1. Andre Brandon deWilde was an American theatre, film, and television actor.
23 Facts About Brandon deWilde
1. 2.
Brandon deWilde won a Donaldson Award for his performance, becoming the youngest actor to win one, and starred in the subsequent film adaptation for which he won a Golden Globe Award.
3.
Brandon deWilde continued acting in stage, film and television roles into adulthood before his death at age 30 in a car crash in Colorado on July 6,1972.
4.
Andre Brandon deWilde was the son of Frederic A "Fritz" deWilde and Eugenia deWilde.
5.
Fritz Brandon deWilde was the only son of Dutch immigrants, who changed their surname from Neitzel-de Wilde to Brandon deWilde when they emigrated to the United States.
6.
Brandon deWilde was a descendant of the Dutch merchant and seigneur Andries de Wilde, who was married to Cornelia Henrica Neitzel.
7.
Fritz Brandon deWilde became an actor and Broadway production stage manager.
8.
Brandon deWilde was the first child actor to win the Donaldson Award, and his talent was praised by John Gielgud the following year.
9.
Brandon deWilde starred in the 1952 film version of the play, which was directed by Fred Zinnemann.
10.
Brandon deWilde starred in his own television series, Jamie, which aired in 1953 and 1954.
11.
In 1956, at the age of 14, Brandon deWilde narrated the classical music works Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten.
12.
Brandon deWilde recorded a reading of Huckleberry Finn on the album The Stories of Mark Twain along with his Good-bye, My Lady costar Brennan.
13.
In 1958, Brandon deWilde starred in The Missouri Traveler, sharing lead billing with Lee Marvin in another coming-of-age film, this one set in the early 1900s.
14.
Brandon deWilde guest-starred on many TV series, including Alcoa Theatre and the popular Western series Wagon Train.
15.
In 1961, Brandon deWilde appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" as Hugo, a mentally impaired youth who cannot separate fact from fantasy.
16.
Brandon deWilde first starred in The Tenderfoot, a three-part comedy Western for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV show with Brian Keith.
17.
Also in 1965, Brandon deWilde played PT boat officer Jere Torry, serving under his admiral father played by John Wayne, in the Pacific theater World War II drama In Harm's Way.
18.
Brandon deWilde made his last screen appearance in Wild in the Sky.
19.
Brandon deWilde asked his friend Gram Parsons and his International Submarine Band to back him in a recording session.
20.
ISB guitarist John Nuese claimed that Brandon deWilde sang harmony with Parsons better than anyone except Emmylou Harris.
21.
Brandon deWilde married Janice Gero in April 1972, three months before his death.
22.
On July 6,1972, while in Colorado for a Denver stage production of Butterflies Are Free, at the Elitch Theatre, Brandon deWilde was killed in a traffic accident in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.
23.
Brandon deWilde was driving in a camper van that left the roadway before striking a guardrail and a parked truck.