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Richard Ney

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Richard Ney
Born
Richard Maximilian Ney

(1916-11-12)November 12, 1916
New York City, U.S.
DiedJuly 18, 2004(2004-07-18) (aged 87)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
Occupation(s)Actor, investment counselor
Years active1942–1967
Spouses
Marjorie Simons
​
​
(m. 1937; div. 1939)​
​
​
(m. 1943; div. 1947)​
Pauline McMartin
​
​
(m. 1949; div. 1970)​
Mei Lee
​
(m. 1987)​

Richard Maximilian Ney (November 12, 1916 – July 18, 2004) was an American actor, author, and investment counselor.

Life and career

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Ney was born in New York City, the son of Erwin Maximilian Ney (1893–1968), an insurance salesman, and Charlotte Marie Donaldson (1895–1966), who served in World War I as yeoman, first class, USNRF.[1] Later she was a stenographer[2] and a secretary at a lumberyard.[3]

His parents' marriage ended in divorce and he grew up with his mother in humble circumstances. His father remarried twice.[4] His father's third wife was Rebie Margaret Flood, a daughter of Rev. Theodore L. Flood, editor of The Chautauquan, and his wife, Ruth Crosley Pardington, daughter of A. R. Pardington.

A graduate in economics from Columbia University, Ney is best remembered for his role in the Oscar-winning World War II film Mrs. Miniver (1942), and for his short-lived (1943–47) marriage to co-star Greer Garson. He also appeared in Ivy (1947) and The Fan (1949). He was commissioned in the United States Navy serving in the Aleutians and the Pacific during World War II.[5]

Ney's one Broadway venture was the 1958 musical Portofino, which he produced and for which he wrote the book and lyrics. It closed after three performances.[6][7]

Ney performed mostly in television with occasional film roles until the mid-1960s. In "The Hunt" (January 27, 1962) of the NBC western television series, The Tall Man, Ney plays the wealthy Edward Van Doren, who hires Billy the Kid (Clu Gulager) to guide him into the wilderness to kill a mountain lion. However, Van Doren's real target is Billy himself.[8]

Investment career

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By the middle 1960s, Ney had successfully transitioned himself into a career as an investment counselor. Initially he joined a Beverly Hills brokerage firm, prior to launching a newsletter, The Ney Report, whose subscribers included J. Paul Getty.

Ney wrote three highly critical books about Wall Street, asserting that the market was manipulated by market makers to the detriment of the average investor. The first of these, The Wall Street Jungle, was a New York Times bestseller in 1970.[9] The second and third were The Wall Street Gang and Making It in the Market.[10][11]

Ney was credited with saying, "Hidden behind the façade of pompous jargon and noble affections, there is more sheer larceny per square foot on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange than any place else in the world."[12]

Personal life

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Ney was married four times:

  • Marjorie Simons, who was a substitute art teacher in his high school.[12] The couple married in New York City in 1937 and divorced in Reno, Nevada, in 1939.[13][14]
  • Greer Garson (1904–1996), married July 24, 1943, although the couple previously stated that the wedding would not take place until after the war ended.[15] Ney and Garson divorced on September 25, 1947,[16] the actress claiming that her husband was "morose and critical of her acting."[17]
  • Pauline Sears McMartin (1901–1986), a daughter of Colonel Douglas Settle, U.S. Army, and former wife of Canadian millionaire Duncan J. R. McMartin Sr. They wed on June 16, 1949.[18] and divorced in 1970.[19] She later married Clarence Dunbar. By this marriage Ney had one stepchild, Marcia McMartin Illing.[citation needed]
  • Mei Lee (1987–2004; his death), a vice president in Ney's investment firm.

Death

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Ney was living in Pasadena, California when he died of a heart ailment while gardening in his yard.[12]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1942 Mrs. Miniver Vin Miniver
1942 The War Against Mrs. Hadley Theodore Hadley
1947 The Late George Apley John Apley
1947 Ivy Jervis Hamilton Lexton
1948 Joan of Arc Charles de Bourbon, Duke de Clermont
1949 The Fan Mr. James Hopper
1949 The Lovable Cheat Jacques Minard
1949 The Secret of St. Ives Anatole de Keroual
1950 My Beautiful Daughter Massimo Lega
1950 Un sourire dans la tempête Sergeant James Spenlow
1951 Ein Lächeln im Sturm Sergeant James Spenlow
1952 Babes in Bagdad Ezar
1960 Midnight Lace Daniel Graham
1962 The Premature Burial Miles Archer

Books

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  • The Wall Street Jungle (1970)
  • The Wall Street Gang (1974)
  • Making It in the Market: Richard Ney's Low-Risk System for Stock Market Investors (1975)

References

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  1. ^ New York Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917–1919, accessed on ancestry.com; February 18, 2017.
  2. ^ 1925 New York Census, accessed at ancestry.com; February 18, 2017
  3. ^ 1930 United States Census, accessed on ancestry.com; February 18, 2017.
  4. ^ 1925 New York Census, accessed on ancestry.com; February 18, 2017.
  5. ^ Reed, Christopher (October 8, 2004). "Obituary: Richard Ney". The Guardian. London.
  6. ^ Goodman, John (February 22, 1958). "'Portofino' Is Not Very Goodo". New York Daily News. p. 21. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  7. ^ "Portofino". Playbill. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Hunt". IMDb. January 27, 1962. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  9. ^ The Wall Street Jungle. New York: Grove Press. 1970.
  10. ^ The Wall Street Gang. Praeger. 1974. ISBN 978-0-2753-3390-4.
  11. ^ Making it in the Market: Richard Ney's Low Risk System for Stock Market Investors. McGraw-Hill. 1975. ISBN 978-0-0704-6460-5.
  12. ^ a b c Bernstein, Adam (July 22, 2004). "Richard Ney Dies; Actor, Investment Adviser". The Washington Post. p. B5. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  13. ^ "Vital Statistics: Decrees Granted". Reno Evening Gazette. August 15, 1939. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  14. ^ "Screen Star and Navy Officer to Marry". The New York Times. November 5, 1943.
  15. ^ "Garson-Ney Wedding Postponed". The New York Times. November 20, 1942.
  16. ^ "Sobbing Greer Garson Rushes from Courtroom Just Before Winning Divorce from Actor Ney". San Bernardino County Sun. Associated Press. September 26, 1947. p. 1. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  17. ^ "Actor Ney to Marry Mrs. McMartin". San Bernardino Sun. June 14, 1949. p. 1.
  18. ^ "Richard Ney Weds". Los Angeles Times. June 17, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  19. ^ California Marriage and Divorce Records, accessed on ancestry.com; February 18, 2017.
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