Les Tremayne
| Les Tremayne | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Lester Tremayne 16 April 1913 Balham, London, England |
| Died | 19 December 2003 (aged 90) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1950–93 |
| Spouse | Lenore Kingston (?-?) Alice Reinhardt (?-?) Joan Tremayne (1980–2003) (his death) |
Les Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was a radio, film, and television actor. Born Lester Tremayne in England, he moved with his family at the age four to Chicago, where he began in community theatre. He danced as a vaudeville performer and worked as amusement park barker. He began working in radio when he was 17 years old.[1][2]
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[edit] Radio
On radio during the 1930s and 1940s, Tremayne was heard in as many as 45 shows a week. Replacing Don Ameche, he starred in The First Nighter Program from 1936 to 1942. He starred in The Adventures of the Thin Man and The Romance of Helen Trent during the 1940s. He also starred in the title role in The Falcon, and played detective Pat Abbott in The Abbott Mysteries in 1946–1947. Tremayne was married four times. He did a morning talk show, The Tremaynes with his second wife, Alice Reinhardt. When Tremayne died in 2003, he was married to his fourth wife, Joan.[1] Tremayne was once named one of the three most distinctive voices on American radio. The other two were Bing Crosby and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
[edit] Film
His film credits include A Man Called Peter, The Racket, The War of The Worlds and North by Northwest.[1]
[edit] Television
In 1963 Tremayne appeared in the Perry Mason episode, The Case of Constant Doyle, along with special guest attorney Bette Davis.
Between 1974 and 1977, Tremayne appeared on the Saturday morning Shazam! television series based on the DC Comics superhero Captain Marvel. In the role of Mentor, Tremayne served as the literal mentor of the program's protagonist, young Billy Batson. He appeared in General Hospital as Edward Quartermaine, the oldest character in that series, as a temporary replacement for David Lewis in 1987. He played the deceased Victor Lord for one month on One Life to Live during the 1987 Heaven storyline in which daughter Vicki Lord Buchanan was reunited with most every character that had died on the show after a heart attack left her in purgatory.
After doing more than 30,000 broadcasts, Tremayne was elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2003, Tremayne died of heart failure at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California at the age of 90.[1][2]
He was entombed in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
