Royal Dano

Royal Dano
Dano in the Trailer of King of Kings
Born	16 November 1922(1922-11-16) New York City
Died	15 May 1994 (aged 71) Los Angeles, California

Royal Dano (16 November 1922–15 May 1994) was an American film and television character actor.

Biography

Early life

Dano was born in New York City to Mary J. and Caleb Dano. He left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas and California. After reaching an agreement with his father, he agreed to continue his education, on the condition that he be allowed to travel.

Career

Dano is remembered for his supporting roles in a number of 1950s western and mystery films. In "Mr. Lincoln", a five-part TV episode appearing in 1952-53 on Omnibus, Royal Dano very convincingly portrayed Lincoln. He frequently worked with Anthony Mann and James Stewart, usually as a sinister antagonist. He made a strong impression as the doom-predicting Elijah in John Huston's film version of Moby Dick, memorably intoning to Richard Basehart as Ishmael, "A day will come when you'll smell land and there'll be no land, and on that day, Ahab will go to his grave, but he'll rise again within the hour. He will rise and beckon! Then all - all save one - shall follow!"^[1] In The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), he portrayed Carey. Over the years, Dano made many television appearances, often in bizarre, macabre roles. In 1962, he guest starred on the CBS anthology series The Lloyd Bridges Show. In the 1965-1966 season, for instance, he guest starred on ABC's western series The Legend of Jesse James. Dano also played a ex-con who became Northfork's pastor in a 1961 episode of The Rifleman, an ABC Western series. He appeared on the series five times.

Dano was the voice of Abraham Lincoln for Walt Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" program, first presented at the 1964 World's Fair. Disney personally selected Dano, because he felt the actor came closest to the historical descriptions of Lincoln's voice. The "Great Moments" program was moved to Disneyland in 1965, and Dano's vocals continued to be a part of the program until 2001. In 1971, Dano's voice was also used for a revised Lincoln speech in the new "Hall Of Presidents" program at Walt Disney World in Florida, which ran to 1993. In the newest revision of the attraction, the original master tapes were found and remastered and his voice will again be heard in the Hall of the Presidents.

Dano also had a memorable (if short) role as the coroner in Electra Glide in Blue (1973), who gets into a loud shouting match with Robert Blake's character. With no spoken dialogue (only one solo song), Dano was memorable as the saddened, unnamed preacher in The Right Stuff (1983). Dano is remembered for his comedic performance as the undead gold prospector, Gramps, in the horror/suspense/comedy/Aztec adventure House II: The Second Story. One of his final roles was as Wrenchmuller in 1990's Spaced Invaders.

At age 71, Dano died of a heart attack following a car accident. He was buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Dano bore a striking resemblance to stuntman/actor Jock Mahoney. He is the father of actor Rick Dano and grandfather of Disney Channel star Hutch Dano.

Filmography

• The Dark Half (1993) - Digger Holt
• Joey Takes a Cab (1991) - Actor
• Spaced Invaders (1990) - Wrenchmuller
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) - Farmer Gene Green
• House II: The Second Story (1987) - Gramps
• Ghoulies II (1987) - Uncle Ned
• Red Headed Stranger (1986) - Larn Claver
• Cocaine Wars (1985) - Bailey
• Teachers (1984) - Ditto Stiles
• The Right Stuff (1983) - Minister
• Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - Tom Fury
• Hammett (1982) - Pops
• Take This Job and Shove It (1981) - Beeber
• In Search of Historic Jesus (1979) - Prophet
• The One Man Jury (1978) - Bartender
• Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell (1978) - Will Hays
• Bad Georgia Road (1977) - Arthur Pennyrich
• The Killer Inside Me (1976) - Father
• Drum (1976) - Zeke Montgomery
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - Ten Spot
• Capone (1975) - Anton J. Cermak
• The Wild Party (1975) - Tex
• Big Bad Mama (1974) - Reverend Johnson
• Electra Glide in Blue (1973) - Coroner
• Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) - MacDonald, Hermit who sells Cahill the mule
• Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973) - Jake
• Dead People (1973) - Joseph Long
• Howzer (1973) - Nick Murack
• The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid (1972) - Gustavson
• The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972) - Cattle Rustler
• Chandler (1971) - Sal Sachese (scenes deleted)
• Skin Game (1971) - John Brown (abolitionist)
• Machismo: 40 Graves for 40 Guns (1971) - Zach
• Slingshot (1971) - Actor
• The Undefeated (1969) - Maj. Sanders, CSA (one-armed major)
• Death of a Gunfighter (1969) - Arch Brandt
• Night Hunt (1968) - Carl Blair
• Day of the Evil Gun (1968) - Dr. Eli Prather
• The Last Challenge (1967) - Pretty Horse
• Welcome to Hard Times (1967) - John Bear
• Gunpoint (1966) - Ode
• 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) - Carey
• Savage Sam (1963) - Pack Underwood (uncredited)
• A Pair of Boots (1962) - Actor
• King of Kings (1961) - Peter
• The Rifleman (1961) Pastor
• Posse from Hell (1961) - Uncle Billy
• Cimarron (1960) - Ike Howes (photographer)
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) - Sheriff Harlan
• Hound-Dog Man (1959) - Fiddling Tom Waller
• Face of Fire (1959) - Jake Winter
• These Thousand Hills (1959) - Carmichael
• Never Steal Anything Small (1959) - Words Cannon
• The Boy and the Bridge (1959) - Evangelist
• Man of the West (1958) - Trout
• Saddle the Wind (1958) - Clay Ellison
• Handle with Care (1958) - Al Lees
• All Mine to Give (1957) - Howard Tyler
• Man in the Shadow (1957) - Aiken Clay
• Trooper Hook (1957) - Mr. Trude, Stage Driver
• Crime of Passion (1957) - Police Capt. Charlie Alidos
• Tension at Table Rock (1956) - Harry Jameson
• Santiago (1956) - Lobo
• Moby Dick (1956) - 'Elijah'
• Tribute to a Bad Man (1956) - Abe
• The Trouble with Harry (1955) - Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs
• The Far Country (1954) - Luke (
• Johnny Guitar (1954) - Corey
• Carrie (1952) - Captain (uncredited)
• Bend of the River (1952) - Long Tom
• Flame of the Desert (1951) - Basra
• The Red Badge of Courage (1951) - The Tattered Soldier
• Under the Gun (1951) - Sam Nugent
• Undercover Girl (1950) - The Moocher

References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

Further reading

Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget, by Justin Humphreys. BearManor Media, Albany, 2006. ISBN # 1-59393-041-0.

External links

• Royal Dano at the Internet Movie Database
• [1] Listing of TV & film credits, with some photos.
• Royal Dano article at Findagrave.

His last video was Killer clowns, top rated as the scarriest movie in America 1989