John Mantley

John Mantley
Born	John Truman Mantley April 25, 1920 Toronto, Canada
Died	January 14, 2003 Sherman Oaks, California, US
Spouse(s)	Angela Mantley (1952-2003)

John Truman Mantley (April 25, 1920 in Toronto, Canada – January 14, 2003 in Sherman Oaks, California) was a Canadian theatrical actor, writer, director, screenwriter and producer of the long-running television series, Gunsmoke, and was Mary Pickford's cousin.

Mantley had a sister, eleven years older than himself, who taught dancing well into her eighties. Mantley said that she was "the one born in a (show business) trunk", but strangely enough, I was the one who ended up involved in television and films."

Their father, Cecil Clay Van Manzer, adopted the stage name Clay Mantley. Van Manzer met his wife Violet Petello in 1906 in New York City at the casting of The Convict's Daughter, directed by Maurice Costello. He later wrote playlets which his wife appeared in on the vaudeville circuit.

In later years Van Manzer operated a traveling circus while his wife ran a number of concession stands in a park across the lake from Toronto. Their son John operated the candy booth and at 17 traveled with the carnival, serving as the bingo game barker.

Reading was Mantley's childhood escape and his dream was to become an actor. While attending St. Catherine's Institute of Vocation School in Toronto, he persuaded a teacher to open a dramatic society, of which he became its first president. "And, therefore", he said, "I got to play the leads in all sorts of marvelous melodramas" in addition to performing as an athlete in high school. He was later president of the Victoria College Dramatic Society, which won international competitions.

Mantley trained as a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, and was sent to England and India. While there he exchanged long letters with his second cousin Mary Pickford, from which later evolved his first novel, The 27th Day. After the war he studied at the Pasadena Playhouse, where he graduated magna cum laude. Earning his master's degree, he subsequently performed in a variety of roles in the legitimate theatre, including the role of Sir Robert Cecil to Jane Cowl's lead in Elizabeth the Great; a two-year summer theatre run of The Hasty Heart, and Summer Smoke with Dorothy McGuire. His final role in legitimate theatre was the lead role in Cyrano de Bergerac at the Kansas City Playhouse.

...
Wikipedia