...overriding the basic theme of unrestrained greed...lurks the sad spectre of a slurring obviously intoxicated veteran actor Wendell Corey...
...born the son of a Congregational pastor, Corey later worked as a summer stock actor with the Federal Theater Preject, a part of FDR's Works Progress Administration...
...after a run of on and off-Broadway theater roles starting in the early 40's, he was noticed by Hal Wallis, former Warner Bros. Production chief, then working as an independent producer at Paramount...which signed him to a contract in 1946...
...he debuted in 1947's "Desert Fury", and then proceeded on a prolific career as a suppporting actor in dozens of A-list studio films and later in scores of television series during the early 60's...
...by the time of this episode, Corey's alcoholism was on full display...
...like another long-time FDR Democrat, Ronald Reagan, Corey became a conservative Southern California Republican...and like Reagan, also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and was later elected to the Santa Monica City Council...
...Corey's severe alcoholism culminated in his death in November '68 at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills...he was only 54 years old...
...though recognized for his acting ability, he was often an arrogant and abrasive personality...and as with so many actors of his generation, substance abuse ended his career...and his life...far too early...
...born the son of a Congregational pastor, Corey later worked as a summer stock actor with the Federal Theater Preject, a part of FDR's Works Progress Administration...
...after a run of on and off-Broadway theater roles starting in the early 40's, he was noticed by Hal Wallis, former Warner Bros. Production chief, then working as an independent producer at Paramount...which signed him to a contract in 1946...
...he debuted in 1947's "Desert Fury", and then proceeded on a prolific career as a suppporting actor in dozens of A-list studio films and later in scores of television series during the early 60's...
...by the time of this episode, Corey's alcoholism was on full display...
...like another long-time FDR Democrat, Ronald Reagan, Corey became a conservative Southern California Republican...and like Reagan, also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and was later elected to the Santa Monica City Council...
...Corey's severe alcoholism culminated in his death in November '68 at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills...he was only 54 years old...
...though recognized for his acting ability, he was often an arrogant and abrasive personality...and as with so many actors of his generation, substance abuse ended his career...and his life...far too early...