Jack Weston

Jack Weston
Weston in 1971
Born Jack Weinstein
(1924-08-21)August 21, 1924
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died May 3, 1996(1996-05-03) (aged 71)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education Cleveland Play House
Occupation Actor
Years active 1949–1988
Spouse(s) Marge Redmond
(m. 1950; div. 19??)
Laurie Gilkes
(m. 19??; his death 1996)
Children 1 (with Gilkes)

Jack Weston (born Jack Weinstein; August 21, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981.

Life and career

Weston, a Cleveland, Ohio native, usually played comic roles in films such as Cactus Flower (1969)[1] and Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960).[2] He occasionally took on heavier parts, such as the scheming crook and stalker who, along with Alan Arkin and Richard Crenna, attempts to terrorize and rob a blind Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 film Wait Until Dark.[3]

Weston had countless character roles in major films such as The Cincinnati Kid and The Thomas Crown Affair.[4] On television he made numerous appearances such as murderer Fred Calvert in the 1958 Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Daring Decoy." In 1961, he was a guess star in the TV drama Route 66, playing the manager of a traveling group of young women nightclub dancers, who mistreats his employees.[5] In 1963, he was a guest star in the TV drama The Fugitive.

In 1976, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his performance in the film The Ritz. In 1981, Weston appeared on Broadway in Woody Allen's comedy The Floating Light Bulb, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor.[6] Other stage appearances included Bells are Ringing in 1956 (with Judy Holliday),[7] The Ritz in 1975,[8] Neil Simon's California Suite (1976)[9] and One Night Stand in 1980.[10]

Weston co-starred in Alan Alda's 1981 film The Four Seasons,[11] and then reprised his role to star in a television series spinoff on CBS.[12]

Personal life

Weston served in the United States Army during World War II. Weston married twice, first to actress Marge Redmond, noted for her role in the ABC sitcom The Flying Nun. They occasionally appeared together, an example being a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone titled "The Bard". Redmond and Weston divorced. The couple had no children.

His second marriage was to Laurie Gilkes and lasted until his death from lymphoma on May 3, 1996, after a six-year struggle. He was 71 years old and also survived by his stepdaughter, Amy.

Jack was the older brother of Anthony Spinelli, whose birth name was Sam Weinstein and whose first stage name was Sam Weston. The Westons were Jewish.[13]

Selected filmography

Television appearances

In the 1960–1961 television season, Weston appeared as Chick Adams, a reporter, on the CBS sitcom My Sister Eileen starring Shirley Bonne and Elaine Stritch as two sisters who share a New York City brownstone apartment. The other co-stars were Stubby Kaye, Rose Marie and Raymond Bailey.[14]

The next season, 1961–1962, he starred in the short-lived sitcom The Hathaways (ABC, produced by Screen Gems), in which he and Peggy Cass adopted a trio of chimpanzees (the Marquis Chimps).[15]

He also made guest appearances on such television series as Peter Gunn, Perry Mason, Rescue 8, The Twilight Zone (episodes "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", and "The Bard"), The Untouchables, Have Gun – Will Travel, Johnny Staccato, Thriller, The Lawless Years (2 episodes), Route 66, Harrigan and Son, Stoney Burke, Breaking Point, The Fugitive, Bewitched, Gunsmoke, Twelve O'Clock High, Laredo, Tales of the Unexpected, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Carol Burnett Show, All in the Family and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Howard. "Review. 'Cactus Flower' Blooms" The New York Times, December 17, 1969
  2. ↑ "Review: ‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies’" Variety, December 31, 1959
  3. ↑ Wait Until Dark tcm.com, accessed March 6, 2016
  4. ↑ "Jack Weston Overview, Filmography" tcm.com, accessed March 5, 2016
  5. ↑ Route 66 "Like A Motherless Child"
  6. ↑ "'The Floating Light Bulb' Broadway" playbill.com (vault), accessed March 5, 2016
  7. ↑ "'Bells Are Ringing' Broadway" playbill.com (vault), accessed March 5, 2016
  8. ↑ "'The Ritz' Broadway" playbill.com (vault), accessed March 5, 2016
  9. ↑ "'California Suite' Broadway" playbill.com (vault), accessed March 5, 2016
  10. ↑ "'One Night Stand' Broadway" playbill.com (vault), accessed March 5, 2016
  11. ↑ The Four Seasons tcm.com, accessed March 5, 2016
  12. ↑ Farber, Stephen. "'Four Seasons' Series Returns to CBS Sunday" The New York Times, April 26, 1984
  13. ↑ http://www.jewishbiography.com/biographies/jack-weston.html
  14. 1 2 Jack Weston on IMDb
  15. ↑ Terrace, Vincent. "The Hathaways", Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed., McFarland, 2008, ISBN 0786486414, p. 439
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