biography Born in Dracut, Massachusetts on March 20, 1914, character actor Wendell Corey was born into a family in which his father was a minister. Coming of age in the depths of the Great Depression, Corey initially found work as a home appliance salesperson before taking and interest in acting and began training as an actor in summer stock. He continued his stage training in the Federal Theatre Project, an offshoot of the Works Progress Administration, in the 1930s. Corey met and married his wife Alice in 1939, just as his interest in acting was at its peak. In 1942, at age 28 Corey finally made it to Broadway in the comedy Comes the Revelation, but the show closed after just a few performances. Throughout the war years, Corey continued to act in several Broadway shows, and his performance in the comedy Dream Girl during the 1946 season netted him a contract with director/producer Hal Wallis, who had begun his own production company a couple of years earlier and was scouting for talent.  An excellent actor but not exactly a leading man type, Corey excelled in character roles in some of the best film noir of the late 1940s and 1950s, including Sorry, Wrong Number (1948; with Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, and John Bromfield), I Walk Alone (1948; with fellow Hal Wallis discoveries Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, and Burt Lancaster), and Rear Window (1954; with James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Raymond Burr). Later in the 1950s, Corey began making guest appearances on such TV anthology series as Climax! and Studio One before being cast in the syndicated TV series Harbor Command (1957-1958), but the show lasted for just one season. |
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the films of wendell coreyDesert Fury (1947)
From Paramount's film noir release Desert Fury with Lizabeth Scott and John Hodiak; this was Wendell Corey's first filmNo Sad Songs for Me (1950)
From the Columbia tearjerker No Sad Songs for Me with Viveca Lindfors and Margaret SullavanHarriet Craig (1950)
From the Columbia drama Harriet Craig with Joan CrawfordThe Wild Blue Yonder (1951)
From Republic's war drama The Wild Blue Yonder with Vera Ralston and Forrest TuckerCarbine Williams (1952)
With James Stewart in the MGM crime drama Carbine WilliamsMy Man and I (1952)
From the MGM drama My Man and I with Claire TrevorThe Wild North (1952)
From the MGM western The Wild North with Stewart Granger and Cyd CharisseJamaica Run (1953)
From the Paramount adventure Jamaica RunRear Window (1954)
From the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window, released by ParamountStudio One (1948-1958 CBS TV Series)
With Chester Morris in an episode of the CBS dramatic anthology Studio One titled The Arena, which originally aired on April 9, 1956The Bold and the Brave (1956)
From the RKO war drama The Bold and the Bravewith Nicole MaureyLoving You (1957)  
From Paramount's musical drama Loving You, which was Presley's second film. LEFT: With Lizabeth Scott and Elvis Presley. CENTER: With Lizabeth Scott, Dolores Hart, and Elvis Presley. RIGHT: Promotional photo with Lizabeth ScottThe Nanette Fabray Show (1961 NBC TV Series)
Corey portrayed the new husband of Nanette Fabray in the short-lived situation comedy The Nanette Fabray Show, which aired on NBC in early 1961Blood on the Arrow (1964)
With Martha Hyer in the Allied Artists western Blood on the ArrowWomen of the Prehistoric Planet (1966)
Corey as Admiral David King in the low-budget independent science fiction production Women of the Prehistoric Planetlater yearsAs his film career began to slow down in the early 1960s, Corey focused his attentions on politics. Corey was the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1961 to 1963 and was a member of the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild. Corey ran for and won a seat on the Santa Monica City Council, and in the mid 1960s he ran for California's Republican congressional seat but lost. During this period, Corey worked mostly in television, making guest appearances on such programs as Burke's Law, Branded, and Perry Mason. After his political defeat, Corey went back into films, but these were very low-budget affairs, unlike the quality films in which he had once starred. His later films include Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966; with Peter Mark Richman); Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966; with Merry Anders and John Agar), both of which aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000; and Ted V. Mikels' The Astro-Zombies (1969; with Tura Santana), which was his last release. In his final film appearances, Corey's alcoholism is readily apparent, and sadly he often slurred his lines in Agent for H.A.R.M. and The Astro-Zombies. Nonetheless, he continued to serve on the Santa Monica City Council until his death from an alcohol-related illness on November 8, 1968, at the age of 54. Corey was survived by his wife, Alice, a son, and three daughters. |
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