Paul Douglas (actor)

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Paul Douglas


imagesize = 240px
caption = in "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949)
birthdate = April 11, 1907
location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
deathdate = September 11, 1959 (aged age|1907|4|11|1959|9|11)
deathplace = Hollywood, California, USA

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

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 5'11" actor is best remembered by some 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," Porter Hollingsway in "A Letter to Three Wives", Sgt. Kowalski in "The Big Lift", Josiah Walter Dudley in "Executive Suite", Joe Brewster, and the con man turned monk in "When in Rome". In 1950, Douglas was the host of the 22nd Annual Academy Awards.

Douglas was cast in the 1959 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 the episode was to be filmed. His role was taken over by Jack Warden.

He was married five times, last to actress Jan Sterling from 1950 until his death, by whom he 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". Billy Wilder told about this: "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."

Filmography

*"Calling All Tars" (1935) (uncredited)
*"A Letter to Three Wives" (1949)
*"It Happens Every Spring" (1949)
*"Everybody Does It" (1949)
*"The Big Lift" (1950)
*"Love That Brute" (1950)
*"Panic in the Streets" (1950)
*"Fourteen Hours" (1951)
*"The Guy Who Came Back" (1951)
*"Rhubarb" (1951) (uncredited)
*"Angels in the Outfield" (1951)
*"Never Wave at a WAC" (1952)
*"When in Rome" (1952)
*"Clash by Night" (1952)
*"We're Not Married!" (1952)
*"Forever Female" (1953)
*"The Maggie" (1954)
*"The Final Twist" (1954)
*"Present for a Bride" (1954)
*"Javanese Dagger" (1954)
*"Executive Suite" (1954)
*"Green Fire" (1954)
*"Joe MacBeth" (1955)
*"The Leather Saint" (1956)
*"The Solid Gold Cadillac" (1956)
*"The Gamma People" (1956)
*"This Could Be the Night" (1957)
*"Beau James" (1957)
*"Fortunella" (1958)
*"The Mating Game" (1959)

External links

*imdb|0007222|Paul Douglas