Paul Douglas

Birthday: 1907-04-11
Deathday: 1959-09-11
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

Paul Douglas (April 11, 1907 – September 11, 1959) was an American actor.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Paul Douglas Fleischer, Douglas began his career as a stage actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1936 as the Radio Announcer in Doty Hobart and Tom McKnight's Double Dummy at the John Golden Theatre. In 1946 he won both a Theatre World Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for his portrayal of Herry Brock in Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday.

Douglas began appearing in films in 1949. He may be best-remembered for two baseball comedy movies, Angels in the Outfield (1951) and It Happens Every Spring (1949). He also played Richard Widmark's police partner in the thriller Panic in the Streets, frustrated newlywed Porter Hollingsway in A Letter to Three Wives, Sgt. Kowalski in The Big Lift, businessman Josiah Walter Dudley in Executive Suite and a con man turned monk in When in Rome. In 1950, Douglas was host of the 22nd annual Academy Awards. Douglas also worked on radio as the announcer for The Ed Wynn Show and he was the first host of NBC Radio's "Horn & Hardart Children's Hour!". In April 1959 Douglas appeared as Lucy Ricardo's television morning show boss in the "Lucy Wants a Career" episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

Douglas was originally cast in the 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Mighty Casey", a role written for him by Rod Serling, based on his character in Angels in the Outfield, but Douglas died the same week after production of the episode had been completed. His role was taken over by Jack Warden, and most of the episode was refilmed several months later.

He was married five times, last to actress Jan Sterling from 1950 until his death. They had a son, Adams Douglas (1955–2003).

Paul Douglas died on September 11, 1959 of a heart attack in Hollywood, California at the age of 52. Film director Billy Wilder and co-writer I.A.L. ('Izzy') Diamond had just offered him the role of Jeff Sheldrake in the movie The Apartment that went to Fred MacMurray instead. Wilder later said: "I saw him and his wife, Jan Sterling, at a restaurant, and I realized he was perfect, and I asked him right there in the parking lot. About two days before we were to start, he had a heart attack and died. Iz and I were shattered."

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Credits

Year Title Character
1959-04-29 The Mating Game Pop Larkin
1958-10-10 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
1958-03-14 Fortunella Professore Golfiero Paganica
1957-06-07 Beau James Chris Nolan
1957-05-14 This Could Be the Night Rocco
1956-12-01 The Gamma People Mike Wilson
1956-08-22 The Solid Gold Cadillac Edward L. McKeever
1956-06-06 The Leather Saint Gus MacAuliffe
1955-10-18 Joe Macbeth Joe MacBeth
1954-12-29 Green Fire Vic Leonard
1954-04-30 Executive Suite Josiah Walter Dudley
1954-02-25 The 'Maggie' Calvin B. Marshall, the American
1954-02-20 Calling Scotland Yard: Falstaff's Fur Coat Commentator
1953-11-28 Forever Female Harry Phillips
1953-01-28 Never Wave at a WAC Andrew McBain
1952-07-11 We're Not Married! Hector Woodruff
1952-05-30 Clash by Night Jerry D'Amato
1952-05-11 When in Rome Joe Brewster
1951-10-19 Angels in the Outfield Guffy McGovern
1951-08-29 Rhubarb Man on Park Bench (uncredited)
1951-08-16 The Guy Who Came Back Harry Joplin
1951-04-01 Fourteen Hours Police Ofcr. Charlie Dunnigan
1950-07-27 Panic in the Streets Capt. Tom Warren
1950-06-06 Love That Brute E.L. 'Big Ed' Hanley
1950-04-26 The Big Lift MSgt. Henry "Hank" Kowalski
1949-10-24 Everybody Does It Leonard Borland aka Logan Bennett
1949-06-10 It Happens Every Spring Monk Lanigan
1949-01-20 A Letter to Three Wives Porter Hollingsway
1943-02-10 Margin for Error Policeman at Front Desk (uncredited)
1938-07-30 Saturday Night Swing Club Master of Ceremonies