Don Ameche

{{Infobox person

| name = Don Ameche

| image = Don Ameche 1964.JPG

| caption = Ameche on the set of International Showtime in 1964

| birth_name = Dominic Felix Amici

| birth_date = {{birth date|1908|5|31}}

| birth_place = Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1993|12|6|1908|5|31}}

| death_place = Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.

| resting_place = Resurrection Cemetery
Asbury, Iowa, U.S.

| alma_mater = Loras College
Marquette University
University of Wisconsin

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Actor
comedian
vaudevillian

}}

| years_active = 1928–1993

| party = Republican

| spouse = {{marriage|Honore Prendergast|1932|1986|reason=died}}

| children = 6

| relatives = Jim Ameche (brother)
Alan Ameche (cousin)

}}

Don Ameche ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|m|iː|tʃ|i}}; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993){{cite book|title=Who Was Who in America, 1993–1996, vol. 11|year=1996|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|location=New Providence, N.J.|isbn=0-8379-0225-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri11marq/page/5 5]|chapter=Ameche, Don|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri11marq}} was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, repertory theatre, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which led to the offer of a movie contract from 20th Century Fox in 1935.

In the 1950s he worked on Broadway and in television, and was the host of NBC's International Showtime from 1961 to 1965. Returning to film work in his later years, Ameche enjoyed a fruitful revival of his career, beginning with his role as a villain in Trading Places (1983). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cocoon (1985).

Early life

Don Ameche was born as Dominic Felix Amici on May 31, 1908, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His father, Felice Amici, was a bartender from Montemonaco, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy. His mother, Barbara Etta Hertel, was of Scottish, Irish, and German ancestry.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lslBAQAAIAAJ&q=barbara+Hertle+ameche|title=Who's who in the Theatre|first=John|last=Parker|year=1981|publisher=Pitman|isbn=9780810302358|access-date=16 December 2018|via=Google Books}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/08/obituaries/don-ameche-is-dead-at-85-oscar-winner-for-cocoon.html |work=The New York Times |first=Peter B. |last=Flint |title=Don Ameche Is Dead at 85; Oscar Winner for 'Cocoon' |date=1993-12-08}}{{cite web |url=http://www.happeningsmag.com/kcms/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4 |title=Happeningsmag.com-Don Ameche - Actors - Hall of Fame |access-date=2012-04-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718050911/http://www.happeningsmag.com/kcms/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4 |archive-date=2012-07-18 }} Ameche was the second-oldest of eight children, the others being: brothers Umberto (Bert), James (Jim Ameche), and Louis, and sisters Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary and Anna.1930 U.S. Federal Census; Kenosha, Kenosha, Wisconsin; Roll: 2577; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0017; Image: 716.0; FHL microfilm: 2342311{{cite web |url=http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=6061&iid=WIT625_1991-0409&fn=Felix&ln=Ameche&ssrc=&pid=23996165 |title=Ancestry.com |publisher=content.ancestry.com |access-date=2010-03-23}}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} Ameche attended Marquette University, Loras College, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where his cousin Alan Ameche played football and won the Heisman Trophy in 1954.{{cite encyclopedia |title=AMECHE, Don |encyclopedia=Who's Who in the Theatre |volume=1 |page=15 |publisher=Gale Research Company |year=1981 |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Herbert |issn=0083-9833}}

Career

File:Carmen Miranda em Uma Noite no Rio 1941.jpg in That Night in Rio (1941)]]

Ameche had done well in college dramatics at the University of Wisconsin, and when a lead actor for a stock company production of Excess Baggage did not turn up, a friend persuaded him to stand in for the missing actor. He enjoyed the experience and got a juvenile lead in Jerry For Short in New York, followed by a tour in vaudeville with Texas Guinan until she dropped him from the act, dismissing him as "too stiff".Palmer, R. Barton. "Don Ameche" in Thomas, Nicholas ed. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Vol. 3: Actors and Actresses, Detroit: St. James Press, 1992. p. 9.

Ameche then moved to Chicago, where "he began a radio career in 1930 on Empire Builders, a program broadcast from the Merchandise Mart. By 1932, Ameche had become the leading man on two other Chicago-based programs: the dramatic anthology First Nighter, and Betty and Bob, the latter considered by many to be the forerunner of the soap-opera genre."

Brought to Hollywood by 20th-Century Fox producer Darryl Zanuck, Ameche played mostly romantic leads paired with many of the top female stars of the era. In 1939, he played a lead character in comedy film Midnight (1939). He also played the title character in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) which led to the use of the word "ameche" as juvenile slang for a telephone. As noted by Mike Kilen in the Iowa City Gazette (December 8, 1993), "The film prompted a generation to call people to the telephone with the phrase: 'You're wanted on the Ameche.'"Kilen, Mike. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CR&p_theme=cr&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_field_label-0=Section&s_dispstring=ameche%20AND%20section(all)%20AND%20date(12/1/1993%20to%2012/13/1993)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=12/1/1993%20to%2012/13/1993)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(ameche)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no "Ameche's son in Iowa City recalls dad's legacy of joy"]. Iowa City Gazette. 8 December 1993. Such an identity between Ameche and the telephone was forged, that in the 1940 film Go West, Groucho Marx proclaims, "Telephone? This is 1870, Don Ameche hasn't invented the telephone yet."

Ameche was Alice Faye's leading man in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), then played another real-life figure, Stephen Foster, in Swanee River (1939). He did a third biopic, Lillian Russell (1940) with Faye, and was top billed in a war film, Four Sons (1940). He also starred in two popular musicals, Down Argentine Way (1940), which helped make stars of Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda, and Moon Over Miami (1941), also with Grable. In 1940, he was voted the 21st-most-popular star in Hollywood.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47308347 |title=FILM WORLD. |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=14 February 1941 |access-date=24 April 2012 |page=16 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Ameche did Heaven Can Wait (1943), Happy Land (1943), Wing and a Prayer (1944), and Greenwich Village (1944). In 1944, he reportedly earned $247,677 for 1943{{cite news|title=Don Ameche's $246,677|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety155-1944-07#page/n1/mode/1up|newspaper=Weekly Variety|date=5 July 1944|page=3}} ($4,495,498 in 2024 dollars),{{cite web |title=What is $247,677 in 1943 Worth Today |url=https://www.amortizationtable.org/inflation-calculator/247677/1943?to=2024 |website=Amortization Table |access-date=June 1, 2024}} making him the second highest earner at 20th Century Fox after Spyros Skouras {{cn|date=June 2024}}.

File:Don Ameche -1946.jpg

Following his appearances as announcer and sketch participant on The Chase and Sanborn Hour, Ameche achieved memorable success during the late 1940s playing opposite Frances Langford in The Bickersons, the Philip Rapp radio comedy series about a combative married couple. It began on NBC in 1946, moving to CBS the following year. He also had his own program, The Old Gold Don Ameche Show, on NBC Red in the early 1940s.{{cite magazine|title=Friday's Highlights|magazine=Radio and Television Mirror|date=July 1940|volume=14|issue=3|page=52|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/40/Mirror-1940-Jul.pdf|access-date=6 March 2015}}

In 1950 Ameche became the star of Holiday Hotel, on ABC-TV.{{cite magazine |date=August 12, 1950 |page=11 |title=Packard Signs Ameche for Fall Show |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_UDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Holiday+Hotel%22+ABC&pg=PA11 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=July 30, 2022}}

Ameche appeared regularly in films until 1970, as he shifted to television and the stage. He returned to films after thirteen years with Trading Places (1983), where he was cast when director John Landis had someone in mind from the 1930s and 1940s who had not played many villainous roles and came upon Ameche (after Ray Milland was passed over due to not being able to pass the insurance physical).{{cite web |last1=Bland |first1=Simon |title=Trading Places director John Landis says 'offensive' moments require perspective |url=https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/movies/trading-places-director-john-landis-offensive-moments-150956114.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAL28sWXhfTK6nZv_q2jGn_PAYVrktd7OYf31sy2M09rPR7ciJgOOahlzL8n9e4MtX3vKHV8jZFtSEl7e9xehxhhiY55eJeg3B-qiWmmDnv74SD43ZiKYn40M-EEdCkFS56PLv2s3SqRO-ZuSAqeGrB0VCD_z464lakHKKLOvjswp |website=Yahoo! Movies |date=14 December 2023 |publisher=Yahoo! |access-date=June 1, 2024}} After having to track him down in Santa Monica, California due to not being able to reach him through the Screen Actors Guild, who said that his royalty payments were going to his son in Arizona, Ameche took on the role. This started a comeback where Ameche would appear more regularly in films,{{Cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/80s-heroes-john-landis/|title='80s heroes: John Landis|date=July 17, 2016|website=Empire}} including Cocoon (1985, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Coming to America (1988), and Cocoon: The Return (1988).

He earned good reviews for the David Mamet and Shel Silverstein-penned Things Change (1988); The New York Times said that he showed "the kind of great comic aplomb that wins actors awards for other than sentimental reasons."Canby, Vincent. Things Change (1988) October 21, 1988 Review/Film; Mamet's Unwiseguys", New York Times movie review. His later credits included an episode of The Golden Girls (1990), the films Oscar (1991), Folks! (1992), and the voice of Shadow in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993). His final appearance was in the film Corrina, Corrina'' (1994), which was released posthumously.

Personal life

From 1946 to 1949, together with other Los Angeles entertainment figures including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Ameche owned the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference, a rival to the National Football League.

{{cite news

| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-sep-13-sp-dons13-story.html

| title = The Dons of L.A. Pro Sports

| work=Los Angeles Times

| date = 2006-09-13

| access-date = 2011-09-08

| first=Jerry

| last=Crowe

}} He was instrumental in forming and leading the ownership group the year before play began

{{cite web

|url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/AAFC/AAFC_Chronology.pdf

|title=AAFC Chronology

|publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association

|access-date=2011-09-08

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817093652/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/AAFC/AAFC_Chronology.pdf

|archive-date=2011-08-17

}} and initially served as team president.

{{cite web

| url = http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/25-06-1004.pdf

| title = The Coffin Corner Vol. 25 No. 6: Welcome To L.A.

| publisher = Professional Football Researchers Association

| access-date = 2011-09-08

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120511104824/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/25-06-1004.pdf

| archive-date = 2012-05-11

}}

Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986. They were separated from each other at the time of her death and Ameche didn't attend her funeral according to her 1986 obituary.{{cite news|first=Myrna|last=Oliver|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-don-ameche-19931208-snap-story.html|title=From the Archives: Don Ameche, Dapper Film Star, Dies at 85|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=1993-12-08 |access-date=2019-11-26}} They had six children.{{cite news|author=Peter B. Flint|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/08/obituaries/don-ameche-is-dead-at-85-oscar-winner-for-cocoon.html|title=Don Ameche Is Dead at 85; Oscar Winner for 'Cocoon'|newspaper=nytimes.com |date=1993-12-08 |access-date=2019-11-26}} One of their four sons, Ron Ameche, owned a restaurant, "Ameche's Pumpernickel" in Coralville, Iowa. They had two daughters, Connie and Bonnie. Ameche's younger brother, Jim Ameche, also a well-known actor, died in 1983 at the age of 67.{{cite news|author=AP|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/06/obituaries/jim-ameche-dies-at-68-first-jack-armstrong.html|title=Jim Ameche Dies at 68; First 'Jack Armstrong'|newspaper=nytimes.com |date=1993-12-08 |access-date=2019-11-26}}

Ameche was Roman Catholic{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/things-change-for-don-ameche|title='Things Change' for Don Ameche |first=Roger|last=Ebert|website=www.rogerebert.com|date=14 December 2012 |access-date=16 December 2018}} and a Republican who supported the campaign of Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=don%20ameche | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013| publisher=Cambridge University Press}} and

Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election.Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, p. 34, Ideal Publishers

Death

On December 6, 1993, Ameche died at his son Richard Ameche's house in Scottsdale, Arizona, of prostate cancer

{{cite news

| last = Henkel

| first = John

| title = Prostate Cancer: New Tests Create Treatment Dilemmas

| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1370/is_n10_v28/ai_15955600/

| date = December 1994

| work = FDA Consumer

| publisher = BNET

| access-date = 2009-06-16

}}

at age 85.{{cite news|title= Oscar-winning Actor Don Ameche, 85|work=Chicago Tribune|date=1993-12-08|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/12/08/oscar-winning-actor-don-ameche-85/|access-date=2010-11-07|first=Kenan|last=Heise}}{{cite news|title=Don Ameche Is Dead at 85; Oscar Winner for 'Cocoon'|work=The New York Times|date=1993-12-08|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00612F83A550C7B8CDDAB0994DB494D81|access-date=2010-11-07|first=Peter B.|last=Flint}} He was cremated and his ashes are buried at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Asbury, Iowa.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=Don+Ameche&pg=PA424|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|first=Scott|last=Wilson|date=19 August 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476625997|access-date=16 December 2018|via=Google Books}}

Filmography

File:Don ameche ragtime1.jpg]]

File:Don Ameche in Down Argentine Way.jpg (1940)]]

=Film and TV=

class= "wikitable sortable" ! Year !! Title !! Role !! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1935	Clive of India	Prisoner in the Black Hole	Uncredited
1935	Dante's Inferno	Man in Stoke-Hold	Uncredited
1936	Sins of Man	Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli
1936	Ramona	Alessandro
1936	Ladies in Love	Dr. Rudi Imre
1936	One in a Million	Bob Harris
1937	Love Is News	Martin J. Canavan
1937	Fifty Roads to Town	Peter Nostrand
1937	You Can't Have Everything	George Macrae
1937	Love Under Fire	Tracy Egan
1938	In Old Chicago	Jack O'Leary
1938	Happy Landing	Jimmy Hall
1938	Alexander's Ragtime Band	Charlie Dwyer
1938	Josette	David Brassard Jr.
1938	Gateway	Dick Court
1939	data-sort-value="Three Musketeers, The" \| The Three Musketeers	D'Artagnan
1939	Midnight	Tibor Czerny
1939	data-sort-value="Story of Alexander Graham Bell, The" \| The Story of Alexander Graham Bell	Alexander Graham Bell
1939	Hollywood Cavalcade	Michael Linnett 'Mike' Connors
1939	Swanee River	Stephen Foster
1940	Lillian Russell	Edward Solomon
1940	Four Sons	Chris Bern
1940	Down Argentine Way	Ricardo Quintana
1941	That Night in Rio	Impersonator Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte
1941	Moon Over Miami	Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil (in Film)
1941	Kiss the Boys Goodbye	Lloyd Lloyd
1941	data-sort-value="Feminine Touch, The" \| The Feminine Touch	Prof. John Hathaway
1941	Confirm or Deny	'Mitch' Mitchell
1942	data-sort-value="Magnificent Dope, The" \| The Magnificent Dope	Dwight Dawson
1942	Girl Trouble	Pedro Sullivan
1943	Something to Shout About	Ken Douglas
1943	Heaven Can Wait	Henry Van Cleve
1943	Happy Land	Lew Marsh
1944	Wing and a Prayer	Flight Cmdr. Bingo Harper
1944	Greenwich Village	Kenneth Harvey
1945	It's in the Bag!	as himself	(cameo appearance)
1945	Guest Wife	Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker
1946	So Goes My Love	Hiram Stephen Maxim
1947	That's My Man	Joe Grange
1948	Sleep, My Love	Richard W. Courtland
1949	Slightly French	John Gayle
1954	Phantom Caravan	Lawrence Evans
1961	data-sort-value="Fever in the Blood, A" \| A Fever in the Blood	Senator Alex S. Simon
1966	Rings Around the World	Himself
1966	Picture Mommy Dead	Edward Shelley
1970	data-sort-value="Boatniks, The" \| The Boatniks	Commander Taylor
1970	Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came	Col. Flanders
1971	Columbo	Frank Simpson	Episode: "Suitable for Framing", Season 1
1975	McCloud	Rene Jauvert	Episode: The Man With The Golden Hat	\| 1983	Trading Places	Mortimer Duke
1985	Cocoon	Art Selwyn	Won Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
1986	data-sort-value="Masterpiece of Murder, A" \| A Masterpiece of Murder	Frank Aherne	TV movie
1987	Pals	Art Riddle / Arthur James Van Pelt	TV movie
1987	Harry and the Hendersons	Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
1988	Coming to America	Mortimer Duke	Cameo{{cite web \| url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094898/fullcredits \| title = Coming to America Full Cast and Crew \| publisher = Internet Movie Database}}{{cite web \| url = http://whatculture.com/film/5-best-cameos-in-film-history \| title = 5 Best Cameos in Film History \| date = 27 March 2013 \| publisher = What Culture Ltd.}}{{cite web \| url = http://mentalfloss.com/article/78669/10-royal-facts-about-coming-america \| title = 10 Royal Facts About 'Coming to America' \| first = Tara \| last = Aquino \| date = 16 April 2016 \| publisher = Mental Floss, Inc. \| location = New York City}}
1988	Things Change	Gino
1988	Cocoon: The Return	Art Selwyn
1990	Oddball Hall	G. Paul Siebriese
1990	data-sort-value="Golden Girls, The" \| The Golden Girls	Brother Martin	Episode: "Once in St. Olaf"
1991	Oscar	Father Clemente
1992	Folks!	Harry Aldrich
1992	Sunstroke	Jake
1993	Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey	Shadow	Voice; final film role and only voice role
1994	Corrina, Corrina	Grandpa Harry	Posthumous release

=Short subjects=

File:Alexanders ragtime band3.jpg (left), Alice Faye (center), Don Ameche and Tyrone Power (right) in a trailer for Alexander's Ragtime Band]]

Screen Snapshots: Stars at the Tropical Ice Gardens (1939)
Weekend in Hollywood (1947)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night at 21 Club (1952)

=Stage work=

Hazel Flagg (1954)
Silk Stockings (1955)
Holiday for Lovers (1957)
Goldilocks (1958)
13 Daughters (1961)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1966)
Henry, Sweet Henry (1967)
The Moon Is Blue (1972)
No, No, Nanette (1972)
Never Get Smart with an Angel (1977)
Mame (1978)
Life with Father (1979)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1981)
Our Town (1989) (replacement for Spalding Gray)

=Radio appearances=

Year	Program	Episode/source
class="wikitable"
1940	Lux Radio Theatre	Manhattan Melodrama{{cite magazine\|title=Those Were the Days\|magazine=Nostalgia Digest\|date=Winter 2011\|volume=37\|issue=1\|page=32}}
1947	Family Theater	"Flight from Home"{{cite magazine\|title=Those Were the Days\|magazine=Nostalgia Digest\|date=Winter 2013\|volume=39\|issue=1\|pages=32–41}}