Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-5 of 5
- As New York-born Worcester Van Eps, he was a meter reader who turned professional tennis player, In 1937, aged 25, however, he parlayed his fair-haired good looks and obvious athleticism into an acting career and changed his name to the friendlier and less ethnic marquee moniker (common during that time of Hollywood) of Willard Parker.
After a number of uncredited film roles and a couple of appearances on the Broadway stage with "Johnny Belinda" (1940) and "Lady in the Dark" (1943), Willard was signed by Columbia in the 1940s and moved into "B" movie leads and co-leads. A reliable player, most of his roles, which fell into the action adventure category, went by unnoticed, including the swashbuckling film The Fighting Guardsman (1945), and the western actioners Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949), Apache Drums (1951), The Great Jesse James Raid (1953), Lone Texan (1959) and his "Cole Younger" in Young Jesse James (1960). He also had a secondary non-singing role in his best-known movie, playing a bombastic Texan vying for the affections of Kathryn Grayson in the musical Kiss Me Kate (1953).
In the 1950s, Willard developed a semi-strong following partnered with Harry Lauter in the TV action show, Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955) (1955-1959). He eventually retired to sell real estate. Married twice, his second wife was beautiful blonde actress Virginia Field, who appeared with him in the British sci-fi flick, The Earth Dies Screaming (1964). They had no children together, but Willard did have a son by his previous marriage to former stage actress Marion Pierce.
In 1974, he suffered a stroke that effectively ended his career. He died at age 84, on December 4, 1996, of heart failure. - Michael Nirenberg was born on 3 August 1983. He was an actor, known for Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) and Eclipse (1996). He died on 4 December 1996.
- Syd Heylen was born on 25 May 1922 in Renmark, South Australia, Australia. He was an actor, known for Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), A Country Practice (1981) and Stir (1980). He was married to Patti Brillain. He died on 4 December 1996 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
- Mickey Laughlin was born on 20 July 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Family Troubles (1943), Benjamin Franklin, Jr. (1943) and Election Daze (1943). He died on 4 December 1996 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Cinematographer
- Writer
- Actor
Jan Curík was born on 1 November 1924 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a cinematographer and writer, known for Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), Bloudení (1966) and Courage for Every Day (1964). He died on 4 December 1996 in Prague, Czech Republic.