Brian Donlevy was born on February 9,1901 in Cleveland, Ohio.
43 Facts About Brian Donlevy
2.
Brian Donlevy's parents were Thomas Donlevy and Rebecca, Irish emigrants originally from Portadown, County Armagh.
3.
Brian Donlevy's acting career began in the early 1920s, when he began appearing in theater productions, and eventually won parts in silent films.
4.
Brian Donlevy had small roles in the silent films Jamestown, Damaged Hearts, Monsieur Beaucaire, The Eve of the Revolution, and School for Wives.
5.
Brian Donlevy had a small role on Broadway in the play What Price Glory, which was a big hit and ran for two years, establishing him as an actor.
6.
Brian Donlevy had roles in the films Gentlemen of the Press and Mother's Boy.
7.
Brian Donlevy was in a film short with Ethel Merman, Ireno ; and another short with Ruth Etting, A Modern Cinderella.
8.
Brian Donlevy returned to the stage for Three And One with Lilian Bond, a big personal success; No Questions Asked ; The Perfumed Lady ; and The Milky Way.
9.
Brian Donlevy had a final Broadway success with Life Begins at 8:40 with Bert Lahr and Ray Bolger.
10.
Brian Donlevy's break came in 1935, when he was cast in the film Barbary Coast, directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Samuel Goldwyn.
11.
Brian Donlevy had his first lead in a B movie at Fox, Human Cargo, playing a wisecracking reporter opposite Claire Trevor.
12.
Brian Donlevy followed it with other "B" lead roles: Half Angel, High Tension, 36 Hours to Kill, Crack-Up with Peter Lorre, and Midnight Taxi.
13.
Brian Donlevy had a supporting role in an "A" movie, This Is My Affair, with Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck and Victor McLaglen; then starred in another "B", Born Reckless.
14.
Brian Donlevy was in In Old Chicago and was teamed with Victor McLaglen in Battle of Broadway and We're Going to Be Rich.
15.
Brian Donlevy starred in Sharpshooters, and was the lead villain in the studio's prestigious Jesse James.
16.
Brian Donlevy stayed at that studio for Beau Geste.
17.
Brian Donlevy went to Columbia to star in a "B film", Behind Prison Gates, and went to RKO for a support part in Allegheny Uprising.
18.
Brian Donlevy was the villain in Universal's Destry Rides Again.
19.
Brian Donlevy was then given the title role in The Great McGinty at Paramount, the directorial debut of Preston Sturges.
20.
Brian Donlevy later reprised the role several times on radio and television.
21.
At Universal, Brian Donlevy was in When the Daltons Rode, then went into Fox's Brigham Young: Frontiersman.
22.
Brian Donlevy was fourth-billed in I Wanted Wings ; then MGM borrowed him to support Robert Taylor in Billy the Kid.
23.
At Universal, Brian Donlevy starred in Nightmare, and MGM borrowed him to support Taylor again in Stand By for Action.
24.
Brian Donlevy had a cameo as Governor McGinty in Sturges' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.
25.
Brian Donlevy was given the lead role in An American Romance, directed by King Vidor for MGM, in a role intended for Spencer Tracy.
26.
Brian Donlevy had a cameo as himself in Duffy's Tavern, and he was Trampas to Joel McCrea's The Virginian.
27.
Brian Donlevy was originally going to play the sadistic captain, but wound up giving that role to Howard da Silva and playing Richard Dana instead.
28.
At Paramount, Brian Donlevy supported Ray Milland in The Trouble with Women, then went to Fox to play a heroic DA in Kiss of Death with Victor Mature and Richard Widmark.
29.
Brian Donlevy supported Dorothy Lamour in The Lucky Stiff then starred in Arthur Lubin's Impact.
30.
Brian Donlevy appeared on television in The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, and made two films for Universal-International, Shakedown and Kansas Raiders.
31.
Brian Donlevy did Pulitzer Prize Playhouse on TV, then went to Republic for Fighting Coast Guard, Ride the Man Down, Hoodlum Empire and Woman They Almost Lynched ; then filmed Slaughter Trail for RKO.
32.
Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale disliked Brian Donlevy's portrayal, referring to him as "a former Hollywood heavy gone to seed".
33.
Nonetheless, the film was a success, and Brian Donlevy returned for the sequel, Quatermass 2, in 1957, based on a BBC television serial.
34.
In between the films, Brian Donlevy was in A Cry in the Night.
35.
Brian Donlevy had the lead in a "B" western, Escape from Red Rock and a supporting part in Cowboy.
36.
Brian Donlevy announced that he had formed his own production company for whom he would make a western, The Golden Spur, but it appears to have not been made.
37.
Brian Donlevy toured on stage in a production of The Andersonville Trial.
38.
Brian Donlevy supported Jerry Lewis in The Errand Boy and Charlton Heston in The Pigeon That Took Rome, and guested on Target: The Corruptors, Saints and Sinners, and The DuPont Show of the Week.
39.
Brian Donlevy was married to Yvonne Grey from 1928 to 1936.
40.
Brian Donlevy divorced him on grounds of cruelty, and he agreed to pay $5,000 a month in alimony.
41.
Brian Donlevy was married to Lillian Arch Lugosi from 1966 until his death in 1972.
42.
Brian Donlevy supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.
43.
Brian Donlevy was operated on for throat cancer in 1971 and died from the disease on April 6,1972, at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.