Don Ameche
Don Ameche (born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor and radio entertainer whose career spanned over six decades. Known for his charming, dapper presence and signature mustache, Ameche became one of 20th Century Fox's premier leading men throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to an Italian immigrant father and a mother of European descent, he adapted his family's surname from "Amici" to "Ameche" to preserve its original Italian pronunciation in the United States. He began his entertainment career in vaudeville and radio, where he achieved nationwide fame as the host of popular broadcasts like The Chase and Sanborn Hour. He transitioned to film in 1935, starring in a string of successful musical comedies and dramas, most notably Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), and Ernst Lubitsch’s classic comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943).
As film roles slowed in the 1950s, Ameche worked extensively in live theatre and television. His screen career experienced a celebrated renaissance in the 1980s, beginning with his role as the scheming commodities broker Mortimer Duke in Trading Places (1983). Two years later, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a revitalized retiree in Ron Howard’s Cocoon (1985). In his final years, Ameche introduced himself to a new generation of filmgoers providing the warm, patriarchal voice of Shadow the Golden Retriever in Disney's Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), before completing his final screen appearance in Corrina, Corrina (1994).
Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986; the couple had six children. Ameche died of prostate cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1993 at the age of 85.
Fotos
Películas (68)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
2009 · (archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
1997 · Self (archiveFootage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997 · Self (archive footage)
Corrina, Corrina
1994 · Grandpa Harry
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
1993 · Shadow (voice)
Sunstroke
1992 · Jake
Folks!
1992 · Harry Aldrich
Our Shining Moment
1991 · John 'Papa' McGuire Sr.
Oscar
1991 · Father Clemente
Oddball Hall
1990 · G. Paul Siebriese
Things Change
1988 · Gino
Cocoon: The Return
1988 · Art Selwyn
Coming to America
1988 · Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited)
Harry and the Hendersons
1987 · Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
Pals
1987 · Art Riddle
A Masterpiece of Murder
1986 · Frank Aherne
Cocoon
1985 · Arthur Selwyn
Trading Places
1983 · Mortimer Duke
Night of 100 Stars
1982 · Self
The Chinese Typewriter
1979 · Armand Beller
Gidget Gets Married
1972 · Otis Ramsey
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970 · Col. Flanders
The Boatniks
1970 · Commander Taylor
Shadow Over Elveron
1968 · Justin Travers
Rings Around the World
1967 · Host/Ringmaster
Picture Mommy Dead
1966 · Edward Shelley
A Fever in the Blood
1961 · Senator Alex S. Simon
Slightly French
1949 · John Gayle
Sleep, My Love
1948 · Richard W. Courtland
That's My Man
1947 · Joe Grange
So Goes My Love
1946 · Hiram Stephen Maxim
Guest Wife
1945 · Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker
It's in the Bag!
1945 · Don Ameche
Greenwich Village
1944 · Kenneth Harvey
Wing and a Prayer
1944 · Bingo Harper
Happy Land
1943 · Lew Marsh
Heaven Can Wait
1943 · Henry Van Cleve
Something to Shout About
1943 · Ken Douglas
Girl Trouble
1942 · Pedro Sullivan
The Magnificent Dope
1942 · Dwight Dawson
Confirm or Deny
1941 · 'Mitch' Mitchell
The Feminine Touch
1941 · John Hathaway
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
1941 · Lloyd Lloyd
Moon Over Miami
1941 · Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil
That Night in Rio
1941 · Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte
Down Argentine Way
1940 · Ricardo Quintana
Four Sons
1940 · Chris Bern
Lillian Russell
1940 · Edward Solomon
Swanee River
1939 · Stephen Foster
Hollywood Cavalcade
1939 · Mike Connors
Land of Liberty
1939 · Alexander Graham Bell (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939 · Don Ameche
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939 · Alexander Graham Bell
Midnight
1939 · Tibor Czerny
The Three Musketeers
1939 · D'Artagnan
Gateway
1938 · Dick Court
Josette
1938 · David Brassard Jr.
Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938 · Charlie Dwyer
In Old Chicago
1938 · Jack O'Leary
Happy Landing
1938 · Jimmy Hall
Love Under Fire
1937 · Tracy Egan
You Can't Have Everything
1937 · George Macrae
Fifty Roads to Town
1937 · Peter Nostrand
Love Is News
1937 · Martin J. Canavan
One in a Million
1937 · Bob Harris
Ladies in Love
1936 · Dr. Rudi Imre
Ramona
1936 · Alessandro
Sins of Man
1936 · Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli
Series (24)
The Golden Girls
1985 · Brother Martin
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · Self
Vacaciones en el mar
1977 · Stewart Coolidge, Henry Dobson, Hollis Witkin
Quincy, M.E.
1976 · Harry Whitehead
Good Heavens
1976
Ellery Queen
1975 · Dr. Norman Marsh
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973 · Self
Colombo
1971 · Frank Simpson
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
McCloud
1970
Julia
1968 · Director
Petticoat Junction
1963 · Uncle George
Burke's Law
1963 · Whitman Saunders
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963 · Collie McCullough
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Self - Co-Host, Self
DuPont Show of the Month
1957 · Harry Graves
The Lux Show
1957 · Self
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957 · Self
Climax!
1954 · Sam Waterman
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
1953
What's My Line?
1950 · Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self