Max Showalter

Max Showalter
Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One of Showalter's memorable roles was as the husband of Jean Peters' character in the 1953 film Niagara.
Early life
Showalter was born in Caldwell, Kansas, the son of Elma Roxanna (Dodson) Showalter (1889–1953), a music teacher, and Ira Edward Showalter (1887–1953), who worked in the oil industry and was also a banker and farmer. As a toddler, he developed a desire for acting while accompanying his mother to local theatres where she played piano for silent movies. He served in the Army in World War II as an entertainer.
Stage
By the late 1930s, Showalter had multiple stage roles under his belt, including acting in productions of the Pasadena Playhouse. He soon made his Broadway debut in Knights of Song. Showalter also appeared in the traveling musical This Is the Army for two years and in other notable Broadway productions like Make Mine Manhattan and The Grass Harp. His most memorable stage role was as Horace Vandergelder in the Broadway hit show, Hello Dolly!. Showalter performed the role more than 3,000 times opposite Carol Channing, Betty Grable, and Ethel Merman.
Motion pictures and television
In the late 1940s, Showalter was signed to 20th Century Fox as a featured contract player. His name was changed by Fox's founder, Darryl F. Zanuck, to the more "bankable" Casey Adams.
He made his feature film debut in Always Leave Them Laughing (1949). He first appeared on live television in the short-lived musical variety series The Swift Show (1948–49), also known as The Lanny Ross Show.
Showalter's second feature film was the biopic With a Song in My Heart (1952), where he had a small role as a vaudeville performer. In the film, Showalter, along with David Wayne, sang the song "Hoe that Corn", which he also wrote. He appeared in Niagara (1953) alongside Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten. He made a cameo as a Life magazine photographer in another Monroe movie, Bus Stop, in 1956.
During the 1950s, Showalter appeared in television shows like The Loretta Young Show and Navy Log, in addition to films like Vicki (1953), Down Three Dark Streets (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Indestructible Man (1956) and Gunsmoke (1957) as "Barney Wales", the new husband of the title character "Mavis McCloud" (S3E7).
The following year, billed as Casey Adams, he appeared as Ward Cleaver in "It's a Small World", the original pilot for the 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver. The pilot was broadcast as an episode of the Studio 57 anthology series. He was replaced by Hugh Beaumont for the television series. Casey Adams also appeared in The Andy Griffith Show as antiques dealer Ralph Mason in the episode titled "The Horse Trader."
In the 1960s, Showalter reclaimed his original name and continued to land roles in such big-budget films as Elmer Gantry (1960), The Music Man (1962), and How to Murder Your Wife (1965). He worked through the 1960s and 1970s. He made six appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Carl Reynolds in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Curious Bride," murder victim Burt Stokes in "The Case of the Wandering Widow" in 1960, and Talbot Sparr in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Ugly Duckling." He made appearances in other television series like The Twilight Zone (as piano player Pat Riley in S3 E8 1961 "It's a Good Life"), The Lucy Show, Gunsmoke, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The New Phil Silvers Show, Bewitched, Dr. Kildare, Surfside 6, The Doris Day Show, Kojak, Police Story, The Bob Newhart Show, as well as in cult films, Lord Love a Duck, The Anderson Tapes and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the 1979 film 10, he famously played a pastor whose hobby was writing (bad) songs. He was also a regular cast member in the short-lived 1980 TV series, The Stockard Channing Show. Showalter made his last onscreen appearance in the John Hughes film Sixteen Candles (1984).
Composing
Showalter composed the music for Little Boy Blue, which opened at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California, on September 11, 1950. He also wrote the musical Go for Your Gun, which premiered in Manchester, England, in 1963.
Recording
In 1956, Showalter (as Casey Adams) recorded an album of his own music, Casey Adams Plays and Sings Max Showalter Songs (Foremost Records FML-1004). He was one of the artists featured on The Secret Garden, a 1988 CBS Special Products album containing performances of music from the musical of that title that "has played the repertory circuit in England."
Painting
Show business columnist Hedda Hopper reported in a 1963 newspaper column that Showalter had sold 139 paintings and would have his first one-man show.
Later years
In 1984, Showalter retired from acting and moved to an 18th-century farmhouse in Chester, Connecticut, near the area where he acted in the film, It Happened to Jane (1959). Showalter became involved in local musical theatre, including the Ivoryton Playhouse, and went on to produce, direct, write, and narrate the Christmas musical Touch of a Child. He spent much of his free time painting oil miniatures. Showalter was a good friend of actress Katharine Hepburn, who lived in nearby Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Personal life
In the 1950s, Showalter took a hiatus from his work in Hollywood, returning to Caldwell, Kansas, to care for his 15-year-old sister who was orphaned by the death of their parents in an automobile accident. Their deaths followed the death of Showalter's brother, Robert, in a car wreck two years earlier. After a few years he returned to Hollywood and resumed his career.
Death
On July 30, 2000, Max Showalter died of cancer in Middletown, Connecticut. He was 83 years old.
Filmography
Always Leave Them Laughing (1949) as Comet Pen Salesman
With a Song in My Heart (1952) as Harry Guild
What Price Glory? (1952) as Lt. Moore
My Wife's Best Friend (1952) as Pete Bentham
Stars and Stripes Forever (1952) as Narrator (voice, uncredited)
Niagara (1953) as Ray Cutler
Destination Gobi (1953) as Walter Landers
Vicki (1953) as Larry Evans
Dangerous Crossing (1953) as Jim Logan
Night People (1954) as Frederick S. Hobart
Down Three Dark Streets (1954) as Dave Millson
Naked Alibi (1954) as Det. Lt. Fred Parks
The Return of Jack Slade (1955) as Billy Wilcox
Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Andy Leonard
Indestructible Man (1956) as Police Lt. Dick Chasen
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) (uncredited)
Bus Stop (1956) as Life Magazine Reporter
Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957) as Phillip Scott
Designing Woman (1957) as musical director (uncredited)
The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) as Dr. Tad Johns
Hellcats of the Navy (1957) (uncredited)
The Female Animal (1958) as Charlie Grant
The Naked and the Dead (1958) as Col. Dalleson
Voice in the Mirror (1958) as Don Martin
It Happened to Jane (1959) as Selwyn Harris
Elmer Gantry (1960) as Deaf Man (uncredited)
Return to Peyton Place (1961) as Nick Parker (uncredited)
Claudelle Inglish (1961) as Young Parson (uncredited)
Summer and Smoke (1961) as Roger Doremus
Bon Voyage! (1962) as The Tight Suit
The Music Man (1962) as Salesman on the Train (uncredited)
Smog (1962) as Paul Prescott
My Six Loves (1963) as B.J. Smith
Move Over, Darling (1963) as Hotel Desk Clerk
Mr. and Mrs. (1964) as Walter
Fate Is the Hunter (1964) as Dan Crawford
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) as Holmes
How to Murder Your Wife (1965) as Tobey Rawlins
Lord Love a Duck (1966) as Howard Greene
A Talent for Loving (1969) as Franklin
The Moonshine War (1970) as Mr. Worthman
The Anderson Tapes (1971) as Bingham
Bonnie's Kids (1973) as Frank
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) as Ernest Shears
10 (1979) as Reverend
Racing with the Moon (1984) as Mr. Arthur, Piano Teacher
Sixteen Candles (1984) as Fred (final film role)
Television
The Swift Show (1948–1949) as Regular (1949)
TV Reader's Digest (1 episode, 1954)
The Loretta Young Show (4 episodes, 1954–1955)
The Return of Jack Slade (1955)
The 20th Century Fox Hour (1 episode, 1956) as Barry
Navy Log (1 episode, 1956) as Lieutenant Sloane
Matinee Theatre (1 episode, 1956)
Star Stage (1 episode, 1956) as Pete
The Gale Storm Show (1956) as Orchestra Leader
Crossroads (1 episode, 1956) as Deavers / Bannister
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (1 episode, 1957) as Capt. John West
Leave It to Beaver (1 episode, 1957) as Ward Cleaver
Code 3 (1 episode, 1957)
Gunsmoke (1 episode, 1957) as Barney Wales
Mr. Adams and Eve (1 episode, 1958) as Dovey
General Electric Theater (2 episode, 1959–1962) as Joe Malone / Will Henderson
The Thin Man (1 episode, 1959) as Paul Cameron
The David Niven Show (1 episode, 1959) as Big Guy
The Andy Griffith Show (1 episode, 1961) as Ralph Mason
Stagecoach West (1 episode, 1961) as David Harkness
Follow the Sun (1 episode, 1961) as Don Hinkley
The Twilight Zone (1 episode, 1961) as Pat Riley
Surfside 6 (1 episode, 1962) as Ned Martin
Sam Benedict (1 episode, 1963) as John Buchanan
Dr. Kildare (2 episodes, 1962–1964) as Rulon Murphy / Ben Ballard
Hazel (3 episodes, 1963-1964) as Mr. Blackpool; Mr. Starkey; Mr. Berry.
The New Phil Silvers Show (1 episode, 1963) as Frank
The Lucy Show (1 episode, 1964) as Vinnie / Vinnie Meyers
Perry Mason (6 episodes, 1958–1965) as Charles Judd / Talbot Sparr / Clarence Henry / Frank Logan / Burt Stokes / Carl Reynolds
Bewitched (1 episode, 1965) as Charles Barlow
The Doris Day Show (1 episode, 1969) as Greg Fletcher
Police Story (1 episode, 1975) as Attorney John Barron
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1975) as J. B. Biggley
Kojak (1 episode, 1975) as Quinlan
The Bob Newhart Show (1 episode, 1977) as Dr. Morgan
Quincy M.E. (1 episode, 1978) as Dr. Milton Gold
The Stockard Channing Show (11 episodes, 1980) as Gus Clyde
The Incredible Hulk (1 episodes, 1980) as Walter Gamble
The Love Boat (2 episodes, 1982–1983) as Jarvis Holden / Herman Baker
References
External links
1917 births
2000 deaths
People from Caldwell, Kansas
Military personnel from Kansas
Male actors from Kansas
American male television actors
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male stage actors
United States Army personnel of World War II
People from Chester, Connecticut
Deaths from cancer in Connecticut
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers