

Reel Character Series

 

Evelyn Ankers (1918-1985) was a British-American actress who made over fifty films between 1936 and 1950. She often played a cultured young lady in the early American horror films, in particular, The Wolf Man (1941), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), and The Mad Ghoul (1943). She soon became the "Queen of The Scream." Her B-movie credits continued with forgettable films such as Jungle Woman (1944), the lead role in a murder mystery, The Fatal Witness (1945), a passenger in the crime drama, Flight to Nowhere (1946), and opposite Gerald Mohr in, The Lone Wolf in London (1947). She appeared in the [unintentionally amusing] crime noir, Parole, Inc. in 1948.

Another notable bit of trivia is that Ankers married the respectable B-movie actor, Richard Denning, in 1942. The couple starred together in Black Beauty (1946). Her transition to television in the 1950s offered her a variety of roles, most notably as a guest star on Denning's show, Mr. & Mrs. North (1952), as the feisty Constance Noble. The couple again starred together in the film short, No Greater Love (1960) and it would become her last role. They remained devoted to each other until her death. 

One of The Three Kings

I can readily think of only three classic Hollywood notables using the first name of King: director King Vidor, B-movie and television actor, King Caulder, and the subject of this overview, King Donovan. After a long string of uncredited film roles, typically as a reporter, a buddy, salesman, clerk, or manager, Francis King Donovan (1918-1987) was primarily seen on television screens across America in a variety of occupational roles or as a neighbor. Even blindfolded, he was instantly recognizable by his distinctive, upper-register voice that seemed fitting for an animated character or perhaps better described by a somewhat raspy tone as if he needed to clear his throat for a more clear projection. Whether drama or comedy he each role with self-confidence. With a few years of television roles already in the can midst of the budding new medium, he had a leading role in the sleeper hit film, The Invasion of The Body Snatchers, 1956 (above). Always a slot for him in any film, he continued working on the occasional film throughout his career, usually uncredited, for such 1963 classics as The Thrill of It All, as a television executive, and for the blockbuster, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as an airport official.

Notable recurring television roles include the deadbeat relative, Jake Clampett, on two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, as Roger Baker for eight episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and as Harvey Helm in a seventeen-episode run on The Bob Cummings Show. He then played the inquisitive neighbor on Please Don't Eat the Daisies. His singular roles are too numerous to mention but Donovan was visible on several notable series like Richard Diamond, Private Detective, as Joe Baker on the western Cheyenne, a petty thief on Shotgun Slade, a western detective series with an unusual jazz score theme. He played Mark Dawson on Maverick and as a gun dealer, Sheridan Appleby, on Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Rod Serling's, Night Gallery.

Note: Donovan married comedienne Imogene Coca in 1960 and they remained together until his death.