Len Doyle | |
---|---|
Born | February 2, 1893 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | December 6, 1959, age 66 Port Jervis, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Spouse | Aggie |
Children | Terry Lee Dennis |
Len Doyle (February 2, 1893 - December 6, 1959) was an American actor on stage and in old-time radio. He is perhaps best known for playing investigator Harrington on Mr. District Attorney on radio and television. [1]
Doyle's birthplace was Toledo, Ohio, but when he was young the family moved to Port Jervis, New York. [2] He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. [1]
At one time, Doyle was a professional boxer. [3]
Doyle played Len Harrington, the investigator for the title character, in Mr. District Attorney. [4] He was in that role for 13 years—all but the first few months of the program's existence. [5]
Although he appeared in many plays and had offers of more starring roles on stage, Doyle said he preferred radio "because it's more fun than the theater and more people hear you". [6]
Doyle carried his role of investigator Harrington from radio to the television version of Mr. District Attorney. [7] The program ran October 1, 1951 - June 23, 1952, on NBC. [8]
Doyle debuted on stage in The Auctioneer when he was 17, and he acted with Pennsylvania's Lancaster Stock Company. [1] His early theatrical experiences included being "shipwrecked in the waters south of Australia" after a ship carrying an acting troupe was hit by a typhoon. [9] The group was rescued by an Antarctic expedition headed by Admiral Richard E. Byrd. [9]
In the 1930s, he appeared in a number of plays in New York City, including Shadow and Substance , The Time of Your Life , Three Men on a Horse , Night Hawk, Within Four Walls, and Family Upstairs. [9]
When Plan M, with Doyle in the cast, opened at the Belasco Theater February 20, 1942, its schedule included no shows on Wednesdays so that Doyle could continue in his role on Mr. District Attorney on radio. [10] In 1943, he was in a touring company of I'll Take the High Road, which had performances on Wednesdays but used an understudy in Doyle's place so that he could continue with the radio program. [11]
Doyle continued acting in plays in the 1950s, playing the father in The Righteous Are Bold on Broadway in 1955. [12] He also acted with troupes in venues such as the Elitch Gardens Theater in Colorado. [13]
Doyle and his wife, Aggie, were married "in a little New Jersey town" in August 1937. [14] They had three children, Terry, Lee, and Dennis. [14]
Doyle was described as "a tough, resourceful man in real life". [15] He was "an avid hunter and fisherman". [16] A 1939 newspaper article reported: "He has been Broadway's demon deer stalker for the last 15 years. Goes up every Fall to Sullivan County and always gets his buck." [17] During World War II, he used his own yacht to patrol part of the Atlantic coast for the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. [18]
Doyle died December 6, 1959, in Port Jervis, New York, while he was on a hunting trip. He was 66. [19]
Suspense is a radio drama series broadcast on CBS Radio from 1940 through 1962.
Mr. District Attorney is a radio crime drama produced by Samuel Bischoff that aired on NBC and ABC from April 3, 1939 to June 13, 1952. The series focused on a crusading district attorney initially known only as Mister District Attorney or Chief, and was later translated to television. On television, the attorney's name was Paul Garrett, and the radio version adopted the name in its final years when David Brian played the role. A key figure in the dramas was secretary Edith Miller.
Philip Joseph Christopher Aloysius Regan was an American actor and singer who later served time for bribery in a real estate scandal.
Arnold Moss was an American character actor. His son was songwriter Jeff Moss.
Robert Wesley Addy was an American actor of stage, television, and film.
Helen Menken was an American stage actress.
The year 1959 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.
Cathleen Cordell was an American film and television actress. She was described as "a lass born in Brooklyn with an Irish name and an English accent; educated in India and France."
Malcolm MacLeod Atterbury was an American stage, film, and television actor, and vaudevillian.
Margaret Ruth Draper was an American actress and international service worker.
Antoinette Olympe Bradna was a French dancer and actress, who emigrated to the United States where she lived for the rest of her life.
Bernardine Flynn was an American radio actress and announcer best known for playing the role of Sade Gook on the long-running comic radio serial Vic and Sade.
Nelson Case was an American radio and television announcer.
Alice Frost was an American actress. An inaugural member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre on radio and the stage, she later performed the role of Pamela North on the radio series Mr. and Mrs. North for nearly 10 years.
Staats Cotsworth was an American actor in old-time radio. He is perhaps best known for playing the title role in Casey, Crime Photographer.
Helen Claire was an actress on Broadway and in old-time radio.
Elspeth Thexton Eric was an American actress in old-time radio, "usually cast as the other woman in soaps and serials".
Dwight Weist, Jr. was an actor and announcer in the era of old-time radio.
Mandel Kramer was an American actor. As a voice actor, he is best known as the last Johnny Dollar from Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar radio show.
Rusty Lane, was a college professor who in his forties left academia to become a professional actor. He appeared in several Broadway productions during the 1940s and 1950s, including three years as an original cast member for Mister Roberts. He was in the original cast for another Tony award-winning play, The Desperate Hours. Lane also took up screen acting, performing in 21 films and making hundreds of televisions appearances from 1950 up through 1973, including as the star of the TV series Crime with Father, and as a regular cast member of the daytime serial The Clear Horizon.