Cornel Wilde

Cornel Wilde(bornKornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut onBroadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited appearances in films. By the 1940s he had signed a contract with20th Century Fox, and by the mid-1940s he was a major leading man. He was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actorfor his performance in 1945'sA Song to Remember. In the 1950s he moved to writing, producing and directing films, and still continued his career as an actor. He also went into songwriting during his career.
Wilde was born in 1912in Privigye,Kingdom of Hungary(nowPrievidza, Slovakia),although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City.His Hungarian Jewish parents were Vojtech Béla Weisz (anglicized to Louis Bela Wilde) and Renée Mary Vid (Rayna Miryam). He was named for his paternal grandfather, and upon arrival in the United States via first class passage aboard Dutch steamerat the age of seven in 1920,his name was Anglicized to Cornelius Louis Wilde.
A talented linguist and an astute mimic, he had an ear for languages that would later appear in his acting career. Wilde enteredColumbia Universityin New York City as a freshman in the fall of 1929.  He fenced for theColumbia Lions fencing team, and won the National Novice Foils Championship held at theNew York Athletic Clubin 1929.
He qualified for the United Statesfencingteam for the1936 Summer Olympic GamesinThird ReichBerlin, but he quit the team before the games and took a role in the theater.In preparation for an acting career, he and his new wife Marjory Heinzen (later to be known asPatricia Knight) shaved years off their ages, three for him and five for her. As a result, most publicity records and subsequent sources wrongly indicate a 1915 birth for Wilde.
After studying at Theodora Irvine's Studio of the Theatre, Wilde began appearing in plays in stock and in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1935 inMoon Over Mulberry Street. He also appeared inLove Is Not So Simple,Daughters of Etreus, andHaving Wonderful Time.
He did the illustrations forFencing, a 1936 textbook on fencingand wrote a fencing play,Touché, under the pseudonym of Clark Wales in 1937.He toured withTallulah Bankheadin a production ofAntony and Cleopatra; during the run he married his co-star Patricia Knight.
Acting jobs were sporadic over the next few years. Wilde supplemented his income with exhibition fencing matches; his wife also did modelling work. Wilde wrote plays, some of which were performed by the New York Drama Guild.
Wilde was hired as a fencing teacher byLaurence Olivierfor his 1940 Broadway production ofRomeo and Julietand was given the role of Tybalt in the production. Although the show only had a small run, his performance in this role netted him a Hollywood film contract withWarner Bros.
Wilde had an uncredited bit part inLady with Red Hair(1940), then got a small part inHigh Sierra(1941), which included a scene withHumphrey Bogart. He also had small roles inKnockout(1941) andKisses for Breakfast(1941).
Wilde was then signed by20th Century Foxwho gave him a good role in a B pictureThe Perfect Snob(1941). It was followed by a war movieManila Calling(1942).  He was the romantic male lead inLife Begins at Eight-Thirty(1942), supportingMonty Woolley, and supportedSonja HenieinWintertime(1943).
In 1945,Columbia Picturesbegan a search for someone to play the role ofFrédéric ChopininA Song to Remember. They eventually tested Wilde, and agreed to cast him in the role after some negotiation with Fox, who agreed to lend him to Columbia and one film a year for several years. Part of the deal involved Fox borrowingAlexander Knoxfrom Columbia to appear inWilson(1944).A Song to Rememberwas a big hit, made Wilde a star and earned him a nomination for anAcademy Award for Best Actor.
Columbia promptly used him in two more films, both swashbucklers: asAladdininA Thousand and One NightswithEvelyn Keyesand as the son ofRobin HoodinThe Bandit of Sherwood Forest(made 1945, released 1946).
Back at Fox, he played the male lead inLeave Her to Heaven(1945), withGene TierneyandJeanne Crain, an enormous hit at the box office.Banditwas also a big hit when it was released.
In 1946, Wilde was voted the 18th-most popular star in the United States, and in 1947 the 25th-.Fox announced him forEnchanted Voyage.It ended up not being made; instead he was reunited with Crain in Fox's musicalCentennial Summer(1946).
In January 1946, Wilde was suspended by Fox for refusing the male lead inMargie(1946).This suspension was soon lifted so Wilde could play the male lead in the studio's big budget version ofForever Amber(1947). Filming started, then was halted when the studio decided to replacePeggy Cummins, the female star. In October 1946, Wilde refused to return to work unless he was paid more; his salary was $3,000 a week, with six years to run – he wanted $150,000 per film for two films per year.The parties came to an agreement and filming resumed. Wilde also appeared withMaureen O'HarainThe Homestretch(1947).
He was in a comedy at Columbia withGinger Rogers,It Had to Be You(1947). At Fox he turned down a role inThat Lady in Ermine(1948). Not wanting to go on suspension again he agreed to makeThe Walls of Jericho(1948), from the same director asLeave Her to Heavenbut less popular.Road House(1948), for Fox, was a highly regardedfilm noirand a decent-sized hit. He then left Fox, which he later regarded as a mistake.
At Columbia, Wilde was inShockproof(1949), another noir, with his then-wife Patricia Knight. They appeared together inWestern Wind, a play at the Cape Playhouse.
Wilde madeSwiss Tour, akaFour Days Leave(1949), an independent film in Switzerland. He returned to Fox forTwo Flags West(1950), then went to RKO forAt Sword's Point(filmed in 1949, but not released until 1952), a swashbuckler with Maureen O'Hara.
Cast in the male lead, he played a trapeze artist inThe Greatest Show on Earth(1952) forCecil B. de Mille, an enormous ensemble cast hit.
At Columbia, he was inCalifornia Conquest(1952), a Western for producerSam Katzman. He went over to Warner Bros. forOperation Secret(1952), then was back at Fox forTreasure of the Golden Condor(1952).
He focused on adventure stories:Saadia(1953) for MGM,Star of India(1954) for United Artists. He had a part in the all-star executive dramaWoman's World(1954) for Fox, then went back to action and adventure withPassion(1954) for RKO.
In the 1950s Wilde and his second wife,Jean Wallace, formed their own film production company, Theodora, named after Theodora Irvine. Their first movie was the film noirThe Big Combo(1955), a co production with Security Pictures that was released through Allied Artists. Wilde and Wallace played the leads. That year he also directed an episode ofGeneral Electric Theatre.
That same year, he appeared in an episode ofI Love Lucyas himself and starred inThe Scarlet Coat(1956) for MGM.
Wilde produced and starred in another film for Theodora with Wallace,Storm Fear(1956) from a script byHorton Foote. This time Wilde also directed "to save money".
Theodora announced Wilde would playLord Byron, but the film was never made.Other announced projects includedCurlyandSecond Act Curtin.
Wilde was meant to appear as Joshua in de Mille'sThe Ten Commandments(1956) but was not in the final film – he turned down the role, saying it was too small and the pay was too little (John Derekended up playing it). Wilde later said it was his worst mistake because having even a small role in a big blockbuster would have given him career momentum.
As an actor only, he appeared inHot Blood(1956) withJane Russellfor directorNicholas Ray, andBeyond Mombasa(1956), shot in Kenya; both were released by Columbia. In 1957, he guest-starred in an episode ofFather Knows Bestas himself. Also in 1957, he played the role of the 13th centuryPersian poetOmar Khayyámin the filmOmar Khayyam.
Wilde produced, directed and starred in two films for Theodora that were released throughParamount Pictures:The Devil's Hairpin(1957), a car-racing drama, andMaracaibo(1958). Wilde called them "an acceptable A-B, meaning a picture with a B budget but A pretensions".
He had the lead inEdge of Eternity(1959) for directorDon Siegel.
Wilde went to Italy to star inConstantine and the Cross(1962). In Britain, he wrote, produced, directed and starred inLancelot and Guinevere(1963).
Wilde produced, directed, and starred inThe Naked Prey(1965), in which he played a man stripped naked and chased by hunters from an African tribe that was affronted by the behavior of other members of his safari party. The original script was largely based on a true historical incident about a trapper namedJohn Colterbeing pursued byBlackfeetIndians inWyoming. Lower shooting costs, tax breaks, and material and logistical assistance offered byRhodesiapersuaded Wilde and the other producers to shoot the film on location in Rhodesia (nowZimbabwe). It is probably his most highly regarded film as director.
Wilde followed this with a war movie,Beach Red(1967), shot in the Philippines.  He announcedNamugongo, another movie in Africa, about the White Fathers missionaries in the Kingdom of Buganda, but it was never made.He had a supporting role inThe Comic(1969), directed byCarl Reiner.
He wrote, produced, and directed the science fiction filmNo Blade of Grass(1970).  He returned to film shortly thereafter and wrote, directed, and starred in the exploitation filmSharks' Treasure, a 1975 film intended to capitalize on the "Shark Fever" popular in the mid-1970s in the wake of the success ofPeter Benchley'sJaws.
He acted inThe Norseman(1978) andThe Fifth Musketeer(1979).
Wilde's other TV performances include an appearance in the 1957 episode ofFather Knows Best"An Evening to Remember." He appeared as an unethical surgeon in the 1971Night Galleryepisode "Deliveries in the Rear" and portrayed an anthropologist in the 1972 TV movieGargoyles.
In 1937, he married actressPatricia Knight. She starred alongside him inShockproof(1949). Their daughter, Wendy, was born on February 22, 1943. The family lived at Country House on Deep Canyon Road, Los Angeles.They divorced in 1951.
Five days after his divorce, he married actressJean Wallace.Wilde became stepfather to Wallace's two sons, Pascal and Thomas, from her marriage toFranchot Tone.Their son, Cornel Wallace Wilde, was born on December 19, 1967. Wilde senior and Wallace starred together in several films includingThe Big Combo(1955),Lancelot and Guinevere(1963), andBeach Red(1967). They divorced in 1981.
At the time of his death in 1989 he was engaged to Colleen Conte, the widow of actorRichard Conte.Richard Conte had starred in Wilde's filmThe Big Combo.
ADemocrat, Wilde supported the campaign ofAdlai Stevensonduring the1952 presidential election.
Wilde died ofleukemiaon October 16, 1989, three days after his 77th birthday and just weeks after he had been diagnosed with the blood disease. He is interred in theWestwood Village Memorial Park CemeteryinWestwood, Los Angeles.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Cornel Wilde has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameat 1635Vine Street.