Dan Dailey

Dan Dailey
Born	Daniel James Dailey December 14, 1915(1915-12-14) New York, New York, USA
Died	October 16, 1978 (aged 62) Los Angeles, California, USA
Spouse(s)	Esther Rodier (?-1941) Gwen Carter O'Connor (1955-1960) Elizabeth Hofert (1942-1951)

Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American dancer and actor.

Early life and career

Born in New York City on December 14, 1915,^[1] to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in Babes in Arms. In 1940, he was signed by MGM to make movies and, although his past career had been in musicals, he was initially cast as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm. However, the people at MGM realized their mistake quickly and cast him in a series of musical films.

He served in the United States Army during World War II, was commissioned as an Army Officer after graduation from Signal OCS at Ft Monmouth, NJ,^[2] after which he served with distinction until the war ended. Then returned to more musicals. Beginning with Mother Wore Tights (1947) Dailey became the frequent and favorite co-star of movie legend Betty Grable. His performance in their film When My Baby Smiles at Me in 1948 garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1950, he starred in A Ticket to Tomahawk, often noted as one of the first screen appearances of Marilyn Monroe, in a very small part as a dance-hall girl. In 1953, Dailey starred in Meet Me at the Fair. One of his notable roles was in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, and Johnnie Ray.

As the musical genre began to wane in the mid-1950s, he moved on to various comedic and dramatic roles, including his television series, The Governor & J.J. and the NBC Mystery Movie series "Faraday & Company". His sister is Another World actress Irene Dailey.

Partial filmography

• The Mortal Storm (1940)
• Hullabaloo (1940)
• Keeping Company (1940)
• Lady Be Good (1941)
• Mother Wore Tights (1947)
• You Were Meant for Me (1948)
• When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948)
• Chicken Every Sunday (1949)
• When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)
• A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950)
• My Blue Heaven (1950)
• Call Me Mister (1951)
• I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951)
• The Pride of St. Louis (1952)
• What Price Glory? (1952)
• The Girl Next Door (1953)
• The Kid from Left Field (1953)
• There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
• It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
• Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
• The Wings of Eagles (1957)
• The Wayward Bus (1957)
• Pepe (1960)
• Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
• Las Cuatro noches de la luna (Four Nights of the Full Moon) (1963), co-starring Gene Tierney

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dan Dailey

• Dan Dailey at the Internet Movie Database
• Dan Dailey at the Internet Broadway Database