<Archive Obituary> Frank Lovejoy (October 2nd 1962)
Bill Schenley
Known for 'Best Man' Role
Star of TV's McGraw'
Photo:
http://www.nndb.com/people/375/000119018/frank-lovejoy-2-sized.jpg
FROM: The New York Times (October 3rd 1962) ~
By Staff Writer
Frank Lovejoy, the stage, screen and television
actor who two years ago made the role of a
bigoted candidate in "The Best Man" one of the
Broadway season's notable performances, was
found dead in bed yesterday morning at the
Warwick Hotel.
Mr. Lovejoy's wife, the actress Joan Banks,
summoned a physician, who said the 50-year-old
actor had apparently died of a heart attack.
The couple, both of whom had been appearing in
"The Best Man" at the Playhouse on the Mall in
Paramus, N.J., were staying in town. The theater
is regularly closed on Monday nights.
Mrs. Lovejoy said they had watched the
Dodgers-Giants baseball game on television and that
Mr. Lovejoy had then retired, complaining of
fatigue.
The Paramus show, which Mr. Lovejoy directed and
in which he played a leading role, was to run through
Sunday. Performances were canceled last night and
this afternoon, but the show will go on tonight with
Ralph Meeker and Barbara Berjer.
Played Varied Roles
Mr. Lovejoy, who had appeared in a variety of roles,
gave his most famous stage portrayal as Joseph
Cantwell, the unscrupulous candidate and character
assassin in "The Best Man," by Gore Vidal. When the
play opened at the Morosco in March, 1960, Brooks
Atkinson, then drama critic of the New York Times,
wrote:
"As the rival candidate, Frank Lovejoy gives an
extraordinary portrait of a bigot and charlatan who
believes his own propaganda. There is something
horribly plausible about his ethical obtuseness."
Equal portions of boos and cheers from political
partisans in the audience often marked Mr. Lovejoy's
appearance on the stage in the play, particularly when
he was advised to "pull a Nixon, go on television and
cry on the nation's shoulders with two cocker
spaniels."
Another of his notable roles, this one on the screen,
was Sergeant Mingo in Hollywood's version of
Arthur Laurent's "Home of the Brave." Mr. Lovejoy
played one of the five members of a military mission
on a Japanese-held island in the drama about
anti-Negro prejudice.
Worked on Wall Street
Mr. Lovejoy was born in New York, son of the late
Frank Lovejoy Sr., a salesman for Pathé Films, and
of Dora Garvey Lovejoy. He was a runner on Wall
Street during the 1929 stock-market crash. He once
said he had received an early lesson in drama in those
days, observing a lot of "naked emotion" and learning
"how people react, what shows on their faces and
what doesn't."
After attending New York University, Mr. Lovejoy
began his career in stock companies. He made his
Broadway debut in 1934 in Elmer Rice's "Judgment
Day." He acted briefly with the Virginia Barter Theater
and then learned radio acting in Cincinnati. He returned
to New York to become one of the best-known actors
on the air.
In 1950 he said that he had performed in more than
4,000 network programs, among them "Gangbusters,"
"Mr. District Attorney," "Philo Vance," "This Is Your
F.B.I." and "The Kate Smith Hour." For the Columbia
Broadcasting System Mr. Lovejoy had major roles in
many programs, including "Grand Central Station,"
"Columbia Workshop" and "This Day Is Ours."
In recent years television audiences saw the ruggedly
handsome actor in the National Broadcasting
Company's television series "Meet McGraw," a mystery
adventure, and in "Man Against Crime."
Often in Uniform
In the movies Mr. Lovejoy played many Army and
police roles. In "Breakthrough" he was a tough
noncom; in "In a Lonely Place" he was a
G.I.-turned-detective. In "Retreat, Hell!" Mr. Lovejoy
played an iron-jawed colonel in the Korean war.
He was a major on the front in "Force of Arms" and
he dramatized sleuths in "I Was a Communist for the
F.B.I." In "Strategic Air Command" he was an Air
Force general.
In one of his television appearances he played the role
of the accused, Lieutenant Maryk, in "The Caine Mutiny
Court-Martial."
In less belligerent roles he appeared in "The Winning
Team," "Goodbye My Fancy," "South Sea Fancy,"
"I'll See You in My Dreams" and "The Hitchhiker."
Returning to Broadway, Mr. Lovejoy appeared in such
plays as "The Snark was a Boojum," "The Sound of
Hunting" and "Woman Bites Dog." He recently
completed 12 weeks in "The Best Man" in New
England summer-stock theater and four weeks in
"Paint Your Wagon."
Besides his wife, Mr. Lovejoy leaves a daughter,
Judith, and a son, Stephen.
A memorial mass for Mr. Lovejoy will be celebrated at
10 A.M. tomorrow in the Roma Catholic Church of
St. Paul the Apostle at 415 West 59th Street. The
funeral services and burial will be in Los Angeles.
---
Photo:
http://www.radioarchives.org/pictures/Frank%20Lovejoy.jpg
http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud/photos/flovejoy.jpg
http://www.findagrave.com/photos/2004/308/4180_109958181719.gif
(Joan Banks)
http://images.usatoday.com/sports/_photos/2004-06-05-reagan-movies2.jpg
(Hornsby and Alexander)
Bob Feigel
<stra...@neo.rr.com> magnanimously proffered:
>Frank Lovejoy, Actor, 50, Dead;
>
>Known for 'Best Man' Role
>Star of TV's McGraw'
Frank Lovejoy was not only one of my step-dad's pals, he had the beach
house next to ours in Malibu in the late-40's and taught me how to mat
surf right in front of the houses. He must have been in his mid-30's
back then and offered to show me because my step-dad hated the beach
and rarely left the beach house when we were down there.
I remember my mom and step-dad being quite upset when they learned of
his death and being surprised that I remembered him teaching me how to
ride in on a surfmat and giving me a taste for surfing that grew into
a lifelong passion.
It may have ended in disaster when I got dumped at the end of that
memorable ride, but I always be grateful to "Uncle Frank" for spending
all that time with me out in the water and for pushing me into my
first wave.
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
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