Edward Binns | |
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Binns in 1959.
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Born |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
September 12, 1916
Died | December 4, 1990 Brewster, New York, U.S. |
(aged 74)
Occupation | Film, stage, television actor |
Years active | 1948–1988 |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Franz (1984-1990; his death) |
Edward Binns (September 12, 1916 – December 4, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He had a wide-spanning career in film and television, often portraying competent, hard working, and purposeful characters in his various roles.
Binns was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 1937.
Binns' theatrical career began shortly after his 1937 college graduation, when he participated in a repertory theatre in Cleveland. He followed that with a year as actor and director of the Pan-American Theatre in Mexico City. Next, he went to the University of Pennsylvania as an instructor, directing stock theater companies.
One of the first members of the newly formed Actors Studio, Binns began studying with Elia Kazan in the fall of 1947. His Broadway credits include Ghosts (1982), Caligula (1959) and Command Decision (1947).
Beginning in 1942, Binns served in the Army Air Force. After graduating from Officer Candidate School, he was an armament officer in the China-Burma-India Theater.
After appearing in a number of Broadway plays, Binns began appearing in films in the early 1950s. Some of his notable roles include playing Juror #6 in Sidney Lumet's directorial debut 12 Angry Men (1957) and Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith in the Academy Award-winning film Patton (1970) starring George C. Scott.
Binns was featured as a police detective in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) and played a key role as bomber pilot Colonel Grady in Fail-Safe (1964). His other films include Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Americanization of Emily (1964), The Plainsman (1966), Night Moves (1975) and The Verdict (1982).