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Jim Backus, Rebel Without A Cause, 1955. “Look, Jim. You can depend on me. Trust me. Whatever comes, we’ll, we’ll fix it together. I swear it.” Yeah, sure! James Dean’s milquetoast father was a battle between Backus, Dehner, Raymond Burr, Rod Cameron and Walter Matthau – difficult to envisage Matthau as a wimp. Backus taught his Mr Magoo cartoon voice to Dean, who used it in his line about children: “Drown ’em like puppies, eh?”
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Richard Boone, Have Gun, Will Travel, TV, 1957-1963. A suave New Yorker who began in movies a Disney animator, Dehner thrice refused the Gunsmoke hero Matt Dillon on radio – but often played the villain on TV. . He then accepted the radio Paladin and was, therefore, first choice for the TVersion. He was unavailable due to his weekly news reporter Duke Williams on The Roaring 20s, 1960-1962. Besides, he had no wish to be typwed as a cowpke.
- Dayton Lummis, Julius Caesar, 1952. Something of a US version of the UK actor John Williams, Dehner was first selected for Messala. In all, Lummis knocked off 143 screen roles during 1946-1975, including a 1956 Hitchcoock moment – The Wrong Man.
Birth year: 1915Death year: 1992Other name: Casting Calls: 3