John Hoyt
Encyclopedia
John Hoyt was an American film, stage, and television actor.
's Mercury Theatre
, the Yale University
graduate worked as a history instructor, acting teacher and even (under his birth name) a nightclub comedian. In the later activity, Hoyt performed impressions of famous entertainers. His impersonation of Noël Coward
was so remarkable that he was hired for the original cast of the Broadway comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner
, in which he played Beverley Carlton. Hoyt soon shortened his surname when he began his movie career.
, in a number of guest roles on Hogan's Heroes
, and as Dr. Philip Boyce in a pilot episode of Star Trek
("The Cage
"). Hoyt appeared twice during the second season of The Twilight Zone
, in the episodes "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up
" and "The Lateness of the Hour
". He also appeared as the KAOS agent Conrad Bunny in the Get Smart
episode, "Our Man in Toyland", and as Dr. Mendoza in The Monkees
episode "I Was a Teenage Monster". His last screen role was as Grandpa in Nell Carter
's TV series Gimme a Break!
.
Hoyt appeared in one Shakespearean
film, MGM's Julius Caesar
, reprising the role of Decius Brutus (a.k.a Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus
), which he had played in the 1937 Mercury Theatre production. In 1953, he portrayed Elijah in the biblical film Sins of Jezebel
.
Early life
Hoyt was born John McArthur Hoysradt. Before becoming an actor with Orson WellesOrson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
's Mercury Theatre
Mercury Theatre
The Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After a string of live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theatre progressed into their best-known period as The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a radio series that included one of the...
, the Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
graduate worked as a history instructor, acting teacher and even (under his birth name) a nightclub comedian. In the later activity, Hoyt performed impressions of famous entertainers. His impersonation of Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
was so remarkable that he was hired for the original cast of the Broadway comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
, in which he played Beverley Carlton. Hoyt soon shortened his surname when he began his movie career.
Television and film
Hoyt had a number of memorable roles - as an industrialist in When Worlds CollideWhen Worlds Collide (film)
When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1933 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The film was shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects....
, in a number of guest roles on Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
, and as Dr. Philip Boyce in a pilot episode of Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
("The Cage
The Cage (TOS episode)
"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 , but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler...
"). Hoyt appeared twice during the second season of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
, in the episodes "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up
Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up
"Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:During a snowstorm, two state troopers are investigating a crash after a woman telephoned them and are led to believe that it was a flying saucer...
" and "The Lateness of the Hour
The Lateness of the Hour
"The Lateness of the Hour" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone that was originally broadcast in the United States on December 2, 1960.-Synopsis:...
". He also appeared as the KAOS agent Conrad Bunny in the Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
episode, "Our Man in Toyland", and as Dr. Mendoza in The Monkees
The Monkees (TV series)
The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
episode "I Was a Teenage Monster". His last screen role was as Grandpa in Nell Carter
Nell Carter
Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...
's TV series Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:...
.
Hoyt appeared in one Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
film, MGM's Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (1953 film)
Julius Caesar is an 1953 MGM film adaptation of the play by Shakespeare, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also wrote the uncredited screenplay, and produced by John Houseman. The original music score is by Miklós Rózsa...
, reprising the role of Decius Brutus (a.k.a Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus
Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus
Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was a Roman politician and general of the 1st century BC and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination...
), which he had played in the 1937 Mercury Theatre production. In 1953, he portrayed Elijah in the biblical film Sins of Jezebel
Sins of Jezebel
Sins of Jezebel is a 1953 film based on the Biblical story of Jezebel, the Phoenician princess whose influence corrupted King Ahab of Israel in the mid 9th century BC.-Cast:*Paulette Goddard as Jezebel*George Nader as Jehu*Eduard Franz as Ahab...
.
Partial filmography
- O.S.S.O.S.S. (film)O.S.S. is a 1946 war film starring Alan Ladd, Colton Winters and Geraldine Fitzgerald about the Office of Strategic Services....
(1946) (film debut) - My Favorite BrunetteMy Favorite BrunetteMy Favorite Brunette is a 1947 movie spoofing movie detectives and the film noir style. Starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, it also features Lon Chaney, Jr...
(1947) - The UnfaithfulThe UnfaithfulThe Unfaithful is a 1947 film noir based on the W. Somerset Maugham penned 1940 Bette Davis movie The Letter. The film was directed by Vincent Sherman.-Plot:Chris Hunter stabs a man in her home one night while her husband Bob is out of town...
(1947) - Brute ForceBrute Force (1947 film)Brute Force is a brooding, brutal film noir, starring Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn and Charles Bickford. It was directed by Jules Dassin, with a screenplay by Richard Brooks and the cinematography by William H. Daniels....
(1947) - To the Ends of the EarthTo the Ends of the Earth (film)To the Ends of the Earth is an American crime film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Sidney Buchman and Jay Richard Kennedy. The drama features Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, and others.-Plot:...
(1948) - Winter MeetingWinter MeetingWinter Meeting is a 1948 American drama film directed by Bretaigne Windust. The screenplay by Catherine Turney is based on the novel of the same title by Grace Zaring Stone, writing under the pseudonym Ethel Vance.-Synopsis:...
(1948) - The BribeThe BribeThe Bribe is an American crime film noir directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a story written by Frederick Nebel...
(1949) - The Lady GamblesThe Lady GamblesThe Lady Gambles is a 1949 drama film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Preston. A woman accompanies her husband to Las Vegas and becomes addicted to gambling.-Cast:*Barbara Stanwyck as Joan Phillips Boothe*Robert Preston as David Boothe...
(1949) - TrappedTrapped (1949 film)Trapped is a semidocumentary film noir directed by Richard Fleischer, written by George Zuckerman and Earl Felton. The drama features Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt, and others....
(1949) - Everybody Does ItEverybody Does ItEverybody Does It is a 1949 comedy film starring Paul Douglas, Linda Darnell and Celeste Holm.In the film, a businessman's wife tries to become an opera star, failing miserably due to her lack of talent...
(1949) - The LawlessThe LawlessThe Lawless is a 1950 American drama film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Macdonald Carey, Gail Russell and Johnny Sands. A newspaper editor in California becomes concerned about the plight of the state's fruit pickers, mostly illegal immigrants from Mexico...
(1950) - QuebecQuebec (1951 film)Quebec is a 1951 American historical drama film directed by George Templeton and written by Alan Le May set in 1837. It stars John Drew Barrymore and centers on a fictional account of the Patriotes Rebellion...
(1951) - Lost ContinentLost Continent (1951 film)The Lost Continent is an American science fiction film, starring Cesar Romero and Hillary Brooke directed by Sam Newfield and produced by his brother Sigmund Neufeld. This low budget independent film was shot in eleven days. The footage on the plateau where the dinosaurs lived was printed with...
(1951) - The Desert Fox: The Story of RommelThe Desert Fox: The Story of RommelThe Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel is a 1951 biographical film about Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in the later stages of World War II. It stars James Mason in the title role, was directed by Henry Hathaway, and was based on the book Rommel by Brigadier Desmond Young, who served in the Indian Army in...
(1951) - When Worlds CollideWhen Worlds Collide (film)When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1933 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The film was shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects....
(1951) - The Black CastleThe Black CastleThe Black Castle is a mystery film, released by Universal Pictures in 1952. It was produced by William Alland, who would have better success two years later with Creature from the Black Lagoon...
(1952) - Androcles and the Lion (1952)
- Julius CaesarJulius Caesar (1953 film)Julius Caesar is an 1953 MGM film adaptation of the play by Shakespeare, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also wrote the uncredited screenplay, and produced by John Houseman. The original music score is by Miklós Rózsa...
(1953) - Sins of JezebelSins of JezebelSins of Jezebel is a 1953 film based on the Biblical story of Jezebel, the Phoenician princess whose influence corrupted King Ahab of Israel in the mid 9th century BC.-Cast:*Paulette Goddard as Jezebel*George Nader as Jehu*Eduard Franz as Ahab...
(1953) - Casanova's Big NightCasanova's Big NightCasanova's Big Night is a comedy film starring Bob Hope and Joan Fontaine, which is a spoof of swashbuckling historical adventure films. It was directed by Norman Z. McLeod.Hope plays a man who impersonates Giacomo Casanova, the great lover...
(1954) - The Student PrinceThe Student Prince (film)The Student Prince is a 1954 CinemaScope color film musical featuring, as the credits read, "the singing voice of Mario Lanza". Lanza had become embroiled in a bitter dispute with MGM during production and the studio dismissed him. Under the terms of the settlement with Lanza, MGM retained the...
(1954) - Désirée (1954)
- The Big ComboThe Big ComboThe Big Combo is an American film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stylistically photographed by cinematographer and noir icon John Alton with music by David Raksin....
(1955)
- Blackboard JungleBlackboard JungleBlackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
(1955) - MoonfleetMoonfleet (1955 film)Moonfleet is a 1955 film directed by Fritz Lang which was inspired by the novel Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner, although significant alterations were made in the characters and plot....
(1955) - TrialTrial (1955 film)Trial is a 1955 American film directed by Mark Robson and written by Don Mankiewicz . It stars Glenn Ford, Dorothy McGuire, Arthur Kennedy and Juano Hernandez...
(1955) - Forever, DarlingForever, DarlingForever, Darling is a 1956 American romantic comedy film with fantasy overtones, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and James Mason, and directed by Alexander Hall...
(1956) - The ConquerorThe Conqueror (film)The Conqueror is a 1956 CinemaScope epic film produced by Howard Hughes and starring John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. Other performers included Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and Pedro Armendáriz. Directed by actor/director Dick Powell, the film was principally shot near St...
(1956) - Death of a ScoundrelDeath of a ScoundrelDeath of a Scoundrel is a 1956 film starring George Sanders, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Yvonne De Carlo. It was written and directed by Charles Martin.Death of a Scoundrel is a fictionalized adaptation of the life and mysterious death of Serge Rubenstein....
(1956) - Telephone TimeTelephone TimeTelephone Time is the title of a US TV drama series that aired from 1956 to 1958 featuring plays by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons...
(1 episode, 1957) - Baby Face NelsonBaby Face Nelson (film)Baby Face Nelson is a 1957 film directed by Don Siegel, starring Mickey Rooney as Baby Face Nelson, and featuring Leo Gordon as John Dillinger.-Cast:Mickey Rooney ... Lester M. 'Baby Face Nelson' Gillis Carolyn Jones ... Sue...
(1957) - Attack of the Puppet PeopleAttack of the Puppet PeopleAttack of the Puppet People is a 1958 American black-and-white science fiction Horror film directed, produced and written by Bert I. Gordon. It stars John Hoyt as an eccentric doll maker...
(1958) - Never So FewNever So FewNever So Few 1959 CinemaScope war film directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Charles Bronson, Dean Jones and Steve McQueen with uncredited roles by renowned Asian actors Mako, George Takei and James Hong. The script was loosely based on an actual OSS...
(1959) - SpartacusSpartacus (film)Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast...
(1960) - Merrill's MaraudersMerrill's Marauders (film)Merrill's Marauders is a 1962 Cinemascope war film directed and co-written by Samuel Fuller based on the exploits of the jungle warfare unit of the same name in the Burma Campaign. The source is the non-fiction book The Marauders, written by Charlton Ogburn Jr., a communications officer who served...
(1962) - CleopatraCleopatra (1963 film)Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963) - XX (1963 film)X is a 1963 science fiction/horror motion picture.Directed by Roger Corman from a script by Ray Russell and Robert Dillon, X stars Ray Milland as Dr. James Xavier. A world renowned scientist, Dr. Xavier experiments with X-ray vision and things go horribly wrong...
, also known as X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) - The Glass Cage (1964)
- The Time TravelersThe Time Travelers (1964 film)The Time Travelers is a science fiction film directed by B-movie director Ib Melchior that inspired the 1966 TV series The Time Tunnel as well as the 1967 remake Journey to the Center of Time...
(1964) - Two on a GuillotineTwo on a GuillotineTwo on a Guillotine is a 1965 American horror/thriller film produced and directed by William Conrad. The screenplay by John Kneubuhl and Henry Slesar is based on a story by Slesar.-Plot synopsis:...
(1965) - Duel at DiabloDuel at DiabloDuel at Diablo is a 1966 western film starring James Garner in his first Western since leaving Maverick and Sidney Poitier in his first Western. Based on Marvin H. Albert's 1957 novel Apache Rising, the film was written by Albert and Michael M. Grilikhes and directed by Ralph Nelson who had...
(1966) - Flesh GordonFlesh GordonFlesh Gordon is a 1974 American science fiction adventure comedy film. It is an erotic spoof of the Flash Gordon serial films from the 1930s. The screenplay was written by Michael Benveniste, who also co-directed the film with Howard Ziehm...
(1974) - Desperately Seeking SusanDesperately Seeking SusanDesperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.-Plot:...
(1985)