Florenz Ames

Florenz Ames (born Florenz Sebastian Kolb) was an American film and theater actor, dancer, and singer.

Biography Florenz Ames was born in Rochester, New York in a family with German roots. He began his acting career very late. With the support of his older brother, playwright Winthrop Ames, a prominent theater and music hall producer in New York at the time, he started out as a singer and dancer in vaudeville, often performing small scenes with his wife, Alice "Adelaide" Winthrop. Under the name "Ames and Winthrop", they appeared in a revue called Alice in Blunderland, with Winthrop in the title role and Ames playing the other parts. He eventually established himself on Broadway and appeared in a number of shows and musicals from before World War I through the Korean War, including the original productions of Of Thee I Sing, and Oklahoma!, as well as several Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

From 1950 to 1956, he played Inspector Richard Queen in the first television adaptation of Ellery Queen detective series, sharing the title role with Lee Bowman. From then on, his screen career took off, with numerous film and television roles appearing between 1950 and 1958. He appeared alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood of the 1950s: Grace Kelly, Robert Mitchum, Barry Sullivan, Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Glenn Ford, Greer Garson, Doris Day, and others.

Broadway musicals 1917: Hitchy-Koo 1920: Frivolities 1923: Lady Butterfly 1923: Nifties 1924-1925: Madame Pompadour 1925: Sky High 1926: The Great Temptations 1928-1929: Angela 1929: The Silver Swan 1930: The Count of Luxembourg 1930: Who Cares? 1931: The Singing Rabbi 1931 to 1933: Of Thee I Sing 1933: A Church Mouse 1933-1934: Let 'Em Eat Cake 1935-1952: First Lady 1937-1938: I'd Rather Be Right 1940: The Return of the Vagabond 1941: Snookie 1941: Mr. Big 1942: The Pirates of Penzance 1943 to 1948: Oklahoma! 1950: Arms and the Girl

Filmography Movies 1930: Let's Merge (short) 1939: A Swing Opera (short) as The Coach 1952: Viva Zapata! as Senor Espejo 1954: The Human Jungle as Leonard Ustick 1955: Texas Lady as Wilson 1955: Man with the Gun as Doc Hughes 1956: That Certain Feeling as Senator Winston 1956: The Fastest Gun Alive as Joe Fenwick 1956: He Laughed Last as George Eagle 1956: The Girl He Left Behind as Mr. Hillaby 1956: The King and Four Queens as Josiah Sweet 1957: The Big Caper as Paulmeyer 1957: The Deadly Mantis as Professor Anton Gunther 1958: Teacher's Pet as JR Ballantyne

Television 1950-1956: The Adventures of Ellery Queen as Inspector Richard Queen. 1953: Robert Montgomery Presents 1953: Johnny Jupiter as Gregory Latham 1953–1954: Kraft Television Theater 1954-1955: Studio One as Dave Sears 1954-1956: Cavalcade of America 1954-1957: Lux Video Theater 1955: The Star and the Story 1955: Screen Directors Playhouse as JB Vandemeer. 1955: Four Star Playhouse as Mr. Scratch. 1955: The Philco Television Playhouse 1956: The People's Choice as Judge Cagle 1956: The Hardy Boys as Mr. Applegate 1956: Broken Arrow as Emperor Norton 1956-1957: Telephone Time as Barber 1957: The O. Henry Playhouse as Simon Harrington 1957: Gunsmoke as John Peavy 1957: Hey, Jeannie! as Hesby 1957: Crossroads as Mr. Kramer 1957: Climax!, episode "The Gold Dress" 1957: Blondie as JC Dithers 1957: Father Knows Best as Magistrate 1957: Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal as Dr. Follansbee 1958: Colgate Theater , episode "Welcome to Washington"