William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered in films for the title role in "The Babe Ruth Story". He also portrayed the clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in both the radio and television versions of "The Life of Riley". He received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for "Wake Island" (1942). Bendix was a frequent co-star of Alan Ladd, the two appearing in ten films together; both actors coincidentally died in 1964.