Dan Dailey
Encyclopedia
Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American
dancer and actor
.
when very young, and appeared in vaudeville
before his Broadway
debut in 1937 in Babes in Arms
. In 1940, he was signed by MGM to make movie
s and, although his past career had been in musicals, he was initially cast as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm
. However, the people at MGM realized their mistake quickly and cast him in a series of musical film
s.
He served in the United States Army
during World War II
, was commissioned as an Army officer after graduation from Signal Corps Officer Candidate School
at Fort Monmouth
, NJ. He then returned Hollywood to more musicals. Beginning with Mother Wore Tights
(1947) Dailey became the frequent and favorite co-star of movie legend Betty Grable
. His performance in their film When My Baby Smiles at Me
in 1948 garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
.
In 1950, he starred in A Ticket to Tomahawk
, often noted as one of the first screen appearances of Marilyn Monroe
, in a very small part as a dance-hall girl. He portrayed baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean
in a 1952 biopic, Pride of St. Louis.
One of his most notable roles came in There's No Business Like Show Business
(1954), which featured Irving Berlin
's music and also starred Ethel Merman
, Marilyn Monroe
, Johnnie Ray
, and Donald O'Connor
, whose wife Gwen divorced O'Connor and married Dailey at about the same period.
As the musical genre began to wane in the mid-1950s, he moved on to various comedic and dramatic roles, including appearing as one of The Four Just Men (1959) in the Sapphire Films
TV series for ITV
, his television
series, The Governor & J.J.
and the NBC Mystery Movie series "Faraday & Company
". His sister was Another World
actress Irene Dailey
.
In the late 1960s Dan Dailey toured as Oscar Madison in a road production of The Odd Couple costarring Elliott Reid as Felix Unger and also featuring Peter Boyle as Murray the cop.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dancer and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Early life and career
Born in New York City on December 14, 1915, to James J. and Helen Dailey, both born in New York City. He appeared in a minstrel showMinstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
when very young, and appeared in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
before his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in 1937 in Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
. In 1940, he was signed by MGM to make movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and, although his past career had been in musicals, he was initially cast as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm
The Mortal Storm
The Mortal Storm is a drama film from MGM starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, and directed by Frank Borzage.-Production background:...
. However, the people at MGM realized their mistake quickly and cast him in a series of musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s.
He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was commissioned as an Army officer after graduation from Signal Corps Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....
at Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth was an installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The post covers nearly of land, from the Shrewsbury...
, NJ. He then returned Hollywood to more musicals. Beginning with Mother Wore Tights
Mother Wore Tights
Mother Wore Tights is a 1947 musical film starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey as married vaudeville performers. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was the highest grossing film of Grable's career up to that time, earning more...
(1947) Dailey became the frequent and favorite co-star of movie legend Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
. His performance in their film When My Baby Smiles at Me
When My Baby Smiles at Me
- Song :"When My Baby Smiles at Me", music by Bill Munro with words by Andrew B. Sterling and Ted Lewis, was published by Von Tilzer Publishing in 1920. It was the first big hit for clarinettist, vocalist and comedian Ted Lewis . Ted Lewis's jazz band recording in 1920, became his signature tune,...
in 1948 garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
In 1950, he starred in A Ticket to Tomahawk
A Ticket to Tomahawk
A Ticket to Tomahawk is a 1950 comedy/western film directed by Richard Sale and starring Dan Dailey and Anne Baxter.-Plot:In 1876 Dawson wants to prevent a train from getting to Tomahawk, Colorado on time, so to keep it from competing with his stage coach line. Kit Dodge Jr...
, often noted as one of the first screen appearances of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, in a very small part as a dance-hall girl. He portrayed baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean
Dizzy Dean
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....
in a 1952 biopic, Pride of St. Louis.
One of his most notable roles came in There's No Business Like Show Business
There's No Business Like Show Business (film)
There's No Business Like Show Business is a 20th Century Fox musical film that was released on December 16, 1954. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun....
(1954), which featured Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
's music and also starred Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
, and Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
, whose wife Gwen divorced O'Connor and married Dailey at about the same period.
As the musical genre began to wane in the mid-1950s, he moved on to various comedic and dramatic roles, including appearing as one of The Four Just Men (1959) in the Sapphire Films
Sapphire Films
Sapphire Films was a British television production company, active in the 1950s. Amongst their best-known series are The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, The Buccaners, and The Four Just Men produced for ITC Entertainment and screened on ITV in the UK, as well as being...
TV series for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, his television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series, The Governor & J.J.
The Governor & J.J.
The Governor & J.J. is a television series that ran from 1969 to 1970 on CBS in the United States and in Canada, where it ran on CBC. Selected episodes were rerun by CBS during the summer of 1972. It was produced by Talent Associates and CBS Productions...
and the NBC Mystery Movie series "Faraday & Company
Faraday & Company
Faraday & Company is a crime drama television series that was part of the NBC Mystery Movie. It lasted for only four episodes, which were rotated with Banacek, The Snoop Sisters, and Tenafly on Wednesday nights during the 1973-1974 season....
". His sister was Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
actress Irene Dailey
Irene Dailey
Irene Dailey was an American actress, perhaps best known for her work on Broadway and on daytime television.Dailey was born in New York City, the daughter of Helen Theresa and Daniel James Dailey...
.
Partial filmography
- The Mortal StormThe Mortal StormThe Mortal Storm is a drama film from MGM starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, and directed by Frank Borzage.-Production background:...
(1940) - HullabalooHullabaloo (film)Hullabaloo is a 1940 musical comedy film directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Nat Perrin. It stars Frank Morgan, Virginia Grey, Dan Dailey, Billie Burke, Donald Meek, Reginald Owen and Connie Gilchrist...
(1940) - Keeping CompanyKeeping CompanyKeeping Company is a 1940 drama film starring Frank Morgan as a real estate broker with three daughters who all have their own problems. The film was followed by This Time for Keeps .-Cast:*Frank Morgan - Harry C. Thomas...
(1940) - Lady Be GoodLady Be Good (1941 film)Lady Be Good is the title of an MGM musical film which was released in 1941.The film starred dancer Eleanor Powell along with Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Lionel Barrymore, and Red Skelton. It was directed by Norman Z. McLeod and produced by Arthur Freed...
(1941) - Mother Wore TightsMother Wore TightsMother Wore Tights is a 1947 musical film starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey as married vaudeville performers. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was the highest grossing film of Grable's career up to that time, earning more...
(1947) - You Were Meant for MeYou Were Meant for Me (film)You Were Meant for Me is a 1948 20th Century Fox musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon starring Dan Dailey and Jeanne Crain as a bandleader and his wife. Marilyn Monroe worked on the film as an uncredited extra.-See also:...
(1948) - When My Baby Smiles at MeWhen My Baby Smiles at Me- Song :"When My Baby Smiles at Me", music by Bill Munro with words by Andrew B. Sterling and Ted Lewis, was published by Von Tilzer Publishing in 1920. It was the first big hit for clarinettist, vocalist and comedian Ted Lewis . Ted Lewis's jazz band recording in 1920, became his signature tune,...
(1948) - Chicken Every SundayChicken Every SundayChicken Every Sunday is a 1949 American comedy film directed by George Seaton. The screenplay by Seaton and Valentine Davies is based on the 1944 play of the same title by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G...
(1949) - You're My EverythingYou're My Everything (film)You're My Everything is a 1949 film directed by Walter Lang. It stars Dan Dailey and Robert Young.-Cast:*Dan Dailey as Timothy O'Connor*Anne Baxter as Hannah Adams*Anne Revere as Aunt Jane*Stanley Ridges as Mr. Henry Mercer...
(1949) - When Willie Comes Marching HomeWhen Willie Comes Marching HomeWhen Willie Comes Marching Home is a 1950 World War II comedy film directed by John Ford and starring Dan Dailey and Corinne Calvet. It is based on the 1945 short story When Leo Comes Marching Home by Sy Gomberg.-Plot:...
(1950) - A Ticket to TomahawkA Ticket to TomahawkA Ticket to Tomahawk is a 1950 comedy/western film directed by Richard Sale and starring Dan Dailey and Anne Baxter.-Plot:In 1876 Dawson wants to prevent a train from getting to Tomahawk, Colorado on time, so to keep it from competing with his stage coach line. Kit Dodge Jr...
(1950) - My Blue HeavenMy Blue Heaven (1950 film)My Blue Heaven is a 1950 musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey.-Plot:Kitty Moran, a radio star finds out she is pregnant however she miscarries...
(1950) - Call Me MisterCall Me Mister (film)Call Me Mister is a 1951 musical film released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The feature was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and re-written from the Broadway version by Albert E...
(1951) - I Can Get It for You WholesaleI Can Get It for You Wholesale (film)I Can Get It for You Wholesale is a 1951 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Gordon. The screenplay by Abraham Polonsky is based on Vera Caspary's loose adaptation of the 1937 novel of the same title by Jerome Weidman.-Plot:...
(1951) - The Pride of St. LouisThe Pride of St. LouisThe Pride of St. Louis is a 1952 biographical film of the life of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean. It starred Dan Dailey as Dean, Joanne Dru as his wife, and Richard Crenna as his brother Paul "Daffy" Dean, also a major league pitcher.Guy Trosper was nominated...
(1952) - What Price Glory?What Price Glory? (1952 film)What Price Glory is a 1952 World War I film based on a 1924 play by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings, though it used virtually none of Anderson's dialogue. Originally intended as a musical, it was filmed as a straight comedy, directed by John Ford and released by 20th Century Fox on 22...
(1952) - The Girl Next DoorThe Girl Next Door (1953 film)The Girl Next Door is a 1953 musical comedy film directed by Richard Sale, released by 20th Century Fox, and, starred June Haver, Dan Dailey, and Dennis Day.The Girl Next Door, was June Haver's last film appearance...
(1953) - The Kid from Left FieldThe Kid from Left FieldThe Kid from Left Field is a 1953 baseball film starring Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft, and Billy Chapin. The film marked the reunion of Dailey and director Harmon Jones who had teamed up at 20th Century Fox a year earlier in another baseball film, the autobiographical The Pride of St. Louis.The film...
(1953) - There's No Business Like Show BusinessThere's No Business Like Show Business (film)There's No Business Like Show Business is a 20th Century Fox musical film that was released on December 16, 1954. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun....
(1954) - It's Always Fair WeatherIt's Always Fair WeatherFortunately, the original multitrack pre-recordings of the score survive to this day, having enabled Rhino Records to reissue the soundtrack in true stereo . The Original MGM soundtrack was released in 1991 by Sony Music....
(1955) - Meet Me in Las VegasMeet Me in Las VegasMeet Me in Las Vegas is an MGM musical comedy produced by Joe Pasternak and directed by Roy Rowland filmed in Eastman Color and CinemaScope. The film has a running time of 112 minutes.-Cast and crew:...
(1956) - The Wings of EaglesThe Wings of EaglesThe Wings of Eagles is a 1957 Metrocolor film about Frank "Spig" Wead and US Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is a tribute to Wead from his friend, director John Ford....
(1957) - The Wayward BusThe Wayward Bus (film)The Wayward Bus is a 1957 drama film released by 20th Century Fox that starred Jayne Mansfield, Joan Collins, Dan Dailey and Rick Jason. The film was based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck.-Production background:...
(1957) - PepePepe (film)Pepe is a 1960 film starring Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno in the title role, directed by George Sidney. A multitude of cameo appearances attempted to replicate the success of Mario Moreno's American debut, notably Around the World in Eighty Days, produced by Mike Todd in 1956.The film failed to...
(1960) - Hemingway's Adventures of a Young ManHemingway's Adventures of a Young ManHemingway's Adventures of a Young Man is a 1962 drama film directed by Martin Ritt based on the Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway, and featuring Richard Beymer as Adams.-Cast:*Richard Beymer as Nick Adams*Diane Baker as Carolyn...
(1962) - Las cuatro noches de la luna llena (Four Nights of the Full Moon) (1963), co-starring Gene TierneyGene TierneyGene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
In the late 1960s Dan Dailey toured as Oscar Madison in a road production of The Odd Couple costarring Elliott Reid as Felix Unger and also featuring Peter Boyle as Murray the cop.