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Cornel Wilde

The native form of this personal name is Weisz Kornél Lajos. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.

Cornel Wilde
A man wearing a suit and tie is smiling while looking towards the right.
Wilde in the 1940s
Born
Kornél Lajos Weisz

(1912-10-13)October 13, 1912[1]
Privigye, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Prievidza, Slovakia)
DiedOctober 16, 1989(1989-10-16) (aged 77)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeWestwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California
Other namesClark Wales, Jefferson Pascal
EducationColumbia University
Occupations
  • Actor
  • filmmaker
Years active1935–1987
Spouses
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(m. 1937; div. 1951)​
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(m. 1951; div. 1981)​
Children2

Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited appearances in films. By the 1940s he had signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, and by the mid-1940s he was a major leading man. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in 1945's A Song to Remember. In the 1950s he moved to writing, producing and directing films, and still continued his career as an actor. He also went into songwriting during his career.

Early life

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Wilde was born in 1912[2][3] in Privigye, Kingdom of Hungary (now Prievidza, Slovakia),[4][5] although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City.[6][7] His Hungarian Jewish parents were Vojtech Béla Weisz (anglicized to Louis Bela Wilde) and Renée Mary Vid (Rayna Miryam). He was named for his paternal grandfather, and upon arrival in the United States via first class passage aboard Dutch steamer[3] at the age of seven in 1920,[4] his name was Anglicized to Cornelius Louis Wilde.[2]

A talented linguist and an astute mimic, he had an ear for languages that would later appear in his acting career. Wilde entered Columbia University in New York City as a freshman in the fall of 1929. He fenced for the Columbia Lions fencing team, and won the National Novice Foils Championship held at the New York Athletic Club in 1929.[8]

He qualified for the United States fencing team for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Third Reich Berlin, but he quit the team before the games and took a role in the theater.[9][10] In preparation for an acting career, he and his new wife Marjory Heinzen (later to be known as Patricia Knight) shaved years off their ages, three for him and five for her. As a result, most publicity records and subsequent sources wrongly indicate a 1915 birth for Wilde.[citation needed]

Career

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Theatre

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After studying at Theodora Irvine's Studio of the Theatre, Wilde began appearing in plays in stock and in New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1935 in Moon Over Mulberry Street. He also appeared in Love Is Not So Simple, Daughters of Etreus, and Having Wonderful Time.

He did the illustrations for Fencing, a 1936 textbook on fencing[11] and wrote a fencing play, Touché, under the pseudonym of Clark Wales in 1937.[12] He toured with Tallulah Bankhead in a production of Antony and Cleopatra; during the run he married his co-star Patricia Knight.

Acting jobs were sporadic over the next few years. Wilde supplemented his income with exhibition fencing matches; his wife also did modelling work. Wilde wrote plays, some of which were performed by the New York Drama Guild.[13]

Wilde was hired as a fencing teacher by Laurence Olivier for his 1940 Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet and was given the role of Tybalt in the production. Although the show only had a small run, his performance in this role netted him a Hollywood film contract with Warner Bros.[12]

Films

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Wilde had an uncredited bit part in Lady with Red Hair (1940), then got a small part in High Sierra (1941), which included a scene with Humphrey Bogart. He also had small roles in Knockout (1941) and Kisses for Breakfast (1941).[14]

Wilde was then signed by 20th Century Fox who gave him a good role in a B picture The Perfect Snob (1941). It was followed by a war movie Manila Calling (1942). He was the romantic male lead in Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942), supporting Monty Woolley, and supported Sonja Henie in Wintertime (1943).

In 1945, Columbia Pictures began a search for someone to play the role of Frédéric Chopin in A Song to Remember. They eventually tested Wilde, and agreed to cast him in the role after some negotiation with Fox, who agreed to lend him to Columbia and one film a year for several years. Part of the deal involved Fox borrowing Alexander Knox from Columbia to appear in Wilson (1944).[15] A Song to Remember was a big hit, made Wilde a star and earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Columbia promptly used him in two more films, both swashbucklers: as Aladdin in A Thousand and One Nights with Evelyn Keyes[16] and as the son of Robin Hood in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (made 1945, released 1946).

Back at Fox, he played the male lead in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), with Gene Tierney and Jeanne Crain, an enormous hit at the box office. Bandit was also a big hit when it was released.

In 1946, Wilde was voted the 18th-most popular star in the United States, and in 1947 the 25th-.[17] Fox announced him for Enchanted Voyage.[18] It ended up not being made; instead he was reunited with Crain in Fox's musical Centennial Summer (1946).

In January 1946, Wilde was suspended by Fox for refusing the male lead in Margie (1946).[19] This suspension was soon lifted so Wilde could play the male lead in the studio's big budget version of Forever Amber (1947). Filming started, then was halted when the studio decided to replace Peggy Cummins, the female star. In October 1946, Wilde refused to return to work unless he was paid more; his salary was $3,000 a week, with six years to run – he wanted $150,000 per film for two films per year.[20] The parties came to an agreement and filming resumed. Wilde also appeared with Maureen O'Hara in The Homestretch (1947).

He was in a comedy at Columbia with Ginger Rogers, It Had to Be You (1947). At Fox he turned down a role in That Lady in Ermine (1948). Not wanting to go on suspension again he agreed to make The Walls of Jericho (1948), from the same director as Leave Her to Heaven but less popular. Road House (1948), for Fox, was a highly regarded film noir and a decent-sized hit. He then left Fox, which he later regarded as a mistake.

Freelance

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Wilde in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

At Columbia, Wilde was in Shockproof (1949), another noir, with his then-wife Patricia Knight. They appeared together in Western Wind, a play at the Cape Playhouse.[21]

Wilde made Swiss Tour, aka Four Days Leave (1949), an independent film in Switzerland. He returned to Fox for Two Flags West (1950), then went to RKO for At Sword's Point (filmed in 1949, but not released until 1952), a swashbuckler with Maureen O'Hara.

Cast in the male lead, he played a trapeze artist in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) for Cecil B. de Mille, an enormous ensemble cast hit.

At Columbia, he was in California Conquest (1952), a Western for producer Sam Katzman. He went over to Warner Bros. for Operation Secret (1952), then was back at Fox for Treasure of the Golden Condor (1952).

He focused on adventure stories: Saadia (1953) for MGM, Star of India (1954) for United Artists. He had a part in the all-star executive drama Woman's World (1954) for Fox, then went back to action and adventure with Passion (1954) for RKO.

Producer and director

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In the 1950s Wilde and his second wife, Jean Wallace, formed their own film production company, Theodora, named after Theodora Irvine. Their first movie was the film noir The Big Combo (1955), a co production with Security Pictures that was released through Allied Artists. Wilde and Wallace played the leads. That year he also directed an episode of General Electric Theatre.[22][23]

That same year, he appeared in an episode of I Love Lucy as himself and starred in The Scarlet Coat (1956) for MGM.[24]

Wilde produced and starred in another film for Theodora with Wallace, Storm Fear (1956) from a script by Horton Foote. This time Wilde also directed "to save money".[25]

Theodora announced Wilde would play Lord Byron, but the film was never made.[26] Other announced projects included Curly and Second Act Curtin.

Wilde was meant to appear as Joshua in de Mille's The Ten Commandments (1956) but was not in the final film – he turned down the role, saying it was too small and the pay was too little (John Derek ended up playing it). Wilde later said it was his worst mistake because having even a small role in a big blockbuster would have given him career momentum.[27]

As an actor only, he appeared in Hot Blood (1956) with Jane Russell for director Nicholas Ray, and Beyond Mombasa (1956), shot in Kenya; both were released by Columbia. In 1957, he guest-starred in an episode of Father Knows Best as himself. Also in 1957, he played the role of the 13th century Persian poet Omar Khayyám in the film Omar Khayyam.

Wilde produced, directed and starred in two films for Theodora that were released through Paramount Pictures: The Devil's Hairpin (1957), a car-racing drama, and Maracaibo (1958). Wilde called them "an acceptable A-B, meaning a picture with a B budget but A pretensions".[28]

He had the lead in Edge of Eternity (1959) for director Don Siegel.

Wilde went to Italy to star in Constantine and the Cross (1962). In Britain, he wrote, produced, directed and starred in Lancelot and Guinevere (1963).

Wilde produced, directed, and starred in The Naked Prey (1965), in which he played a man stripped naked and chased by hunters from an African tribe that was affronted by the behavior of other members of his safari party. The original script was largely based on a true historical incident about a trapper named John Colter being pursued by Blackfeet Indians in Wyoming. Lower shooting costs, tax breaks, and material and logistical assistance offered by Rhodesia persuaded Wilde and the other producers to shoot the film on location in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). It is probably his most highly regarded film as director.[29]

Wilde followed this with a war movie, Beach Red (1967), shot in the Philippines. He announced Namugongo, another movie in Africa, about the White Fathers missionaries in the Kingdom of Buganda, but it was never made.[30] He had a supporting role in The Comic (1969), directed by Carl Reiner.

He wrote, produced, and directed the science fiction film No Blade of Grass (1970). He returned to film shortly thereafter and wrote, directed, and starred in the exploitation film Sharks' Treasure, a 1975 film intended to capitalize on the "Shark Fever" popular in the mid-1970s in the wake of the success of Peter Benchley's Jaws.

He acted in The Norseman (1978) and The Fifth Musketeer (1979).

Wilde's other TV performances include an appearance in the 1957 episode of Father Knows Best "An Evening to Remember." He appeared as an unethical surgeon in the 1971 Night Gallery episode "Deliveries in the Rear" and portrayed an anthropologist in the 1972 TV movie Gargoyles.

Personal life

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In 1937, he married actress Patricia Knight. She starred alongside him in Shockproof (1949). Their daughter, Wendy, was born on February 22, 1943. The family lived at Country House on Deep Canyon Road, Los Angeles.[31] They divorced in 1951.[32]

Five days after his divorce, he married actress Jean Wallace.[33][34] Wilde became stepfather to Wallace's two sons, Pascal and Thomas, from her marriage to Franchot Tone.[35] Their son, Cornel Wallace Wilde, was born on December 19, 1967. Wilde senior and Wallace starred together in several films including The Big Combo (1955), Lancelot and Guinevere (1963), and Beach Red (1967). They divorced in 1981.[36]

At the time of his death in 1989 he was engaged to Colleen Conte, the widow of actor Richard Conte.[37] Richard Conte had starred in Wilde's film The Big Combo.

A Democrat, Wilde supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.[38]

Death

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Wilde died of leukemia on October 16, 1989, three days after his 77th birthday and just weeks after he had been diagnosed with the blood disease. He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles.[37]

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Cornel Wilde has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1635 Vine Street.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1937 The Rhythm Party Party Guest Short film
Uncredited
Exclusive Reporter Uncredited
1940 Lady with Red Hair Mr. Williams Uncredited
1941 High Sierra Louis Mendoza
Knockout Tom Rossi
Kisses for Breakfast Chet Oakley
The Perfect Snob Mike Lord
1942 Manila Calling Jeff Bailey
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty Robert Carter
1943 Wintertime Freddy Austin
1945 The Bandit of Sherwood Forest Robert of Nottingham
A Song to Remember Frédéric Chopin
A Thousand and One Nights Aladdin
Leave Her to Heaven Richard Harland
1946 The Bandit of Sherwood Forest Robert of Nottingham
Centennial Summer Philippe Lascalles
1947 The Homestretch Jock Wallace
Forever Amber Bruce Carlton
It Had to Be You George McKesson/Johnny Blaine
Stairway for a Star Jimmy Banks Utilized scenes from an unfinished 1940 film [39]
1948 The Walls of Jericho Dave Connors
Road House Pete Morgan
1949 Shockproof Griff Marat
1950 Two Flags West Captain Mark Bradford
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth The Great Sebastian
At Sword's Point D'Artagnan Jr.
California Conquest Don Arturo Bordega
Operation Secret Peter Forrester
1953 Treasure of the Golden Condor Jean-Paul
Main Street to Broadway Himself
Saadia Si Lahssen
1954 Star of India Pierre St. Laurent
Woman's World Bill Baxter
Passion Juan Obreón
1955 The Big Combo Lieutenant Leonard Diamond Also associate producer
The Scarlet Coat Major John Boulton
Storm Fear Charlie Blake Also director and producer
1956 Hot Blood Stephano Torino
Beyond Mombasa Matt Campbell
1957 Omar Khayyam Omar Khayyam
The Devil's Hairpin Nick Jargin Also director, writer and producer
1958 Maracaibo Vic Scott Also director and producer
1959 Edge of Eternity Les Martin
1961 Constantine and the Cross Constantine
1963 Lancelot and Guinevere Sir Lancelot Also director, writer (as Jefferson Pascal) and producer
1965 The Naked Prey Man Also director and producer
1967 Beach Red Captain MacDonald Also director, writer (as Jefferson Pascal) and producer
1969 The Comic Frank Powers
1970 No Blade of Grass Radio Voice Also director, writer (as Jefferson Pascal) and producer
1975 Sharks' Treasure Jim Carnahan Also director, writer and producer
1978 The Norseman Ragnar
1979 The Fifth Musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan
1985 Flesh and Bullets Police Captain

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1955 General Electric Theater Peter Maresy Episode "The Blond Dog"
1955 I Love Lucy Himself Episode "The Star Upstairs"[40]
1956 Star Stage Author Episode "Screen Credit"
1957 Father Knows Best Himself Episode "An Evening to Remember"
1958 Alcoa Theatre Damon Phillips Episode "Coast to Coast"
1960 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show Steve Roberts/German Captain/Count/Jaque/Sheik Episode "Around the World with Nellie Bly"
1961 General Electric Theater Rudy Alberti Episode "The Great Alberti"
1972 Night Gallery Dr. John Fletcher Episode "Deliveries in the Rear"
1972 Gargoyles Dr. Mercer Boley Television film
1978 Fantasy Island Daring Danny Ryan Episode "Charlie's Cherubs/Stalag 3"
1983 The Love Boat Edgar Dolan Episode "Youth Takes a Holiday/Don't Leave Home Without It/Prisoner of Love"
1986 The New Mike Hammer George Burnett Episode "Mike's Baby"
1987 Murder, She Wrote Duncan Barnett Episode "The Way to Dusty Death"

Radio appearances

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Year Program Episode/source
1946 Screen Guild Players "Wuthering Heights"[41]
1952 Hollywood Star Playhouse "The End of Aunt Edlia"[42]
1953 Cavalcade of America "Down Brake"[43]
1953 Suspense "The Mystery of Marie Roget"
1954 Suspense "Somebody Help Me"[41]

References

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  1. ^ United States Census 1930; Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1576; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 1009; Image: 1057.0. This record dated April 9, 1930, gives Wilde's birthplace as Hungary and his birth year as approximately 1912
  2. ^ a b "Cornel Wilde". Ancestry.com.
  3. ^ a b United States Census 1930; Manhattan, New York; Roll: 1576; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 1009; Image: 1057.0. This record dated April 9, 1930, gives Wilde's birthplace as Austrian-Hungarian Empire and his birth year as approximately 1912. Furthermore, it indicates his emigration to the United States as a first class passenger on a Dutch steamer in 1920.
  4. ^ a b List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States, S.S. Noordam, Passengers Sailing from Rotterdam, May 4, 1920, New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957. iProvo, Utah, 2010.
  5. ^ Air Passenger Manifest, Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. Flight 971/05, December 5, 1948. New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957. Provo, Utah, 2010. In this immigration record, Wilde gives his birthplace as Hungary and his birth year as 1912.
  6. ^ Flint, Peter B. (October 17, 1989). "Cornel Wilde, 74, a Performer and Film Producer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  7. ^ "Actor-Director Cornel Wilde Dies at 74". Los Angeles Times. October 16, 1989. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  8. ^ "Columbia Freshman Wins Novice Foils Championship". Columbia Daily Spectator. Vol. LIII, no. 44. November 27, 1929. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  9. ^ Tibbetts, John C.; Welsh, James M. (August 12, 2010). American Classic Screen Profiles. Scarecrow Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8108-7677-4.
  10. ^ Freese, Gene (September 11, 2017). Classic Movie Fight Scenes: 75 Years of Bare Knuckle Brawls, 1914-1989. McFarland. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4766-2935-3.
  11. ^ "Cornel Wilde adds new skill". The Washington Post. October 1, 1947. ProQuest 151896525.  
  12. ^ a b Ingram, Frances Cornel Wilde: Gentle Swashbuckler, Classic Images, February 5, 2009
  13. ^ Masters, M. (December 23, 1945). "Cornel Wilde strong on psychological drama". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ^ Hopper, Hedda (September 19, 1954). "That Wilde Man". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. V30.
  15. ^ Challert, Edwin (December 3, 1943). "Drama And Film". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 165466539. 
  16. ^ "Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes In New Technicolor Arabia". The Christian Science Monitor. July 13, 1945. p. 4.
  17. ^ Richard L. Coe (January 3, 1948). "Bing's Lucky Number: Pa Crosby Dons 4th B.O. Crown". The Washington Post.
  18. ^ "News of the Screen". The New York Times. March 27, 1945. ProQuest 107254401.  
  19. ^ Hopper, Hedda (January 11, 1946). "Studio suspends Cornel Wilde". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 165657309.  
  20. ^ "Fox's 'Forever Amber' in trouble again as Cornel Wilde holds out for salary rise". The New York Times. October 16, 1946. ProQuest 107755306.  
  21. ^ "Cornel Wilde from Hollywood". The Christian Science Monitor. August 5, 1949. ProQuest 508069729.  
  22. ^ Schallert, Edwin (March 15, 1955). "Jack Hawkins New Space Conqueror; French King Set for John Williams". Los Angeles Times. p. B7.
  23. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (June 22, 1954). "Palladium Stars Sought for Movie: History of Famous London Music Hall Would Include American Entertainers". The New York Times. p. 24.
  24. ^ Schallert, Edwin (June 23, 1954). "'Big Combo' Will Star Cornel Wilde; Vanessa Brown Debates Musical". Los Angeles Times. p. B7.
  25. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (March 7, 1955). "Theodora Plans Its Second Movie". The New York Times. ProQuest 113204307.  
  26. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (December 21, 1954). "Independents Buy Two New Stories". The New York Times. ProQuest 113000136.  
  27. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (September 5, 1954). "Hollywood Canvas". The New York Times. ProQuest 113071008.  
  28. ^ Bawden, James; Miller, Ron (2017). You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet: Interviews with Stars from Hollywood's Golden Era. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-7423-5.
  29. ^ "The Naked Prey". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  30. ^ "Cornel Wilde screenplay". Los Angeles Times. September 10, 1969. ProQuest 156304920.  
  31. ^ "Search | 1950 Census". Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  32. ^ "Mrs. Mary J. M'Elhiney Funeral at St. Charles". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 31, 1951. p. 21. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  33. ^ "Cornel Wilde Weds Jean Wallace". The New York Times. September 5, 1951. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  34. ^ "Patricia Knight". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  35. ^ "Cornel Wilde, Dashing Film Star, Dies at 74". Los Angeles Times. October 17, 1989. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  36. ^ Fowler, Glenn (February 18, 1990). "Jean Wallace, 66, Screen Actress Known for 1940's and 50's Roles". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  37. ^ a b "Movie star Cornel Wilde dead at 74". UPI. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  38. ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine. November 1952. page 33.
  39. ^ Sheppard, Gene (August 12, 2010). "Cornel Wilde". In Tibbetts, John C.; Welsh, James M. (eds.). American Classic Screen Profiles. Scarecrow Press. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-0-8108-7677-4.
  40. ^ "The Star Upstairs". IMDb. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  41. ^ a b "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. 42 (3): 34. Summer 2016.
  42. ^ Kirby, Walter (December 14, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 54. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  43. ^ Kirby, Walter (January 11, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Archived from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
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