Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was an English actor.

Early life

Born in

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, he moved with his family at the age of four to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, where he began in community theater. His mother was Dolly Tremayne, a British actress. He danced as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performer and worked as an amusement park barker. He began working in radio when he was 17 years old. Tremayne studied Greek drama at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

Career

In 1974, Tremayne commented, "I've been in more than 30 motion pictures, but it's from radio ... that most people remember me." His radio career began in 1931, and during the 1930s and 1940s, Tremayne was often heard in more than one show per week. Replacing

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...

, he starred in '' The First Nighter Program'' from 1936 to 1942. He starred in '' The Adventures of the Thin Man'' and '' The Romance of Helen Trent'' during the 1940s. He also starred in the title role in '' The Falcon'',Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920–1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 13. and played detective Pat Abbott in '' Abbott Mysteries'' from 1946 to 1947. Tremayne was once named one of the three most distinctive voices on American radio. The other two were

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

and president Franklin D. Roosevelt. In his later years, Tremayne was active in Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters as the group's historian and archivist. Those roles included interviewing people who were active in early radio to provide source material for researchers. His film credits include '' A Man Called Peter'', '' The Racket'', '' The Angry Red Planet'', ''

The War of The Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'', ''

Say One for Me ''Say One For Me'' is a 1959 American comedy musical film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds and Robert Wagner. ''Say One for Me'' was listed in the 1978 book ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time''. Stella Stevens ...

'', ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture ...

'', '' The Monolith Monsters'', ''

The Monster of Piedras Blancas ''The Monster of Piedras Blancas'' is a 1959 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-monster film. It was produced by Jack Kevan, written and directed by Irvin Berwick, and stars Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Don ...

'', ''Fangs,'' and ''

The Fortune Cookie ''The Fortune Cookie'' (alternative UK title: ''Meet Whiplash Willie'') is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It was the first film in which Jack Lemmon collaborated with Walter Matthau. Matthau ...

''. Tremayne's

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

credits include ''Detective Story'' (1949–1950) and ''Heads or Tails'' (1947). Tremayne portrayed Billy Herbert in the television version of ''

One Man's Family ''One Man's Family'' is an American radio soap opera, heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted dramatic serial in the history of American radio. Television versions ...

'' (1949–1955) and Inspector Richard Queen in '' The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

(1958–1959). He guest-starred in "The Life Story of Eve Drake and Howard Adams", a 1957 episode of the CBS

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

Mr. Adams and Eve ''Mr. Adams and Eve'' is an American situation comedy television series about a married couple who are both movie stars. It stars Howard Duff and Ida Lupino (who were actually married at the time) and aired on CBS from January 4, 1957, to July 8, ...

''. In 1963, Tremayne appeared in the '' Perry Mason'' episode, "

The Case of Constant Doyle "The Case of Constant Doyle" is the 169th episode (season 6, episode 16) of the television series ''Perry Mason''. This was the first of four consecutive episodes in which a "special guest star"—in this case, Bette Davis—filled Mason's role ...

", along with special guest attorney

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

. He appeared in seven other episodes as various characters, such as Deputy District Attorney Stewart Linn in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Madcap Modiste". In 1961, he played the title role of murder victim Willard Nesbitt in "The Case of the Angry Dead Man." In 1966, he played murderer Harry Lannon in "The Case of the Unwelcome Well". In 1964, he played Ed Pierce in "The Case of the Ruinous Road". In 1962, Tremayne portrayed the part of C.J. Hasler, a known thief in ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom, situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in colo ...

'' episode entitled, "Andy and Barney in the Big City" aired on 26 March 1962. In that show, he played the part of a cunning opportunist who happens onto off-duty Barney Fife who himself believes that he is stalking a jewel thief (

Allan Melvin Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of th ...

) who is in fact the house detective of the hotel where the story takes place. In 1965, Tremayne played Mr. Clary in ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. The first two seasons, totalin ...

'', season 2, episode 30, titled "006 3/4". In 1969, he lent his vocal talents to the Walt Kelly/

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

animated television special '' The Pogo Special Birthday Special''. Other voice contributors were June Foray and both Chuck Jones and Walt Kelly themselves. Between 1974 and 1977, Tremayne appeared on the Saturday morning '' Shazam!'' television series based on the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

superhero Captain Marvel. In the role of Mentor, Tremayne served as the literal mentor of the program's protagonist, young Billy Batson. In 1987, Tremayne appeared on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' as Edward Quartermaine for six months, the oldest character in that series, as a temporary replacement for David Lewis. He played the deceased Victor Lord for one month on ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'' during the 1987 Heaven storyline in which daughter Vicki Lord Buchanan ( Erika Slezak) was reunited with most every character that had died on the show after a heart attack left her in purgatory.

Legacy

Tremayne was elected to the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

in 1995.

Personal life

Tremayne was married four times. He did an afternoon talk show on WOR in 1949, ''The Tremaynes'', with his second wife, Alice Reinhart, whom he married on 9 December 1945. When Tremayne died in 2003, he was married to his fourth wife, Joan.

Death

On 19 December 2003, Tremayne died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at Saint John's Health Center in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, at the age of 90.McLellan, Dennis (23 December 2003)
"Les Tremayne, 90; Radio Icon’s Acting Career Ran 6 Decades"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 26 August 2011.

Filmography

*'' The Racket'' (1951) as Harry Craig (Crime Commission chief investigator) *'' The Blue Veil'' (1951) as Joplin *''

Francis Goes to West Point ''Francis Goes to West Point'' is a 1952 American black-and-white comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Arthur Lubin, and starring Donald O'Connor, Lori Nelson, Alice Kelley, and Gregg Palmer. The dis ...

'' (1952) as Col. Daniels *'' It Grows on Trees'' (1952) as Finlay Murchison *'' I Love Melvin'' (1953) as Mr. Henneman *'' Dream Wife'' (1953) as Ken Landwell *'' Tarzan and the She-Devil'' (1953) as Opening Off-Screen Narrator (voice, uncredited) *''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' (1953) as Maj. Gen. Mann *''

Susan Slept Here ''Susan Slept Here'' is a 1954 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Dick Powell (in his last film role) and Debbie Reynolds. Shot in Technicolor, the film is based on the play of the same name by Steve Fisher a ...

'' (1954) as Harvey Butterworth, Mark's Lawyer *'' A Man Called Peter'' (1955) as Sen. Willis K. Harvey *''

The Lieutenant Wore Skirts ''The Lieutenant Wore Skirts'' is a 1956 comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Tom Ewell, Sheree North, and Rita Moreno. It is a comedy about a man whose marriage begins to fail when his wife enlists. Plot TV writer Greg Whitcomb di ...

'' (1956) as Henry 'Hank' Gaxton *'' Forbidden Planet'' (1956) as Narrator (voice, uncredited) *'' Bhowani Junction'' (1956) as Trailer Narrator (uncredited) *'' The Iron Petticoat'' (1956) as Trailer Narrator (voice, uncredited) *'' The Unguarded Moment'' (1956) as Mr. Pendleton *'' Everything but the Truth'' (1956) as Lawrence 'Larry' Everett *'' The Monolith Monsters'' (1957) as Martin Cochrane *''

The Perfect Furlough ''The Perfect Furlough'' is a 1958 American CinemaScope Eastmancolor romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and written by Stanley Shapiro. Edwards and Shapiro would re-team the following year for another Tony Curtis service comedy, '' O ...

'' (1958) as Col. Leland *''

From the Earth to the Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...

'' (1958) as Countdown Announcer (uncredited) *''

'' (1959) as Dr. Sam Jorgenson *'' Count Your Blessings'' (1959) as Trailer Narrator (voice, uncredited) *''

'' (1959) as Harry LaMaise *''

'' (1959) as Auctioneer *'' The Angry Red Planet'' (1959) as Prof. Theodore Gettell *''

The Gallant Hours ''The Gallant Hours'' is an American docudrama from 1960 about William F. Halsey, Jr. and his efforts in fighting against Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II. This film was direct ...

'' (1960) as Capt. Frank Enright *'' The Story of Ruth'' (1960) as Elimelech *''

Shoot Out at Big Sag ''Shoot Out at Big Sag'' is a 1962 American Western film. It starred Walter Brennan and was made for Brennan's production company. The film was produced by Brennan's son Andy and based on a story by Walter Coburn. It was meant to be a televisio ...

'' (1962) as Chan Bartholomew *'' King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1963) as Commander Roberts / General Shinzo / Narrator (voice, uncredited) *''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

'' (1962) as Trailer Narrator (voice, uncredited) *'' The Slime People'' (1963) as Norman Tolliver *'' Goldfinger'' (1964) as Radio Newsman (voice, uncredited) *'' Strange Bedfellows'' (1965) as Opening Off-Screen Narrator (uncredited) *'' Girl Happy'' (1965) as Opening Narrator (voice, uncredited) *'' Harum Scarum'' (1965) as Trailer Co-Narrator (voice, uncredited) *'' War of the Planets'' (1966) as Gen. Norton (English version, voice, uncredited) *''

'' (1966) as Thompson *''

The Phantom Tollbooth ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollboo ...

'' (1970) as Humbug (voice) *'' Strawberries Need Rain'' (1970) as The Reaper *''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' (1974) as Fagin (voice) *''Fangs'' (1974) as Snakey Bender *''

Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island ''Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island'' (also known as ''Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island'') is a 1983 ''Looney Tunes'' traditionally animated compilation film directed by Friz Freleng and Phil Monroe with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. ca ...

'' (1983) as The Well (voice) *'' Starchaser: The Legend of Orin'' (1985) as Arthur (voice) *'' The Naked Monster'' (2005) as General Mann (final film role)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tremayne, Les 1913 births 2003 deaths English male film actors English male radio actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from London People from Balham British emigrants to the United States