Dick Wessel
Dick Wessel | |
---|---|
Wessel in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946) | |
Born |
Richard M. Wessel April 20, 1913 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Died |
April 20, 1965 52) Studio City, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged
Years active | 1935–1965 |
Richard M. Wessel (April 20, 1913 – April 20, 1965) was an American film actor.
Biography
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Wessel appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his chilling portrayal of the ruthless strangler Harry "Cueball" Lake in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946).
One of his first film parts was a bit in a Laurel and Hardy feature film, Bonnie Scotland (1935), but modern viewers will remember Wessel for his appearances in the Three Stooges short subjects Punchy Cowpunchers (1950) and Fright Night (1947), the latter in which he played Chopper Kane, and its remake Fling in the Ring (1955).
From 1959 to 1961, Wessel co-starred as Carney Kohler in all forty-two episodes of Darren McGavin's NBC western television series, Riverboat,[1] set along the Mississippi River prior to the American Civil War.
In 1959, he appeared as police captain Bob Rattigan in the episode "Rattigan and the Cat" of the syndicated Border Patrol series, starring Richard Webb. He also appeared in the John Bromfield syndicated crime drama, Sheriff of Cochise. He was cast as Charlie in the episode, "A Kind of a Stopwatch" of CBS's The Twilight Zone. He also guest starred in Jackie Cooper's CBS sitcom/drama Hennesey and on Stanley Holloway's ABC sitcom, Our Man Higgins.
Wessel died of a sudden heart attack at his home in Studio City, California on his 52nd birthday. He had just finished his role as Eddie the garbage man in the Disney film The Ugly Dachshund (1966). Voice artist Paul Frees dubbed in Wessel's voice during post-production.
Partial filmography
- The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (1936)
- Ace Drummond (1936)
- Round-Up Time in Texas (1937)
- Slim (1937)
- The Game That Kills (1937)
- Borrowing Trouble (1937)
- Prescription for Romance (1937)
- Arson Gang Busters (1938)
- Hawk of the Wilderness (1938)
- The Roaring Twenties (1939)
- Cafe Hostess (1939)
- Brother Orchid (1940)
- So You Won't Talk (1940)
- The Border Legion (1940)
- The Great Train Robbery (1941)
- Desert Bandit (1941)
- Tanks a Million (1941)
- About Face (1942)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
- Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen (1942)
- X Marks the Spot (1942)
- The Traitor Within (1942)
- A Gentle Gangster (1943)
- Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
- False Faces (1943)
- Silver Spurs (1943)
- In Old Sacramento (1946)
- Pardon My Terror (1946)
- Slappily Married (1946)
- Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)
- Fright Night (1947)
- Merton of the Movies (1947)
- Eight-Ball Andy (1948)
- Pitfall (1948)
- Unknown Island (1948)
- Punchy Cowpunchers (1950)
- Beware of Blondie (1950)
- Harvey (1950)
- The Scarf (1951)
- Reunion in Reno (1951)
- Honeychile (1951)
- Love Is Better Than Ever (1952)
- Young Man with Ideas (1952)
- The WAC from Walla Walla (1952)
- Blackbeard the Pirate (1952)
- Champ for a Day (1953)
- Fling in the Ring (1955)
- The Desperados Are in Town (1956)
- The Gazebo (1959)
- Who's Minding the Store? (1963)
- The Ugly Dachshund (1966)
References
External links
- Dick Wessel on IMDb