Gig Young
| Gig Young | |
|---|---|
Young in 1953
|
|
| Born |
Byron Elsworth Barr November 4, 1913 St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | October 19, 1978 (aged 64) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound (self inflicted) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1940–1978 |
| Spouse(s) |
Sheila Stapler (m. 1940; div. 1947) Sophie Rosenstein (m. 1950; d. 1952) Elizabeth Montgomery (m. 1956; div. 1963) Elaine Williams (m. 1963; div. 1966) Kim Schmidt (m. 1978; d. 1978) |
| Children | Jennifer Williams Young |
Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a slimy dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They? An alcoholic, Young was implicated in the murder-suicide that resulted in the deaths of his wife and himself in 1978.
Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St. Cloud, Minnesota, he and his older siblings were raised by his parents, John and Emma Barr, in Washington initially. When he was six, his family moved back to their hometown of Waynesville, North Carolina, where he was raised. He developed a passion for the theatre while appearing in high school plays, and after some amateur experience he applied for and received a scholarship to the acclaimed Pasadena Community Playhouse. While acting in Pancho, a south-of-the-border play by Lowell Barrington, he and the leading actor in the play, George Reeves, were spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout. Both actors were signed to supporting player contracts with the studio. His early work was un-credited or as Byron Barr (not to be confused with another actor with the same name, Byron Barr).
After appearing in the 1942 film The Gay Sisters – written by Stephen Longstreet (1907–2002) – as a character named "Gig Young", the studio determined that "Gig Young" should become Barr's stage and professional name.
Young appeared in supporting roles in numerous films during the 1940s, and came to be regarded as a popular and likable second lead, playing the brothers or friends of the principal characters. Young took a hiatus from his movie career and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 1941 where he served as a pharmacist's mate until the end of World War II. In early 1942, in an uncredited bit part and nearly unseen, in his distinctive voice, he had one line, "How's the ice?", in the Bette Davis film The Man Who Came to Dinner. Less than two years later, he played opposite her as her much-younger beau in Old Acquaintance.
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