Victor Jory – Wikipedia
Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television.[1] He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) and carpetbagger Jonas Wilkerson in Gone with the Wind (1939). From 1959 to 1961, he had a lead role in the 78-episode television police drama Manhunt. He also recorded numerous stories for Peter Pan Records and was a guest star in dozens of television series as well as a supporting player in dozens of theatrical films, occasionally appearing as the leading man.
Biography[edit]
Born in Dawson City, Yukon, to American parents, he was the boxing and wrestling champion of the U.S. Coast Guard during his military service, and he kept his burly physique.[2] He graduated from the Martha Oatman School of the Theater in Los Angeles.[3]
Jory toured with theatre troupes and appeared on Broadway, before making his Hollywood debut in 1930. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast as the villain, probably due to his distinctive, seemingly coal-black eyes that might be perceived as ‘threatening’.[4] He made over 150 films and dozens of TV episodes, as well as writing two plays. His long career in radio included starring in the series Dangerously Yours.[5]
He is remembered for his roles as malevolent Injun Joe in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), Jonas Wilkerson, the opportunistic overseer of the slaves at Tara in Gone with the Wind,[2] and as Lamont Cranston, or ‘The Shadow’, in the 1940 serial film The Shadow.[6][7] He also portrayed Oberon in Max Reinhardt’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)[2] starring James Cagney, Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland.
He co-starred in seven Hopalong Cassidy films between 1941 and 1943, usually cast in the role of a villain with the exception of his role as a broad-shouldered lumberjack in the film Riders of the Timberline (1941).
He starred in the radio series Dangerously Yours beginning in mid-1944. The series was retitled Matinee Theater in October 1944 and ran through April 1945. Each episode was a dramatic reworking of famous literary works. The first episode dated July 2, 1944, was “The Highwayman”, a dramatic interpretation of the Alfred Noyes poem.
In 1946, he narrated “Tubby the Tuba” for children, which was inducted in 2005 in the National Recording Registry and also introduces the orchestra to young listeners.[8] The story tells of a tuba who does not fit in. He also narrated “Bumpo the Ballerina”, whose title character is an elephant.
From 1959 to 1961, he appeared with Patrick McVey in the 78-episode syndicated television police drama Manhunt. Jory played the lead role of Detective Lieutenant Howard Finucane. McVey was cast as police reporter Ben Andrews.[9]
In 1957, Jory was cast in the role of the Southern Baptist pastor George Washington Truett of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, in the episode “Lone Star Preacher” of the syndicated religion anthology series Crossroads.[10] In 1960 he portrayed the aging, malevolent husband of Anna Magnani’s character in The Fugitive Kind, adapted from a play by Tennessee Williams.
In 1962, he was cast as Deacon Lee in the two-part episode “Policemen Die Alone” of Leslie Nielsen’s ABC crime drama The New Breed. That same year, Jory guest-starred as Mike Dahlback in the episode “Ride to a Fall” in the NBC modern Western series Empire, which featured Richard Egan as rancher Jim Redigo. He also played Helen Keller’s father in The Miracle Worker,[2] for which his co-stars Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke won Academy Awards.
In 1964, along with actresses Coleen Gray and Susan Seaforth, Jory testified before the United States Congress as part of “Project Prayer”, arguing in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution to restore school prayer, which the United States Supreme Court struck down in two decisions in 1962 and 1963.[11]
Jory was on the faculty of the University of Utah, teaching acting in the Department of Theater. He endowed a scholarship for junior/senior students in the department known as the Victor Jory Scholarship, which continues to the current day.[12]
The High Chaparral television episode “The Peacemaker” in 1968 featured Jory as a peace envoy attempting to negotiate a treaty with Apache Native American chief Cochise.
In the private-eye series Mannix, which starred Mike Connors as the title character, Jory played the Armenian-American detective’s widowed father, Stefan Mannix—a grape farmer in “Summer Grove”, a fictitious town in California’s Central Valley near Fresno (which continues to have a large Armenian population). He appeared in two episodes,”Return to Summer Grove” (1969) and “Wine from These Grapes” (1971).[13][14][15]
In 1977, near the end of his career, Jory guest starred as an aging Federal Bureau of Investigation agent in James Garner’s The Rockford Files episode “The Attractive Nuisance”.[16]
Jory died on February 12, 1982, at the age of 79, from a heart attack in Santa Monica, California.[1]
For his contribution to the motion-picture industry, Victor Jory was honored in 1960 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 6605 Hollywood Blvd.[17]
Jory married actress Jean Inness in 1929. They had two children, Jon and Jean. Jon Jory headed the Actors Theater of Louisville, Kentucky, for 31 years, which he helped to build into one of America’s most respected regional theater companies.[18] He left the job in 2000 to become professor of drama at the University of Washington in Seattle.[19] His daughter Jean Jory Anderson was a public-relations director of the theater department at Utah State University in Logan.[20]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Renegades | Officer Belonge | Uncredited |
| 1932 | The Pride of the Legion | Jerry Brewster | |
| 1932 | Handle with Care | 1st Public Enemy | |
| 1933 | Second Hand Wife | Lotzi Vajda | |
| 1933 | State Fair | Hoop Toss Barker | |
| 1933 | Sailor’s Luck | Baron Portola – aka Darrow | |
| 1933 | Infernal Machine | Alfred Doreen | |
| 1933 | Trick for Trick | La Tour | |
| 1933 | I Loved You Wednesday | Randall Williams | |
| 1933 | The Devil’s in Love | Dr. Andre Morand / Paul Vernay | |
| 1933 | My Woman | John Bradley | |
| 1933 | Smoky | Clint Peters | |
| 1934 | I Believed in You | Jim Crowl | |
| 1934 | Murder in Trinidad | Howard Sutter | |
| 1934 | He Was Her Man | Nick Gardella | |
| 1934 | Madame Du Barry | Duc Armand d’Aiguillon | |
| 1934 | Pursued | Beauregard | |
| 1934 | Mills of the Gods | Jim Devlin | |
| 1934 | White Lies | Terry Condon | |
| 1935 | Party Wire | Matthew Putnam | |
| 1935 | Streamline Express | Jimmy Hart | |
| 1935 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Oberon – King of the Fairies | |
| 1935 | Escape from Devil’s Island | Dario | |
| 1935 | Too Tough to Kill | John O’Hara | |
| 1936 | Hell-Ship Morgan | Jim Allen | |
| 1936 | The King Steps Out | Capt. Palfi | |
| 1936 | Meet Nero Wolfe | Claude Roberts | |
| 1936 | Rangle River | Dick Drake | |
| 1937 | Bulldog Drummond at Bay | Gregoroff | |
| 1937 | Glamorous Night | Baron Lyadeff | |
| 1937 | First Lady | Gordon Keane | |
| 1938 | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Injun Joe | |
| 1939 | Blackwell’s Island | Commissioner Thomas MacNair | |
| 1939 | Wings of the Navy | Lt. Parsons | |
| 1939 | Dodge City | Yancey | |
| 1939 | Women in the Wind | Doc | |
| 1939 | Man of Conquest | William B. Travis | |
| 1939 | Susannah of the Mounties | Wolf Pelt | |
| 1939 | Each Dawn I Die | W. J. Grayce | |
| 1939 | I Stole a Million | Patian | |
| 1939 | Call a Messenger | Ed Hogan | |
| 1939 | Gone with the Wind | Jonas Wilkerson – Field Overseer | |
| 1940 | The Shadow | Lamont Cranston / The Shadow | |
| 1940 | Knights of the Range | Malcolm Lascalles | |
| 1940 | The Light of Western Stars | Gene Stewart | |
| 1940 | The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady | Clay Beaudine | |
| 1940 | River’s End | Norman Talbot | |
| 1940 | Girl from Havana | Tex Moore | |
| 1940 | Cherokee Strip | Coy Barrett | Alternative title: The Indian Nation |
| 1940 | The Green Archer | Spike Holland | |
| 1940 | Give Us Wings | Mr. Arnold Carter | |
| 1940 | Lady with Red Hair | Mr. Clifton | |
| 1941 | Border Vigilantes | Henry Logan | |
| 1941 | Hoola Boola | Narrator | Voice, Short |
| 1941 | Bad Men of Missouri | William Merrick | |
| 1941 | Wide Open Town | Steve Fraser | |
| 1941 | Charlie Chan in Rio | Marana / Alfredo Cardozo | |
| 1941 | The Gay Knighties | Narrator | Voice, Short |
| 1941 | Riders of the Timberline | Baptiste Deschamp | |
| 1941 | The Stork Pays Off | Deak Foster | |
| 1941 | Secrets of the Lone Wolf | Dapper Dan Streever | |
| 1942 | Shut My Big Mouth | Buckskin Bill | |
| 1942 | Jasper and the Watermelons | Voice, Short | |
| 1942 | Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die | Ike Clanton | |
| 1942 | Tulips Shall Grow | Narrator | Voice, Short |
| 1943 | Power of the Press | Oscar Trent | |
| 1943 | Hoppy Serves a Writ | Tom Jordan | |
| 1943 | Buckskin Frontier | Champ Clanton | |
| 1943 | The Leather Burners | Dan Slack | |
| 1943 | Colt Comrades | Jeb Hardin | |
| 1943 | The Kansan | Jeff Barat | |
| 1943 | Bar 20 | Mark Jackson | |
| 1943 | The Unknown Guest | Charles ‘Chuck’ Williams | |
| 1944 | Jasper’s Paradise | Voice, Short | |
| 1945 | Hot Lips Jasper | Voice, Short | |
| 1945 | Jasper Tell | Voice, Short | |
| 1947 | Shoe Shine Jasper | Voice, Short | |
| 1947 | Tubby the Tuba | Narrator | Short |
| 1948 | The Loves of Carmen | García | |
| 1948 | The Gallant Blade | Marshal of France Mordore | |
| 1949 | A Woman’s Secret | Brook Matthews | |
| 1949 | South of St. Louis | Luke Cottrell | |
| 1949 | Canadian Pacific | Dirk Rourke | |
| 1949 | Fighting Man of the Plains | Dave Oldham | |
| 1950 | The Capture | Father Gomez | |
| 1950 | The Cariboo Trail | Frank Walsh | |
| 1951 | The Highwayman | Lord Douglas | |
| 1951 | Cave of Outlaws | Ben Cross | |
| 1952 | Flaming Feather | Lucky Lee / The Sidewinder | |
| 1952 | Son of Ali Baba | Caliph | |
| 1952 | Toughest Man in Arizona | Frank Girard | |
| 1953 | The Man from the Alamo | Jess Wade | |
| 1953 | Cat-Women of the Moon | Kip Reissner | |
| 1954 | Valley of the Kings | Tuareg Chief | |
| 1954 | Sabaka | Ashok | |
| 1956 | Manfish | ‘Professor’ Walter Fenton | |
| 1956 | Blackjack Ketchum, Desperado | Jared Tetlow | |
| 1956 | Death of a Scoundrel | Leonard Wilson | |
| 1957 | The Man Who Turned to Stone | Dr. Murdock | |
| 1957 | The Last Stagecoach West | Rand McCord | |
| 1958 | Sierra Baron | Closing narrator | Uncredited |
| 1960 | The Fugitive Kind | Jabe M. Torrance | |
| 1961 | Operation Glen Canyon | Narrator | Documentary |
| 1962 | The Miracle Worker | Captain Arthur Keller | |
| 1964 | Cheyenne Autumn | Tall Tree | |
| 1968 | Jigsaw | Edward Arkroyd | |
| 1969 | Mackenna’s Gold | The Narrator | |
| 1969 | A Time for Dying | Judge Roy Bean | |
| 1970 | Trail of the Hunter | Himself | Documentary |
| 1970 | Flap | Wounded Bear Mr. Smith (Attorney at Law) | Alternative title: The Last Warrior |
| 1973 | Frasier, the Sensuous Lion | Frasier’s Voice | Voice |
| 1973 | Papillon | Indian Chief | |
| 1975 | The Boy Who Talks to Whales | ||
| 1977 | Mission to Glory: A True Story | Father Zaya | |
| 1980 | The Mountain Men | Iron Belly | (final film role) |
| 1987 | The Puppetoon Movie | Voice |
Television[edit]
Radio appearances[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Jones, Jack (February 13, 1982). “Victor Jory – Hollywood Star Walk”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c d “VICTOR JORY, ACTOR, 79, DEAD; OFTEN PLAYED VILLIAN [sic] IN FILMS”. The New York Times. February 13, 1982. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ “Oatman School offers new class”. Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. July 15, 1928. p. 45. Retrieved June 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ “AMERICAN ACTOR FOR AUSTRALIAN FILM.” The Sydney Morning Herald 2 Jun 1936: 24 Supplement: Women’s Supplement accessed December 26, 2011
- ^ The Definitive Dangerously Yours Radio Log
- ^ Gates, Michael (January 27, 2017). “The jury is still out on Victor Jory”. Yukon News. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ Shimeld, Thomas J. (2003). Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 86. ISBN 0-7864-1466-9.
- ^ “The Billboard Jan 17, 1948”. Billboard. January 17, 1948. p. 36.
- ^ “Victor Jory ‘Shot’ by Western Actor”. Los Angeles Times. November 11, 1961. p. 19. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
Observers said a gun in the hands of actor Adam Williams discharged accidentally at a range of 6 inches, inflicting powder burns.
- ^ “San Bernardino Sun, Volume 63, Number 168, 15 March 1957”. The San Bernardino Sun. March 15, 1957. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ “3 IN FILMS BACK SCHOOL PRAYERS; Victor Jory Urges Committee to Clear Amendment”. The New York Times. May 15, 1964. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ “Victor Jory Scholarship”. University of Utah. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ Paul, JoAnn M. (2014). “1”. And Now, Back to Mannix. Duncan, Oklahoma: BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-565-8.
- ^ Bowie, Stephen (May 27, 2014). “The long-running private eye series Mannix was brutal, stylish comfort food”. The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ “The six greatest ‘Mannix’ episodes, according to a superfan”. MeTV. January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ Robertson, Ed (2005). Thirty Years of The Rockford Files: An Inside Look at America’s Greatest Detective Series. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse. p. 260. ISBN 0-595-34244-2.
- ^ “Victor Jory”. Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ “Actor Victor Jory dies”. United Press International. February 12, 1982. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ Roseth, Bob (January 19, 2000). “Jon Jory joins faculty at UW School of Drama”. University of Washington. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ Magers, Boyd. “Characters and Heavies: Victor Jory”. Western Clippings. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ Kirby, Walter (May 17, 1953). “Better Radio Programs for the Week”. The Decatur Daily Review. The Decatur Daily Review. p. 48. Retrieved June 27, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
External links[edit]
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