Gary Merrill | |
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Merrill in the trailer for the film A Blueprint for Murder
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Born |
Gary Fred Merrill August 2, 1915 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Died | March 5, 1990 Falmouth, Maine, U.S. |
(aged 74)
Occupation | Actor, director |
Years active | 1943-1980 |
Spouse(s) | Barbara Leeds (m.1941-1950; divorced) Bette Davis (m.1950-1960; divorced) |
Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television character actor whose credits included more than fifty feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. Merrill starred in All About Eve and married his co-star Bette Davis.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he attended private Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and Trinity College and began acting in 1944, while still in the United States Army Air Forces, in Winged Victory. Before entering films, Merrill's deep cultured voice won him a recurring role as Batman in the Superman radio series. His film career began promisingly, with roles in films like Twelve O'Clock High (1949) and All About Eve (1950), but he rarely moved beyond supporting roles in his many Westerns, war movies, and medical dramas. His television career was extensive, if not consistent. He appeared from 1954-1956 as Jason Tyler on the NBC crime drama Justice, about lawyers of the Legal Aid Society of New York. In that series, he was cast opposite Dane Clark and then William Prince in the role of Richard Adams.
In 1958, Merrill guest starred with June Lockhart in the roles of Joshua and Emily Newton in the episode "Medicine Man" of NBC's western series, Cimarron City.