Lloyd Nolan

Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies.

Lloyd Nolan
Born
Lloyd Benedict Nolan

(1902-08-11)August 11, 1902
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedSeptember 27, 1985(1985-09-27) (aged 83)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1929–1985
Spouse(s)
Mell Efrid
(m. 1933; died 1981)

Virginia Dabney
(m. 1983; his death 1985)
Children2

Biography

Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the youngest of three children of Margaret, who was of Irish descent, and James Nolan, an Irish immigrant who was a shoe manufacturer.[1][2] He attended Santa Clara Preparatory School[1] and Stanford University,[3] flunking out of Stanford as a freshman "because I never got around to attending any other class but dramatics."[4] His parents disapproved of his choice of a career in acting, preferring that he join his father's shoe business, "one of the most solvent commercial firms in San Francisco."[5]

Nolan served in the United States Merchant Marine before joining the Dennis Players theatrical troupe in Cape Cod.[5] He began his career on stage and was subsequently lured to Hollywood, where he played mainly doctors, private detectives, and policemen in many film roles.[6]

Film career

Nolan's obituary in the Los Angeles Times contained the evaluation, "Nolan was to both critics and audiences the veteran actor who works often and well regardless of his material."[1] Although Nolan's acting was often praised by critics, he was, for the most part, relegated to B pictures. Despite this, Nolan co-starred with a number of well-known actresses, among them Mae West, Dorothy McGuire, and former Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout. Under contract to Paramount and 20th Century Fox studios, he essayed starring roles in the late '30s and early-to-mid '40s and appeared as the title character in the Michael Shayne detective series. Raymond Chandler's novel The High Window was adapted from a Philip Marlowe adventure for the seventh film in the Michael Shayne series, Time to Kill (1942); the film was remade five years later as The Brasher Doubloon, truer to Chandler's original story, with George Montgomery as Marlowe.[7]

Most of Nolan's films were light entertainment with an emphasis on action. His most famous include Atlantic Adventure, costarring Nancy Carroll; Ebb Tide; Wells Fargo; Every Day's a Holiday, starring Mae West; Bataan; and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with Dorothy McGuire and James Dunn. He also gave a strong performance in the 1957 film Peyton Place with Lana Turner.[1]

Nolan also contributed solid and key character parts in numerous other films. One, The House on 92nd Street, was a startling revelation to audiences in 1945. It was a conflation of several true incidents of attempted sabotage by the Nazi regime (incidents which the FBI was able to thwart during World War II), and many scenes were filmed on location in New York City, unusual at the time. Nolan portrayed FBI Agent Briggs, and actual FBI employees interacted with Nolan throughout the film; he reprised the role in a subsequent 1948 movie, The Street with No Name.[1]

One of the last of his many military roles was playing an admiral at the start of what proved to be Howard Hughes' favorite film, Ice Station Zebra.[8]

Television and other endeavors

Later in Nolan's career, he returned to the stage and appeared on television to great acclaim in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, for which he received a 1955 Emmy award for portraying Captain Queeg,[1] the role made famous by Humphrey Bogart. Nolan also made guest appearances on television shows, including NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Bing Crosby Show, a sitcom on ABC and the Emmy-winning NBC anthology series The Barbara Stanwyck Show.

Nolan appeared three times on NBC's Laramie Western series, as sheriff Tully Hatch in the episode "The Star Trail (1959), as outlaw Matt Dyer in the episode "Deadly Is the Night" (1961) and then as former Union Army General George Barton in the episode "War Hero" (1962). On December 8, 1960, Nolan was cast as Dr. Elisha Pittman, in "Knife of Hate" on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. In the story line, Dr. Pittman removed one of the legs of Jack Hoyt (Robert Harland) after Hoyt sustained a gunshot wound from which infection was developing. Hoyt wants to marry Susan Pittman (Susan Oliver), but her father is at first unyielding on the matter.

Nolan starred in The Outer Limits episode "Soldier" written by Harlan Ellison. He appeared in the NBC Western Bonanza as LaDuke, a New Orleans detective. In 1967, Strother Martin and he guest-starred in the episode "A Mighty Hunter Before the Lord" of NBC's The Road West series, starring Barry Sullivan. Also in 1967, Nolan was a guest star in the popular Western TV series The Virginian, in the episode "The Masquerade", and in the pilot episode of Mannix.[9]

Nolan co-starred from 1968 to 1971 in the pioneering NBC series Julia, with Diahann Carroll, who was the first African American to star in her own television series.[1]

One of his last appearances was a guest spot as himself in the 1984 episode "Cast in Steele" on the TV detective series Remington Steele.

On February 8, 1960, Nolan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry, at 1752 Vine Street.[10][11]

In his later years, Nolan appeared in commercials for Polident.[12]

Personal life

Nolan married Mell Efrid in 1933. They had a daughter, Melinda, and a son, Jay. The couple remained married until Efrid's death in 1981. Their son had autism, and was institutionalized at a private institution at age 13. He died at age 26 from choking while eating.[13] In 1973 Nolan testified to Congress urging that autism be recognized as a developmental disability. Nolan is credited with having convinced Ronald Reagan to sign California's bill mandating education be provided to children with autism.[14] Nolan founded the Jay Nolan Autistic Center (now known as Jay Nolan Community Services)[15] in honor of his son, Jay,[1] and was chairman of the annual Save Autistic Children Telethon.

In 1983, Nolan married Virginia Dabney, with whom he remained until his death.[16][17]

Nolan was a lifelong Republican.[18] In 1964, Nolan spoke at the "Project Prayer" rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The gathering, which was hosted by Anthony Eisley, a star of ABC's Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer, following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court which struck down mandatory school prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[19][20] Joining Nolan and Eisley at the rally were Walter Brennan, Rhonda Fleming, Dale Evans, Pat Boone, and Gloria Swanson. At the rally, Nolan asked, "Do we permit ourselves to be turned into a godless people, or do we preserve America as one nation under God?"[20] Eisley and Fleming added that John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Roy Rogers, Mary Pickford, Jane Russell, Ginger Rogers, and Pat Buttram would also have attended the rally had their schedules not been in conflict.[20] "Project Prayer" was ultimately unsuccessful in its campaign to keep public prayer in public schools.

A long-time cigar and pipe smoker, Nolan died of lung cancer on September 27, 1985, at his home in Brentwood, California;[21] he was 83.[1] He is interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, California.[22]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1935 G Men Hugh Farrell
1935 Stolen Harmony Chesty Burrage
1935 Atlantic Adventure Dan Miller
1935 She Couldn't Take It Tex
1935 One Way Ticket Jerry
1936 You May Be Next Neil Bennett
1936 Lady of Secrets Michael
1936 Big Brown Eyes Russ Cortig
1936 Devil's Squadron Dana Kirk
1936 Counterfeit Capper Stevens
1936 The Texas Rangers Sam 'Polka Dot' McGee
1936 15 Maiden Lane Det. Sgt. Walsh
1937 Internes Can't Take Money Hanlon
1937 King of Gamblers Jim Adams
1937 Exclusive Charles Gillette
1937 Ebb Tide Attwater
1937 Every Day's a Holiday John Quade
1937 Wells Fargo Dal Slade
1938 Dangerous to Know Inspector Brandon
1938 Tip-Off Girls Bob Anders
1938 Hunted Men Joe Albany
1938 Prison Farm Larry Harrison
1938 King of Alcatraz Raymond Grayson
1939 Ambush Tony Andrews
1939 St. Louis Blues Dave Geurney
1939 Undercover Doctor Robert Anders
1939 The Magnificent Fraud Sam Barr
1940 The Man Who Wouldn't Talk Joe Monday
1940 The House Across the Bay Slant Kolma
1940 Johnny Apollo Mickey Dwyer
1940 Gangs of Chicago Matthew J. 'Matty' Burns
1940 The Man I Married Kenneth Delane
1940 The Golden Fleecing Gus Fender
1940 Pier 13 Danny Dolan
1940 Charter Pilot King Morgan
1940 Michael Shayne, Private Detective Michael Shayne
1940 Behind the News Stuart Woodrow
1941 Mr. Dynamite Tommy N. Thornton ('Mr. Dynamite')
1941 Sleepers West Michael Shayne
1941 Dressed to Kill Michael Shayne
1941 Buy Me That Town Rickey Deane
1941 Blues in the Night Del Davis
1941 Steel Against the Sky Rocky Evans
1942 Blue, White and Perfect Michael Shayne
1942 The Man Who Wouldn't Die Michael Shayne
1942 It Happened in Flatbush Frank 'Butterfingers' Maguire
1942 Just Off Broadway Michael Shayne
1942 Apache Trail Trigger Bill Folliard
1942 Manila Calling Lucky Matthews
1942 Time to Kill Michael Shayne
1943 Bataan Corp. Barney Todd
1943 Don't Be a Sucker Commentator Short film
1943 Guadalcanal Diary Sgt. Hook Malone
1944 Attack! The Battle of New Britain Narrator (voice) Documentary
1944 Resisting Enemy Interrogation USAF Debriefing Officer / Narrator Uncredited
1945 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Officer McShane
1945 Circumstantial Evidence Sam Lord
1945 War Comes to America Narrator (voice) Documentary
1945 Captain Eddie Lt. Jim Whittaker
1945 The House on 92nd Street Inspector George A. Briggs
1946 Somewhere in the Night Police Lt. Donald Kendall
1946 Two Smart People Bob Simms
1947 Lady in the Lake Lt. DeGarmot
1947 Wild Harvest Kink
1948 Green Grass of Wyoming Rob McLaughlin
1948 The Street with No Name Inspector George A. Briggs
1949 The Sun Comes Up Thomas I. Chandler
1949 Bad Boy Marshall Brown
1949 Easy Living Lenahan
1951 The Lemon Drop Kid Oxford Charlie
1953 Island in the Sky Captain Stutz
1953 Crazylegs Win Brockmeyer
1956 The Last Hunt Woodfoot
1956 Santiago Clay Pike Alternative title: The Gun Runner
1956 Toward the Unknown Brig. Gen. Bill Banner Alternative title: Brink of Hell
1957 Seven Waves Away Frank Kelly Alternative titles: Abandon Ship
Seven Days From Now
1957 A Hatful of Rain John Pope, Sr
1957 Peyton Place Dr. Swain
1960 Portrait in Black Matthew S. Cabot
1960 Girl of the Night Dr. Mitchell
1961 Susan Slade Roger Slade
1962 We Joined the Navy Vice Admiral Ryan
1963 The Girl Hunters Federal Agent Arthur Rickerby
1964 Circus World Cap Carson Alternative title: The Magnificent Showman
1965 Never Too Late Mayor Crane
1966 An American Dream Barney Kelly Alternative title: See You in Hell, Darling
1967 The Double Man Edwards
1968 Sergeant Ryker Gen. Amos Bailey
1968 Ice Station Zebra Admiral Garvey
1970 Airport Harry Standish
1974 Earthquake Dr. James Vance
1975 The Sky's the Limit Cornwall
1977 The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover Attorney General Harlan Stone
1978 My Boys Are Good Boys Security Officer Dan Mountgomery
1980 Galyon Willard Morgan
1985 Prince Jack Joe Kennedy
1986 Hannah and Her Sisters Evan

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1950 The Ford Theatre Hour Nifty Miller Episode: "The Barker"
1951–1952 Martin Kane, Private Eye Martin Kane 7 episodes
1952 Ford Television Theatre Episode: "Protect Her Honor"
1955 Climax! Jack London Episode: "Sailor on Horseback"
1955 Ford Star Jubilee Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg Episode: "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1957 Playhouse 90 Capt. Kuyper Episode: "Galvanized Yankee"
1958–1960 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Dr. Elisha Pittman / Adam Larkin 2 episodes
1959 Special Agent 7 Special Agent Philip Conroy 25 episodes
1959 Wagon Train Hunter Malloy Episode: "The Hunter Malloy Story"
1959 Ah, Wilderness! Nat Miller Television film
1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Sheriff Orville Darrow Episode: "Six Guns for Donegan"
1959 Father Knows Best Coach Harper Episode: "Bud Plays It Safe"
1959 The Untouchables George 'Bugs' Moran Episode: "The George 'Bugs' Moran Story"
1959–1962 Laramie General George Barton / Matt Dyer / Sheriff Tully Hatch 3 episodes
1960 Startime Narrator Episode: "Crime, Inc."
1960 Bonanza Inspector Charles Leduque Episode: "The Stranger"
1960 The Barbara Stanwyck Show George McShane Episode: "The Seventh Miracle"
1961 Bus Stop Stroud Episode: "The Glass Jungle"
1961 General Electric Theater Robert Hale / Michael Bowen 2 episodes
1962 Outlaws Buck Breeson Episode: "Buck Breeson Rides Again"
1962 The Dick Powell Show Vernon Clay Episode: "Special Assignment"
1963 The DuPont Show of the Week James Feveral Episode: "Two Faces of Treason"
1963 The Great Adventure Col. Fraser 2 episodes
1963 77 Sunset Strip Col. David Watkins 3 episodes
1963 Kraft Suspense Theatre Gen. Amos Bailey 2 episodes
1963–1967 The Virginian Tom Foster / Abe Clayton / Wade Anders 3 episodes
1964 The Outer Limits Tom Kagan Episode: "Soldier"
1964 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Dan Sinclair Episode: "Mr. Biddle's Crime Wave"
1965 Daniel Boone Ben Hanks Episode: "The Price of Friendship"
1965 The Bing Crosby Show Harvey Episode: "What's a Buddy For?"
1965 Slattery's People Admiral Wallace Blackburtn Episode: "Rally Round Your Own Flag, Mister"
1967 The Road West Jed Daniell Episode: "A Mighty Hunter Before the Lord"
1967 Wings of Fire Max Clarity Television film
1967 Mannix Sam Dubrio Episode: "The Name Is Mannix"
1968 The Danny Thomas Hour Dr. Richmond Episode: "The Cage"
1968 Judd, for the Defense D.A. Patrick Bantry Episode: "The Devil's Surrogate"
1968 I Spy Manion Episode: "The Name of the Game"
1968–1971 Julia Dr. Morton Chegley / Dr. Norton Chegley 86 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1969)
1972 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law Episode: "A Question of Degree"
1972 The Bold Ones: The New Doctors Dr. Karl Richardson Episode: "A Nation of Human Pincushions"
1973 Isn't It Shocking? Jesse Chapin Television film
1973 McCloud Elroy Jenkins Episode: "Butch Cassidy Rides Again"
1973 The F.B.I. Judge Harper Episode: "The Killing Truth"
1974 The Magician Charles Keegan 2 episodes
1975 The Wonderful World of Disney Cornwall 2 episodes
1975 The Abduction of Saint Anne Carl Gentry Television film
1975 Lincoln William H. Seward Episode: "The Unwilling Warrior"
1976 Ellery Queen Doctor Sanford Episode: "The Adventure of the Sunday Punch"
1976 City of Angels General Butler Episode: "The November Plan: Part 1"
1977 McMillan & Wife Horace Sherwin Episode: "Affair of the Heart"
1977 Flight to Holocaust Wilton Bender Television film
1977 Fire! Doc Bennett Television film
1977 The November Plan Gen. Smedley Butler Television film
1977 Police Woman Q. Waldo Mims Episode: "Merry Christmas Waldo"
1977 The Mask of Alexander Cross Strickland Television film
1977 Gibbsville Episode: "The Price of Everything"
1978 The Waltons Cyrus Guthrie Episode: "The Return"
1978 Quincy, M.E. Dr. Herbert Schumann Episode: "A Test for Living"
1978 The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Professor Anton Hendricks Episode: "Search for Atlantis"
1979 $weepstake$ Dr. Warnecke Episode: #1.2
1979 Valentine Brother Joe Television film
1981 Archie Bunker's Place Judge Sean McGuire 2 episodes
1982 Adams House Frank Gallagher Television film
1984 Remington Steele Himself Episode: "Cast in Steele"
1984 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear Monsignor Donoghue Television film
1985 Murder, She Wrote Julian Tenley Episode: "Murder in the Afternoon"

Radio appearances

Year Program Episode/source
1945 Suspense "Murder for Myra"[23]
1945 Suspense "Nineteen Deacon Street"[24]
1947 Suspense "Green-Eyed Monster"[25]
1947 Suspense "Double Ugly"[26]
1952 Suspense The Man with Two Faces[27]
1953 Suspense Vial of Death[28]

References

  1. Folkart, Burt A. (September 28, 1985). "Lloyd Nolan, the Actor's Actor, Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  2. Blumberg, Joel; Grabman, Sandra (2016). Lloyd Nolan: An Actor's Life With Meaning. BearManor Media. p. 1. "Both of Lloyd's parents were of one hundred percent Irish stock. James, in fact, had been born in Ireland."
  3. "Lloyd Nolan at Cancer Kickoff Drive in S.M." San Mateo Times. April 26, 1973. p. 34. Retrieved June 11, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Actor Lloyd Nolan Went Up In Lights the Very Hard Way". Brooklyn Eagle. July 4, 1943. p. 32. Retrieved June 11, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "His Parents Thought Acting a Risk, Preferring Shoe Business". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 3, 1933. p. 15. Retrieved June 11, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  6. James, George (September 29, 1985). "LLOYD NOLAN IS DEAD AT 83; FILM, THEATER AND TV ACTOR". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  7. Giddins, Gary (April 3, 2007). "The Hard-Boiled Hero". The New York Sun. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  8. Canby, Vincent (December 21, 1968). "The Screen: 'Ice Station Zebra' at the Cinerama". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  9. "The six greatest 'Mannix' episodes, according to a superfan". MeTV. January 27, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  10. "Lloyd Nolan | Hollywood Walk of Fame". www.walkoffame.com. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  11. Folkart, Burt A. (September 28, 1985). "Hollywood Star Walk: Lloyd Nolan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  12. Nordyke, Kimberly (September 22, 2013). "Emmys: Who Is Lloyd Nolan? Diahann Carroll Mentions Her 'Julia' Co-Star Onstage". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  13. John Donovan and Caren Zucker. In A Different Key: The Story of Autism (New York: Crown Publishers, 2016) p. 179
  14. Donvan and Zucker. In a Different Key p. 179-180
  15. "Jay Nolan Celebrates 40 Years". Jay Nolan Community Services. February 3, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  16. "Lloyd Nolan: Tough Movie Gangster Is Now Crusty Television Doctor". The Danville Register. September 2, 1969. p. 11. Retrieved June 11, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  17. Blumberg, Joel; Grabman, Sandra (2016). Lloyd Nolan: An Actor's Life With Meaning. BearManor Media. p. 1.
  18. Blumberg, Joel; Grabman, Sandra (2016). Lloyd Nolan: An Actor's Life With Meaning. BearManor Media. p. 1.
  19. "PRAYERS IN SCHOOLS?; House Group Studying 35 Amendments Is Unable To Discern Sympathies of the Public". The New York Times. May 17, 1964. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  20. ""The Washington Merry-Go-Round", Drew Pearson column, May 14, 1964" (PDF). dspace.wrlc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  21. "Actor Lloyd Nolan Dies". The Galveston Daily News. September 29, 1985. p. 4. Retrieved June 11, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  22. Hollywood and the Best of Los Angeles
  23. "Suspense - Murder for Myra". Escape and Suspense!. July 6, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  24. "Suspense - Nineteen Deacon Street". Escape and Suspense!. October 19, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  25. "Suspense - Green-Eyed Monster". Escape and Suspense!. January 11, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  26. "Suspense". RadioGOLDINdex. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  27. Kirby, Walter (December 14, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 54 via Newspapers.com.
  28. Kirby, Walter (May 17, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 48. Retrieved June 27, 2015 via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

  • Lloyd Nolan: An Actor's Life With Meaning, by Joel Blumberg and Sandra Grabman. BearManor Media, Albany, 2010. ISBN 1-59393-600-1.
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