John P. Connell (October 28, 1923 – September 10, 2015) was an American stage, television, film and voice actor. Born in Philadelphia, Connell served aboard a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, for which he received a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. He attended the

University of Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism, housed under the University of Missouri in Columbia, is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in of journalism and strategic com ...

upon his discharge from the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and graduated in 1950. Connell made his stage debut with the

Henry Denker Henry Denker (November 25, 1912 – May 15, 2012) was an American novelist and playwright. Biography Denker was born in New York, the son of a fur trader. After initially studying to be a rabbi, he change to the study of law and graduated fro ...

play ''Time Limit!'' and later acted in ''Uncle Willie''. Television appearances included multiple anthology series, such as ''

Studio One in Hollywood ''Studio One'' is an American anthology drama television series that was adapted from a radio series. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It premiered on November 7, 1948, and ended on Sept ...

'', ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...

'', ''

Goodyear Playhouse ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' wa ...

'', and ''

The Alcoa Hour ''The Alcoa Hour'' is an American anthology television series sponsored by the Alcoa Corporation that aired live on NBC from October 16, 1955, to September 22, 1957. Overview ''The Alcoa Hour'' is a one-hour live anthology series that primar ...

'', though he was best known for his role as Dr. David Malone in ''

Young Doctor Malone ''Young Doctor Malone'' is an American soap opera, created by Irna Phillips, which had a long run on radio and television from 1939 to 1963. The producer was Betty Corday (1912–1987), who also produced '' Pepper Young's Family'' and later wa ...

''. Connell also wrote for ''

The Secret Storm ''The Secret Storm'' is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas '' Search for Tomorrow'' and '' Love of Life''. ...

''. He had small roles in such films as ''

Fail Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inheren ...

'' (1964), ''

Three Days of the Condor ''Three Days of the Condor'' is a 1975 American spy thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was based on the ...

'' (1975), and ''

Family Business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by Consanguinity , blood, marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business a ...

'' (1989). He began doing voiceovers for advertisements in the 1960s, and represented

Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the Ma ...

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

, and

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

, among others. Connell was a member of

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

's National Board of Directors for thirteen years and also served as editor of ''Reel'', the magazine published by the union. He was also the founder of

Shakespearean acting Millions of performances of William Shakespeare's plays have been staged since the end of the 16th century. While Shakespeare was alive, many of his greatest plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men and King's Men acting companies at ...

troupe Come Hither Players. He married his wife Mila in 1952, with whom he had two children. Connell died in

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

on September 10, 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, John 1923 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male Shakespearean actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Philadelphia Military personnel from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Philadelphia Missouri School of Journalism alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II