Trax Colton
{{Short description|American former motion picture actor|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Trax Colton publicity photo circa 1962.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Louis A. Morelli
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1929|5|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Highland Park, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1960–1962
}}
{{Quote box
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| quote = One afternoon last year, a young actor named Louis Morelli walked into an office in Hollywood. When he walked out, his name was Trax Colton. No one had ever heard of him before, and no one has heard of him since.
| source = — Time magazine on 23 March 1962}}
{{Quote box
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| quote = A lad billed as Trax Colton may be our next matinee idol.
| source = — Dorothy Kilgallen on 22 March 1961{{cite news |via=Newspapers.com |title= Ginger Will Be TV Fashion Plate|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/19828256/?terms=Trax%2BColton |agency=King Features |newspaper=Daily Reporter of Dover, Ohio |date=22 March 1961 }}{{subscription required}}}}
Trax Colton (born Louis A. Morelli; May 26, 1929) is an American former motion picture actor who appeared in two films as a contract player for 20th Century Fox between 1960 and 1962.{{cite news|title=Egos: Melting the Pot|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829137,00.html|work=Time magazine|url-access=subscription |date=23 March 1962}}
Life and career
Colton was born on May 26, 1929, in Highland Park, New Jersey, to Catherine De Angelis and Angelo Morelli, both of Italy. He had a sister, Martha Morelli.{{cite web |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_A._Morelli_in_the_1930_US_census_living_in_Highland_Park,_New_Jersey.jpg |title= Louis Morelli in the 1930 US census living in Highland Park, New Jersey |date=1930 |access-date=2016-01-05 }} He was working as a used car salesman when he was discovered by Henry Willson, a Hollywood talent agent who had discovered Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Clint Walker, and Rory Calhoun, who changed his name to Trax Colton.{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/12/18/old_hollywoods_gay_pygmalion/?page=full|title=Old Hollywood's gay Pygmalion}}
Colton signed an exclusive contract with 20th Century Fox in 1960 and was given a small part in the film adaptation of The Marriage-Go-Round (1961), starring Susan Hayward and James Mason. Soon thereafter, he was given a lead role in It Happened in Athens, a comedy plotting the adventures surrounding a winner at the first modern Olympic games in 1896. He played Spiridon Loues, a Greek shepherd who enters the Olympics as a runner. It co-starred sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, whom Colton had a brief affair with during filming.{{cite book |author=James Robert Parish |title=The Hollywood Book of Breakups |date=20 December 2010 |page=259 |isbn=9781118040676 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSh2HyQ8OsQC&pg=PT259 }}{{cite book |author=Jocelyn Faris |title=Jayne Mansfield |year=1994 |page=92 |isbn=9780313285448 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAolFaC9PbIC&pg=PA92 }} After the picture wrapped, Hollywood columnist Mike Connolly said in a 1961 column that Colton was Fox Studios' new "combination Rudolph Valentino–Ty Power".{{cite news|last1=Connolly|first1=Mike|title=In Hollywood|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19610301&id=EJ5RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5533,317964&hl=en|access-date=30 December 2015|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=March 1, 1961}} In March 1961 Dorothy Kilgallen wrote that "his only other screen credit to date was a tiny role in Marriage-Go-Round but the female reaction around the nation was enough to give him a bigger chance" and speculated that Colton "may be our next matinee idol".
In November 1961, he screen tested for a film entitled Celebration for the part of a man who convinces Joanne Woodward to perform in a pornographic film.{{cite news |author= Mike Connolly |author-link= Mike Connolly (columnist) |title=Notes From Hollywood |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3969541/trax_colton/ |newspaper=Pasadena Independent |date=2 November 1961 }} Celebration had been the film's working title, it was eventually produced in 1963 as The Stripper with Robert Webber in the role.{{cite book|last1=Sanders|first1=Ed|title=Sharon Tate: A Life|date=2016|publisher=Da Capo Press|page=15|isbn=9780306822407|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCYoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15|access-date=January 23, 2016}}
It Happened in Athens was released in 1962, but by that time, Colton had been released from his studio contract and stopped making movies.
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | The Marriage-Go-Round | Crew Cut / Party Guest | |
| 1962 | It Happened in Athens | Spiridon Loues | (final film role) |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Trax Colton}}
- {{IMDb name|nm0173318}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160307035710/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/129380/Trax-Colton Trax Colton] at the New York Times
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colton, Trax}}
Category:American male film actors
Category:People from Highland Park, New Jersey