Don Ameche

Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, repertory theatre, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which led to the offer of a movie contract from 20th Century Fox in 1935.

In the 1950s, he worked on Broadway and in television and was the host of NBC's International Showtime from 1961 to 1965. Returning to film work in his later years, Ameche enjoyed a fruitful revival of his career, beginning with his role as a villain in the comedy hit Trading Places (1983). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cocoon (1985) and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in Things Change (1988).

Early life Don Ameche was born as Dominic Felix Amici on May 31, 1908, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His father, Felice Amici, was a bartender from Montemonaco, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy. His mother, Barbara Etta Hertel, was of Scottish, Irish, and German ancestry. Ameche was the second oldest of eight children: sisters Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary and Anna, and brothers Louis, Umberto (Bert) and James (Jim Ameche), who was also a well-known actor. Ameche attended Marquette University, Loras College, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where his cousin Alan Ameche played football and won the Heisman Trophy in 1954.

Career

Ameche had done well in college dramatics at the University of Wisconsin, and when a lead actor for a stock company production of Excess Baggage did not turn up, a friend persuaded him to stand in for the missing actor. He enjoyed the experience and got a juvenile lead in Jerry For Short in New York, followed by a tour in vaudeville with Texas Guinan until she dropped him from the act, dismissing him as "too stiff".

Ameche then moved to Chicago, where "he began a radio career in 1930 on Empire Builders, a program broadcast from the Merchandise Mart. By 1932, Ameche had become the leading man on two other Chicago-based programs: the dramatic anthology First Nighter and Betty and Bob, the latter considered by many to be the forerunner of the soap-opera genre." Such an identity between Ameche and the telephone was forged, that in the 1940 film Go West, Groucho Marx proclaims, "Telephone? This is 1870, Don Ameche hasn't invented the telephone yet."

Ameche was Alice Faye's leading man in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), then played another real-life figure, Stephen Foster, in Swanee River (1939). He did a third biopic, Lillian Russell (1940), with Faye, and was top billed in a war film, Four Sons (1940). He also starred in two popular musicals, Down Argentine Way (1940), which helped make stars of Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda, and Moon Over Miami (1941), also with Grable. In 1940, he was voted the 21st-most-popular star in Hollywood.

Ameche did Heaven Can Wait (1943), Happy Land (1943), Wing and a Prayer (1944) and Greenwich Village (1944). In 1944, he reportedly earned $247,677 for 1943 ($4,495,498 in 2024 dollars), making him the second-highest earner at 20th Century Fox after Spyros Skouras.

Following his appearances as announcer and sketch participant on The Chase and Sanborn Hour, Ameche achieved memorable success during the late 1940s playing opposite Frances Langford in The Bickersons, the Philip Rapp radio comedy series about a combative married couple. It began on NBC in 1946, moving to CBS the following year. He also had his own program, The Old Gold Don Ameche Show, on NBC Red in the early 1940s.

In 1950 Ameche became the star of Holiday Hotel, on ABC-TV.

Over the years he released many singles and albums, two albums charted, both with Frances Langford. The Bickersons, in 1962, (No. 76 on Billboard Top LPs), and The Bickersons Fight Back, released later that year, (No. 109 on Billboard Top LPs).

Ameche appeared regularly in films until 1970, as he shifted to television and the stage. He returned to films after thirteen years with Trading Places (1983), where he was cast when director John Landis had someone in mind from the 1930s and 1940s who had not played many villainous roles and came upon Ameche (after Ray Milland was passed over due to not being able to pass the insurance physical). Ameche took on the role after Landis tracked him down in Santa Monica, California, initially unable to reach him through the Screen Actors Guild, who said that his royalty payments were going to his son in Arizona. including Cocoon (1985, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Coming to America (1988) and Cocoon: The Return (1988).

He earned good reviews for the David Mamet and Shel Silverstein-penned Things Change (1988); The New York Times said that he showed "the kind of great comic aplomb that wins actors awards for other than sentimental reasons." His later credits included an episode of The Golden Girls (1990), the films Oscar (1991), Folks! (1992), and the voice of Shadow in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993). His final appearance was in the film Corrina, Corrina (1994), which was released posthumously.

Personal life and death From 1946 to 1949, together with other Los Angeles entertainment figures including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Ameche owned the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference, a rival to the National Football League. He was instrumental in forming and leading the ownership group the year before play began and initially served as team president.

Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986. They were separated from each other at the time of her death and Ameche did not attend her funeral according to her 1986 obituary. They had six children: two daughters, Connie and Bonnie, and four sons, Lonnie, Dominic, Thomas and Ronald,

Ameche was Roman Catholic and a Republican who supported the campaign of Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.

On December 6, 1993, Ameche died at his son Richard Ameche's house in Scottsdale, Arizona, of prostate cancer at age 85. He was cremated and his ashes are buried at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Asbury, Iowa.

Filmography

Film and TV Year Title Role Notes 1935 Clive of India Prisoner in the Black Hole Uncredited 1935 Dante's Inferno Man in Stoke-Hold Uncredited 1936 Sins of Man Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli 1936 Ramona Alessandro 1936 Ladies in Love Dr. Rudi Imre 1936 One in a Million Bob Harris 1937 Love Is News Martin J. Canavan 1937 Fifty Roads to Town Peter Nostrand 1937 You Can't Have Everything George Macrae 1937 Love Under Fire Tracy Egan 1938 In Old Chicago Jack O'Leary 1938 Happy Landing Jimmy Hall 1938 Alexander's Ragtime Band Charlie Dwyer 1938 Josette David Brassard Jr. 1938 Gateway Dick Court 1939 The Three Musketeers D'Artagnan 1939 Midnight Tibor Czerny 1939 The Story of Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell 1939 Hollywood Cavalcade Michael Linnett 'Mike' Connors 1939 Swanee River Stephen Foster 1940 Lillian Russell Edward Solomon 1940 Four Sons Chris Bern 1940 Down Argentine Way Ricardo Quintana 1941 That Night in Rio Impersonator Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte 1941 Moon Over Miami Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil (in Film) 1941 Kiss the Boys Goodbye Lloyd Lloyd 1941 The Feminine Touch Prof. John Hathaway 1941 Confirm or Deny 'Mitch' Mitchell 1942 The Magnificent Dope Dwight Dawson 1942 Girl Trouble Pedro Sullivan 1943 Something to Shout About Ken Douglas 1943 Heaven Can Wait Henry Van Cleve 1943 Happy Land Lew Marsh 1944 Wing and a Prayer Flight Cmdr. Bingo Harper 1944 Greenwich Village Kenneth Harvey 1945 It's in the Bag! as himself (cameo appearance) 1945 Guest Wife Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker 1946 So Goes My Love Hiram Stephen Maxim 1947 That's My Man Joe Grange 1948 Sleep, My Love Richard W. Courtland 1949 Slightly French John Gayle 1954 Phantom Caravan Lawrence Evans 1961 A Fever in the Blood Senator Alex S. Simon 1966 Rings Around the World Himself 1966 Picture Mommy Dead Edward Shelley 1970 The Boatniks Commander Taylor 1970 Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came Col. Flanders 1971 Columbo Frank Simpson Episode: "Suitable for Framing", Season 1 1983 Trading Places Mortimer Duke 1985 Cocoon Art Selwyn Won Oscar for Best Supporting Actor 1986 A Masterpiece of Murder Frank Aherne TV movie 1987 Pals Art Riddle / Arthur James Van Pelt TV movie 1987 Harry and the Hendersons Dr. Wallace Wrightwood 1988 Coming to America Mortimer Duke Cameo 1988 Things Change Gino 1988 Cocoon: The Return Art Selwyn 1990 Oddball Hall G. Paul Siebriese 1990 The Golden Girls Brother Martin Episode: "Once in St. Olaf" 1991 Oscar Father Clemente 1992 Folks! Harry Aldrich 1992 Sunstroke Jake 1993 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey Shadow Voice; final film role and only voice role 1994 Corrina, Corrina Grandpa Harry Posthumous release

Short subjects

Screen Snapshots: Stars at the Tropical Ice Gardens (1939) Weekend in Hollywood (1947) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night at 21 Club (1952)

Stage work Hazel Flagg (1954) Silk Stockings (1955) Holiday for Lovers (1957) Goldilocks (1958) 13 Daughters (1961) How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1966) Henry, Sweet Henry (1967) The Moon Is Blue (1972) No, No, Nanette (1972) Never Get Smart with an Angel (1977) Mame (1978) Life with Father (1979) How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1981) Our Town (1989) (replacement for Spalding Gray)

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1940 Lux Radio Theatre Manhattan Melodrama 1947 Family Theater "Flight from Home"