Dennis O'Keefe
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Dennis O'Keefe | |
|---|---|
 Dennis O'Keefe in The Kid From Texas (1939) | |
| Born | Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr. (1908-03-29)March 29, 1908 Fort Madison, Iowa |
| Died | August 31, 1968(1968-08-31) (aged 60) Santa Monica, California |
| Other names | Bud Flanagan Jonathan Ricks |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1930–1967 |
| Spouse(s) | Louise Stanley (m. 1937; div. 1938) [1] Steffi Duna (m. 1940) |
| Children | 1[2] |
| Parent(s) | Edward Flanagan Charlotte Flanagan |
Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr.,[3] March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer,
Contents
1 Early years
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Death
5 Partial filmography
6 References
7 External links
Early years
Born in Fort Madison, Iowa,[4] O'Keefe was the son of Edward and Charlotte Flanagan,[5] Irish vaudevillians working in the United States. As a small child, he joined his parents' act and later wrote skits for the stage.[4] He attended the University of Southern California but left midway through his sophomore year after his father died.[6]
Career
O'Keefe continued his father's vaudeville act for several years after the father's death.[5] He started in films as an extra in 1931[7] and appeared in numerous films under the name Bud Flanagan. After a small but impressive role in Saratoga (1937), Clark Gable recommended O'Keefe to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which signed him to a contract in 1937 and renamed him Dennis O'Keefe. His film roles were bigger after that, starting with The Bad Man of Brimstone (1938) opposite Wallace Beery, and the lead role in Burn 'Em Up O'Connor (1939).
O'Keefe left MGM around 1940 but continued to work in mostly lower budget productions. He often played the tough guy in action and crime dramas, but was also known as a comic actor as well as a dramatic lead.
He gained great attention with a showy role in The Story of Dr Wassell and became a comedy star. He expressed interest in expanding into direction.[8]
In the mid-1940s, he was under a five-year contract to Edward Small.[9] O'Keefe starred in film-noir classics such as T-Men and Raw Deal, both directed by Anthony Mann.
In a 1946 newsreel following Howard Hughes' calamitous plane wreck into a neighbor's Beverly Hills house, O'Keefe can be seen walking through the home inspecting the damage.
In 1950, O'Keefe starred in the old-time radio program T-Man on CBS.[10] Also in the 1950s, he did some directing and wrote mystery stories. He appeared on NBC's legal drama Justice and on the network's The Martha Raye Show. On October 3, 1957, he was a guest star on another NBC variety show, The Ford Show, starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. From 1957 to 1958, he was the host of Suspicion,[11]:1043 a TV series produced by Alfred Hitchcock. From 1959-1960, he was the star of the CBS Television situation comedy, The Dennis O'Keefe Show.[11]
O'Keefe's Broadway credits include Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory (1964) and Never Too Late.[12]
O'Keefe wrote under the pen name Jonathan Ricks. His Don't Pull Your Punches was produced by Warner Bros.[5] In 1947, he was working on plans to co-produce and act in Drawn Sabers, another of his stories.[13] He also wrote and directed Angela.[3]
Personal life
O'Keefe was married to Steffi Duna, an actress and dancer. They had two children.[14]
Death
Dennis O'Keefe with Carmen Miranda, in Doll Face (1946).
A heavy cigarette smoker, O'Keefe died of lung cancer in 1968 at the age of sixty at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California and was buried at Wee Kirk O' the Heather, Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale).[4]
Partial filmography
As Bud Flanagan:
Reaching for the Moon (1930)
Cimarron (1931) (uncredited)
Smart Woman (1931) (uncredited)
Cocktail Hour (1933) (uncredited)
Lady Killer (1933)
Fog Over Frisco (1934)
Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)
Jimmy the Gent (1934)
Thirteen Hours by Air (1936)
Saratoga (1937) as Second Bidder/Dancer at party (uncredited)
As Dennis O'Keefe:
Conquest (1937) as Jan Walewska (uncredited)
The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937)
Hold That Kiss (1938)
The Chaser (1938)
Vacation from Love (1938)
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor (1939)
Unexpected Father (1939)
The Kid From Texas (1939)
Topper Returns (1940)
Weekend for Three (1941)
Broadway Limited (1941)
Lady Scarface (1941)
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942)
Moonlight Masquerade (1942)
Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
The Leopard Man (1943)
Tahiti Honey (1943)
Good Morning, Judge (1943)
Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
The Fighting Seabees (1944)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
Earl Carroll Vanities (1945)
Brewster's Millions (1945)
The Affairs of Susan (1945)
Getting Gertie's Garter (1945)
Her Adventurous Night (1946)
Doll Face (1946)
Mr. District Attorney (1947)
Dishonored Lady (1947)
T-Men (1947)
Raw Deal (1948)
Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
Siren of Atlantis (1949)
Cover Up (1949)
Abandoned (1949)
The Great Dan Patch (1949)
Woman on the Run (1950)
The Company She Keeps (1950)
The Eagle and the Hawk (1950)
Follow the Sun (1951)
Passage West (1951)
One Big Affair (1952)
Everything I Have Is Yours (1952)
The Lady Wants Mink (1953)
The Fake (1953)
The Diamond, aka The Diamond Wizard (1954)
Drums of Tahiti (1954)
Angela (1955)
Las Vegas Shakedown (1955)
Chicago Syndicate (1955)
Inside Detroit (1956)
Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)
Sail Into Danger (1957)
Lady of Vengeance (1957)
All Hands on Deck (1961)
The Naked Flame (1964)
References
^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Beaver County Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
^ ab "Show's Host Is Noted for Versatility". The Amarillo Globe-Times. Texas, Amarillo. October 14, 1957. p. 19. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abc "Actor Dennis O'Keefe, 60, Dies; Was Native of Iowa". The Des Moines Register. September 2, 1968. p. 11. Retrieved May 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abc "Dennis O'Keefe, Son of Vaudeville Performers, Knows the Theater". The Times. Indiana, Munster. July 7, 1939. p. 71. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Majestic". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Pennsylvania, Shamokin. March 14, 1942. p. 10. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Monush, Barry (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 564–565. ISBN 9781557835512. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
^ "O'Keefe Achieves Stardom; Seeks Director's Post". Los Angeles Times. 12 October 1944.
^ Philip K. Scheuer (23 August 1948). "Dennis O'Keefe Costar of Small's 'Dark Page;' Carmen, Wally Reunited". Los Angeles Times.
^ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
^ ab Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
^ "Dennis O'Keefe". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
^ Parsons, Louella O. (August 9, 1947). "Ann Sothern Loaned to Warners for Musical". The San Francisco Examiner. California, San Francisco. International News Service. p. 12. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Capitol". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Pennsylvania, Shamokin. June 13, 1953. p. 9. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
Dennis O'Keefe on IMDb
Dennis O'Keefe at the Internet Broadway Database
Dennis O'Keefe at Find a Grave
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