Don Ameche

Early Life

Don Ameche was born Dominic Felix Amici on May 31^st, 1908 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and was second of eight children. His father, Felice, was an Italian immigrant, whose legitimate line of work was as bar owner and his mother, Barbara, stayed home to look after the kids. His father was volatile man; always carrying around revolver should anything he regarded as "trouble were to break out. His bar was one of the most popular local bar and he was said to have he ran with an iron fist, using said fists to throw out any unruly patrons with the gall to cause a ruckus in his establishment. Although Felice ran a legal bar, he made extra money in a very illegitimate manner through the smuggling Italian immigrants into the United States at around a thousand dollars a head. Rather than follow his father into the bar and human smuggling business, the young Ameche stayed away from his father's racket because, frankly, it scared him. As a child he joined his school's  basketball team as a means of spending time away from home, and eventually cultivated a love for the theatre, acting in many of his school's staged productions.  After graduating from high school in 1926, Ameche went to study at Dubuque's Columbia College. However, when the Depression hit in 1929, Ameche was forced to suspend his education in order to help his family financially.  When Ameche returned to his education, he attended the University of Wisconsin with the intention of fulfilling his father's wishes of becoming an attorney. However, the young man found himself more interesting in George Bernard Shaw than state or federal law and abandoning his legal studies in favor of the theatre.

Early Career

After leaving college to pursue acting full-time, Ameche began working the on vaudeville and summer stock circuits, improving his craft at any venue possible. At the start of the 1930s, Ameche began to take advantage of his soothing speaking voice by making a name for himself in radio. Now living in Chicago, Ameche first made his mark over the airwaves with the series Empire Builders, and went on to star in another popular radio series First Nighter. His talents lead Ameche to the west coast, where he became the host of The Chase and Sanborn Hour. By the mid-1930s Ameche began trying to actively pursue a film career. After an unsuccessful screen test with MGM in 1933, Ameche worked tirelessly to appear on the silver screen. He managed to obtain a small role in the film Clive of India, which led him to screen test for 20^th Century Fox. Although his screen test of admittedly lackluster, Fox studiohead Darryl F. Zanuck nonetheless saw the potential in the young actor and signed him to a long-term contract.

Hollywood

In 1935 Ameche made his first film with as a contracted player in 1935 with an uncredited role in the big screen adaptation of Dante's Inferno. The next year he would make his first notable screen appearance in the drama Sins of Man. He was then put on the fast track to stardom, next appearing opposite Loretta Young in Ramona. Although not conventionally handsome leading man nor dashing adventurer, Ameche's air of sophistication and ease allowed him carve his own niche as a charming co-lead in string of comedies such as Ladies in Love, One in a Million and Love is News. Ameche also proved adept at drama, starring opposite Tyrone Power and Alice Faye in In Old Chicago. In 1938 he began to star in his own vehicles albeit with smaller budget such as Gateway and Josette. That year Ameche also re-teamed with Tyrone Power and Alice Faye for yet another musical romance, Alexander's  Ragtime Band. The film was huge hit; with audiences and critics alike agreeing that Ameche's skillful performance was one of the highlights of an already delightful movie. In 1939 Ameche starred in the historical biographical picture The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, play the titular role. Thanks to his well-crafted performance of the great inventor, the term "Amece" became common slang for a telephone. That year he was also voted the 21^st most popular star in Hollywood.

As the new decade took hold, Ameche remained on of the biggest stars at Fox. He starred in series of successful musicals and comedies such as Down Argentine Way, Moon Over Miami, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, and The Feminine Touch. His biggest hit from that time period came in 1943 with Ernest Lubitsch film Heaven Can Wait opposite Gene Tierney. In the film Ameche plays the now deceased Henry Van Cleve, who arrives at Hell's door, hoping to prove to His Excellency (AKA the devil) that that is where he belongs. The film was smash hit, doubling its budget at the box-office and even earning a Best Picture Academy Award nomination.

After Fox

Despite the success of Heaven Can Wait, Ameche soon found himself starring in one forgettable film after the next. After completing the filming for Greenwich Village, Ameche opted not to renew his contract with Fox, even though he was offered an increase in salary. Instead, Ameche became a free agent, taking the risk of less employment if it meant more creative freedom with his career. Although he managed to star in some forgettable films such as So Goes my Love and Sleep, My Love, by the mid-1940s Ameche's popularity was now vested once again in the medium of radio, instead of film. From 1946 to 1951 he starred in the radio series The Bickersons, a half-hour sitcom focusing on an endlessly quarreling couple, who, when all is said and done, seem made for each other. By the end of the series run, Ameche moved east to New York and began working mostly in television and the theater.

Starting in the 1950s, Ameche began appearing frequently on television. His first venture to the small screen was with a late 1949 appearance on The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, followed his own show, Don Ameche's Musical Playhouse in 1950. He continued to make regular appearances on the tube with series like Family Theatre, Goodyear Playhouse, and with TV movies such as Fire One. In 1955 Ameche made his Broadway debut in the musical Silk Stockings, and would continue working on the New York stage with hits such as the comedy Holiday for Lovers and Goldilocks. When his run with Goldilocks ended in 1959, he became the host of the television show To Tell the Truth. He continued hosting duties with the series International Showtime, scouting the globe to show the great television audiences the finest circus performers in the world. He remained in television for the next two decades, only occasionally appearing in a low budget film such as 1966's Picture Mommy Dead and 1970's Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came.

A Third Wind and Later Career

By the 1980s, Ameche's career was relegated to small appearances on TV shows, with his film career solidly behind him. He already had one comeback and it's not like people get another in this industry. Except he did. In 1983 he played a supporting but influential role in the John Landis comedy Trading Places, with Eddy Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. His turn as the callous millionaire bent on ruining an innocent mans life for the sake of a one-dollar bet had modern audiences rolling in their seats. This led him to being cast in the Ron Howard science-fiction comedy Cocoon. In the film Ameche plays Art Selwyn, one of a group of seniors rejuvenated by accidental exposure to alien cocoons. The film was sleeper hit and at the age of 77, Ameche won his first and only Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. With a new wind in Hollywood, Ameche kept working. He made a quick appearance in the John Landis 1988 comedy Coming to America and starred in Cocoon: The Return. The next year he made his final curtain call on Broadway appearing in a revival of the popular play Our Town. He then made an appearance the popular televisions show The Golden Girls in 1990 and in 1992 he provided the voice of Shadow in the family movie Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. By now he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and, despite relishing in his late-career renaissance, was forced to slow down his hectic work pace. He made his final silver screen performance in the 1994 film Corrina, Corrina but would pass-away before its release. Don Ameche died on December 6^th, 1993. He was 85 years old.