Conrad Janis
 |
Conrad Janis | |
|---|---|
 Conrad Janis in trailer for The Brasher Doubloon (1947) | |
| Born | February 11, 1928 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, musician |
| Years active | 1945–2012 |
| Spouse(s) |
Vicki Quarles
(m. 1948; div. 1957)Ronda Copland
(m. 1979; div. 1983)Maria Grimm
(m. 1987) |
| Children | 2 |
Conrad Janis (born February 11, 1928) is an American jazz trombonist and actor. Janis is best known for playing Mindy McConnell's father Frederick on Mork & Mindy.
Early life
A native of New York City, Janis is the son of Harriet, a writer, and Sidney Janis, an art dealer and writer,[1] and he has one brother, Carroll Janis.[2][3]
Career
In 1946, he portrayed "Johnniekins" in Margie with Jeanne Crain. The following year, he starred in the film noir The Brasher Doubloon, with George Montgomery.
In 1953, he played eldest son Edward on the sitcom Bonino . He later appeared in an episode of Get Smart playing a KAOS agent, guest starred as a dance marathon emcee on The Golden Girls, and appeared in the sci-fi sitcoms Quark and Mork and Mindy. He was featured in The Buddy Holly Story and in the Goldie Hawn and George Segal comedy The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox.[3] He also made a brief appearance as himself in the jazz bar scene from Nothing in Common.[4]
Throughout his life, Janis has strived to keep traditional jazz alive. In 1949, Janis put together a band of aging jazz greats ("all of the guys that I idolized"), consisting of James P. Johnson (piano), Henry Goodwin (trumpet), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Pops Foster (bass), and Baby Dodds (drums), with Janis on trombone.[3] In the late 1970s, Janis formed the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band, which appeared multiple times on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and made eight sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall.[3][5]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Snafu | Ronald Stevens | Alternative title: Welcome Home |
| 1946 | Margie | Johnny 'Johnikins' Green | |
| 1947 | The Brasher Doubloon | Leslie Murdock | Alternative title: The High Window |
| That Hagen Girl | Dewey Koons | ||
| 1948 | Beyond Glory | Raymond Denmore, Jr. | |
| 1958 | Let's Rock | Charlie | Alternative title: Keep It Cool |
| 1965 | Get Smart | Victor (Season 1, Episode 12) | |
| 1966 | My Favorite Martian | Chad Foster (Season 3, Episode 19) | TV or Not TV |
| 1974 | Airport 1975 | Arnie | |
| Cannon | Larry Warshaw | Daddy's Little Girl | |
| 1975 | The Happy Hooker | Fred | |
| 1976 | Happy Days | Mr. Kendall | |
| The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox | Gladstone | ||
| 1977 | Roseland | George | |
| 1978 | The Buddy Holly Story | Ross Turner | |
| 1980 | Oh, God! Book II | Charles Benson | |
| 1985 | Brewster's Millions | Businessman in Car | |
| 1986 | Nothing in Common | Conrad Janis and the Unlisted Jazz Band | |
| 1989 | Caddie Woodlawn | Rev. Tanner | |
| Sonny Boy | Doc Bender | ||
| 1992 | Mr. Saturday Night | Director | |
| 1995 | The Feminine Touch | Frank Donaldsonn | Also director; alternative title: The November Conspiracy |
| 1996 | The Cable Guy | Father 'Double Trouble' | |
| 2009 | Maneater | Doc Gramm |
References
- ^ "Conrad Janis Biography". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
- ^ Glueck, Grace (November 24, 1989). "Sidney Janis, Trend-Setting Art Dealer, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
- ^ a b c d Uhl, Jin. "For Conrad Janis, Acting and Jazz Share the Spotlight", The Mississippi Rag, pp. 1-9, September 2002, Bloomington, MN.
- ^ "Conrad Janis ... Himself (as Conrad Janis and the Unlisted Jazz Band)". imdb.com.
- ^ "The Scene", L.A. Jazz Scene, p. 14, Sunland, CA (November 2001).
External links
- Official website
- Conrad Janis at IMDb
- Conrad Janis at the Internet Broadway Database
- Conrad Janis at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Interview with Conrad Janis – The Spectrum, November, 2015.
- Conrad Janis Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2018)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
 | This article about an American television actor born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1928 births
- Living people
- Male actors from New York City
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American trombonists
- Male trombonists
- Jubilee Records artists
- Musicians from New York City
- 20th-century American male actors
- 20th-century American musicians
- 21st-century American male actors
- 21st-century American musicians
- 21st-century trombonists
- 20th-century trombonists
- Jewish American male actors
- Jazz musicians from New York (state)
- 20th-century American male musicians
- 21st-century American male musicians
- Male jazz musicians
- American television actor, 1920s birth stubs
- American jazz trombonist stubs