Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir '' The Hitch-Hiker'' and for starring in the radio drama '' Night Beat''.

Early life

He was born in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York, but grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. His father, Frank Andrew Lovejoy Sr., was a furniture salesman from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. His mother, Nora, was born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, to

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

immigrant parents.

Radio

A successful radio actor, Lovejoy played Broadway Harry on the '' Gay Nineties Revue'' and was heard on the 1930s crime drama series ''

Gang Busters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

''. Lovejoy was a narrator (during the first season) for the show '' This Is Your FBI''. In radio soap operas, Lovejoy played Dr. Christopher Ellerbe in '' Valiant Lady'',Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950''. The Viking Press. . p. 249. Sam Foster in ''This Day Is Ours'', and he had the roles of Brad Forbes on '' Brave Tomorrow'' and Larry Halliday in ''

Bright Horizon ''Bright Horizon'' is an old-time radio soap opera in the United States. It was broadcast on CBS August 25, 1941 - July 6, 1945. The program initially had an alternate title, ''The Story of Michael West''. Format ''Bright Horizon'' was a spinoff ...

''. He also played the title character on the syndicated '' The Blue Beetle'' in 1940, several episodes of ''

The Whistler ''The Whistler'' is an American radio mystery drama which ran from May 16, 1942, until September 22, 1955, on the west-coast regional CBS radio network. The show was also broadcast in Chicago and over Armed Forces Radio. On the west coast, it w ...

'', and starred in the later newspaper drama series '' Night Beat'' in the early 1950s and in episodes of '' Suspense'' in the late 1950s. He also starred as John Malone in '' The Amazing Mr. Malone''. He appeared as boxer Rory Malone in the March 20, 1949 episode of ''Pat Novak for Hire'' entitled "Rory Malone".

Films

Lovejoy mostly played supporting roles in films of the 1940s and 1950s. Appearing in movies such as '' Goodbye, My Fancy'' (1951) with

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...

, and '' The Hitch-Hiker'' (1953) directed by

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

, Lovejoy was effective playing the movie's

everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

in extraordinary situations. He was in several war movies, notably Stanley Kramer's '' Home of the Brave'' (1949), '' Breakthrough'' (1950),

Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907 – August 30, 2000) was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966. In a 30-year direc ...

's ''

Retreat, Hell! ''Retreat, Hell!'' is a 1952 American war film about the 1st Marine Division in the Korean War, directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It stars Frank Lovejoy as a career Marine battalion commander who is recalled from work at an American embassy, Richard ...

'' (1952) which portrayed the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Marine Corps' withdrawal from the

Chosin Reservoir The Chosin Reservoir (), formally known as Lake Changjin () is a lake located in Changjin County, North Korea. It is most famously known for being the site of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, which was an important battle in the Korean War. ...

(Changjin Reservoir) during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and as a Marine sergeant again in '' Beachhead'' (1954), and Strategic Air Command (1955) with James Stewart. In 1950, he had the lead role in ''Try and Get Me'' (aka ''Sound of Fury'') as a struggling, out-of-work man who fell to crime to support his family; in a film noir combining crime and murder with social injustice, an irresponsible newspaper and equally criminal public mob reactions.Silver, Alain and Elizabeth Ward (1992). ''Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style''. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press. p. 294. . In 1951, he had the title role in '' I Was a Communist for the FBI'' with co-stars

Ron Hagerthy Ronald F. Hagerthy (born March 9, 1932) is an American actor on television and in films. Early years Hagerthy was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, but moved to Glendale, California, before he started school. He attended Glendale City College and ...

Paul Picerni Horacio Paul Picerni (December 1, 1922 – January 12, 2011) was an American actor in film and television, perhaps best known today in the role of Federal Agent Lee Hobson, second-in-command to Robert Stack's Eliot Ness, in the ABC hit televisi ...

, and

Philip Carey Philip Carey (born Eugene Joseph Carey, July 15, 1925February 6, 2009) was an American actor. Early life and education On July 15, 1925, Carey was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.Man Against Crime'' and ''Meet McGraw''. Episodes of these two series have never been released commercially on DVD or VHS and never aired as reruns. ''Meet McGraw'' episodes were screened at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. Lovejoy's final television performances include the episode "County General" (March 18, 1962) on the ABC

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

'' Bus Stop'' with

Marilyn Maxwell Marvel Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and entertainer. In a career that spanned the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War ...

in the role of Grace Sherwood. That same season, he appeared on the ABC

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

'' Target: The Corruptors!'' about the efforts of a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

reporter to expose

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

Personal life

Lovejoy was first married to Frances Williams, but the couple divorced in the late 1930s. In 1940, Lovejoy married actress Joan Banks, with whom he had a son and a daughter. On October 2, 1962, Lovejoy died of a heart attack in his sleep at his residence in New York City. He and Joan at the time had been performing together in a New Jersey production of

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

's play '' The Best Man''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovejoy, Frank 1912 births 1962 deaths American male film actors American male radio actors American radio personalities American male television actors American people of Irish descent Male actors from New York City People from the Bronx 20th-century American male actors