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Ted de Corsia

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Ted de Corsia
File:TeddeCorsia.JPG
de Corsia in The Enforcer
Born
Edward Gildea De Corsia

(1903-09-29)September 29, 1903
DiedApril 11, 1973(1973-04-11) (aged 69)
Cause of deathHeart attack
Resting placeDonated to medical science
Occupation(s)Radio, film, television actor
Years active1947–72
Spouse(s)Mary Robertson (1934–35; divorced)
Rachel Thurber (1939–19??; divorced); 2 children

Ted de Corsia (September 29, 1903 – April 11, 1973) was an American radio, film, and television actor best remembered for his role as a gangster who turned state's evidence in the film The Enforcer (1951).

Early years

Edward Gildea De Corsia was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Radio

He starred in the title role on Mike Hammer[1] and played Sergeant Velie on The Adventures of Ellery Queen.[2] He also voiced roles on Family Theater,[1] The March of Time, Cavalcade of America, Gang Busters,[3] and The Shadow.

Film

He made his movie debut in Orson Welles' The Lady from Shanghai and went on to make a career playing villains and gangsters in 1940s and 1950s films including The Naked City (1948), The Big Combo (1955), The Killing (1956), Baby Face Nelson, and Slightly Scarlet (1956), The Joker is Wild (1957).

In his last film, The Outside Man with Ann-Margret and Angie Dickinson, his character, the mobster Victor, is killed off early in the film, but he later appears as his embalmed corpse, posed in a chair, holding a cigar.

Television

In the late 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in a number of television series, mostly westerns. He was featured on three episodes of the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason, including the episodes "The Case of the Drifting Dropout" (1964), in which he played murder victim Mort Lynch, and "The Case of the Positive Negative" (1966), in the role of murder victim George Emory. Other television appearances included The Californians, Sugarfoot, Jefferson Drum, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Frontier Doctor, Mackenzie's Raiders, Riverboat, Tate, The Twilight Zone, Lawman, Stoney Burke, Rawhide, Daniel Boone, Gunsmoke, The Dakotas, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Zane Grey Theater and The Outer Limits ("The Inheritors", 1964).

Death

He died at the age of 69 in Encino, California, from a heart attack. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Selected filmography

Year Title Role
1948 The Naked City Willie Garzah
1949 The Life of Riley Norman
It Happens Every Spring Jimmy Dolan
1951 Crazy Over Horses Duke
A Place In The Sun Judge R.S. Oldendorff
1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Capt. Farragut
Crime Wave 'Doc' Penny
1955 The Big Combo Bettini
1956 Slightly Scarlet Solly Caspar
The Conqueror Kumlek
The Killing Randy Kennan
Mohawk Indian Chief Kowanen
1957 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Shanghai Pierce
1957 The Joker is Wild Georgie Parker,(Danny Cohen)
1964 The Quick Gun Jud Spangler
1966 Nevada Smith Hudson (bartender)

References

  1. ^ a b "Harry Wismer Off On Sports Trek". Brownwood Bulletin. November 25, 1953. p. 6. Retrieved May 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ "Whistling Clown Sunday Mystery". Harrisburg Telegraph. March 2, 1940. p. 18. Retrieved May 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ Grunwald, Edgar A. (1938). Variety Radio Directory. Variety, Inc. p. 1284.