Louis Jean Heydt | |
|---|---|
 Heydt in Raiders of Old California (1957) | |
| Born | April 17, 1903 Montclair, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | January 29, 1960 (aged 56) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, journalist |
| Years active | 1933–1960 |
| Spouse(s) | Leona Maricle (m. 1928; div. 19??) Donna Hanor
(m. 1953) |
Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles.[1]
Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sources have miscited) in Montclair, New Jersey, the son of German parents George Frederick Heydt, a jeweler and the secretary and executor for Louis Comfort Tiffany,[2] and the former Emma Foerster.[3][4] He was educated at Montclair High School,[5] Worcester Academy, and Dartmouth College, graduating from the latter in 1926.[5] He initially wanted to be a journalist and worked as a reporter for The New York World.
Heydt received his start in the theatre while visiting a classmate backstage while The Trial of Mary Dugan was in rehearsal. As an actual reporter, he caught the attention of the producers and was offered the role of a reporter in the play. He made his stage debut therein and went on to appear in a dozen plays, including Strictly Dishonorable, Before Morning and Happy Birthday.[6] He also played in the London company of The Trial of Mary Dugan[4] as the male lead,[5] replacing the deceased Rex Cherryman.[7]
After he left the Broadway production of The Trial of Mary Dugan, Heydt acted in stock theatre with the Alice Brady Company in Buffalo, Rochester, and Toronto.[7] In the mid-1930s, he and his wife were active in summer stock theatre in Skowhegan, Maine.[8]
In the 1930s, Heydt traveled to Hollywood, where he appeared in over a hundred films, including Gone With the Wind (1939), The Great McGinty (1940), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946). He made an impression as an older, warm-hearted soldier in the 1945 John Ford PT-boat epic They Were Expendable, and co-starred in the 1951 film noir Roadblock in support of Charles McGraw. Heydt remained active in Hollywood throughout the 1950s, appearing in 32 films through 1959.[citation needed]
Heydt moved early into television, initially taking roles in basic Westerns and related programs such as outlaw Tom Horn on the 1950s western television series Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis. He appeared in eleven episodes of Richard Carlson's 1958-1959 western series, Mackenzie's Raiders.[9][10]
Heydt guest starred on the Adventures of Superman, Treasury Men in Action, Cavalcade of America, TV Reader's Digest, Crossroads, Lux Video Theatre, Fury, The Man from Blackhawk, Wagon Train, and Maverick.[citation needed]
Heydt married Leona Maricle, an actress in the Broadway company of The Trial of Mary Dugan, on August 13, 1928,[4] in New York.[11] He later married Donna Hanor.[12]
Heydt died of a heart attack on January 29, 1960, in Boston, where he collapsed immediately after leaving the stage following the first scene of a pre-Broadway performance of the play, There Was a Little Girl, in which he appeared opposite Jane Fonda. Actor Joseph Curtiss carried him to his dressing room, but it was apparent that he had died instantly.[12] Heydt's understudy, William Adler, finished the performance and the run.[13]
