Keenan Wynn

Keenan Wynn
from the trailer for Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Born	Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn July 27, 1916(1916-07-27) New York City, New York‹See Tfd›, U.S.
Died	October 14, 1986 (aged 70) Los Angeles, California‹See Tfd›, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1934–1986
Spouse(s)	Eve Lynn Abbott (1938–1947) (divorced) 2 children Betty Jane Butler (1949–1953) (divorced) Sharley Hudson (1954–1986) (his death) 3 children

Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.

Early life and career

He was born in New York City, New York as Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn, the son of Jewish American vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, and his Irish-American Catholic wife, the former Hilda Keenan, but took his stage name from his maternal grandfather, Frank Keenan, one of the first Broadway actors to star in Hollywood.

Keenan Wynn became an actor with Ed Wynn's encouragement and the two appeared together in the original television production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight as well as a subsequent TV drama detailing the problems they'd experienced while working on that show called The Man in the Funny Suit. In that show, the Wynns, Serling and much of the cast and crew played themselves. Keenan was also in another of Rod Serling's productions, an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "A World of His Own".

Film and television credits

Keenan Wynn appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows between 1934 and 1986. Early notable Wynn performances can be seen in See Here Private Hargrove, The Clock, Week-End at the Waldorf, Royal Wedding, The Thrill of Brazil^[1], and Annie Get Your Gun. He had a featured role in Kiss Me, Kate and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. A brief but memorable Wynn performance came as U.S. Army Colonel "Bat" Guano in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. He appeared as villainous Alonzo P. Hawk in the "flubber" movies, The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber, in which his father and eldest son appeared as well.

In 1956, Wynn co-starred in the episode "Death in the Snow" of the NBC anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show. In the 1959-1960 television season, Wynn co-starred with Bob Mathias in NBC's The Troubleshooters, an adventure program centered about unusual events regarding an international construction company. Wynn played the role of Kodiak, the "troubleshooter", to Mathias's Frank Dugan. Stunt actor Carey Loftin and Chet Allen also appeared in the 26-week series. At this time, Wynn also appeared with Vic Damone in the 1960 episode "Piano Man" of CBS's anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson.

In 1963, Wynn guest starred as John Clayton in the NBC medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour in the episode "Where Armies Clash". In 1967, he appeared in the episode "No Sanctuary" of NBC's The Road West, starring Barry Sullivan.

Wynn took a dramatic turn as Yost in Point Blank with Lee Marvin. He played Hezakiah in the 1965 movie, The Great Race. He was the voice of the Winter Warlock in the holiday classic Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and was in several Disney films, including Herbie Rides Again (curiously, as Alonzo A. Hawk, although the character is virtually identical to the Flubber versions), Snowball Express, and The Shaggy D.A.. He had an uncredited role in Touch of Evil. He also appeared in Phone Call from a Stranger, Promise Her Anything, Finian's Rainbow, Once Upon a Time in the West, Laserblast, Joe Dante's Piranha, Robert Altman's Nashville, Dino De Laurentiis' Orca, Sidney Lumet's That Kind of Woman and Just Tell Me What You Want, and the cult favorite Parts: The Clonus Horror.

He was a regular on Dallas from 1979-1980, playing the part of former Ewing family partner-turned-enemy "Digger Barnes". Both Laserblast and Parts: The Clonus Horror would later be featured on the American movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. He guest-starred as a quarrelsome aging actor on an episode of Quincy ME. In the second season (1975) of the NBC series Movin' On (Claude Akins-Frank Converse) Wynn starred as a stow-a-way in a semi-trailer hauling an elephant. Wynn co-starred with David Janssen in the 1972 made-for-TV movie Hijack! about two truck drivers hired to haul a secret cargo across the country. He appeared over the years in many television series, including the crime drama Target: The Corruptors! on ABC, CBS's Bearcats!, and The Quest on NBC.

Wynn was initially cast to play Perry White^[2] (Clark Kent and Lois Lane's boss at the Daily Planet) in 1978's Superman: The Movie in April 1977. However, by June 1977 (as production moved to Pinewood Studios in England), Wynn collapsed from extreme exhaustion after being rushed to the hospital. Wynn was ultimately replaced by Jackie Cooper.

Later life and death

In his later years, Wynn undertook a number of philanthropic endeavors and supported several charity groups. He was an active member of the Westwood Sertoma service club, in West Los Angeles, for many years. In 1984 he starred in the television movie Call to Glory, which later became a weekly television series. During this series his co-stars were aware that he was suffering from ill health. Keenan died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70. He is buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Personal life

Wynn was married to former stage actress Eve Lynn Abbott (1914-2004) until their divorce in 1947, whereupon Abbott married actor Van Johnson. One son, actor and writer Ned Wynn (born Edmond Keenan Wynn) wrote the autobiographical memoir We Will Always Live In Beverly Hills. His other son, Tracy Keenan Wynn, is a screenwriter whose credits include The Longest Yard and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. His daughter Hilda is recently divorced from actor/singer/songwriter Paul Williams.

He was uncle by marriage to the Hudson Brothers.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keenan Wynn

• Keenan Wynn at the Internet Movie Database
• Keenan Wynn at the Internet Broadway Database
• Keenan Wynn at Find a Grave