Andy Devine's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Flipper (1964) Hap Corman Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok Deputy Mars…

Main Movie Roles 1977 - The Mouse and His Child 1973 - Robin Hood 1970 - Myra Breckinridge 1963 - It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1962 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962 - How the West Was Won 1961 - Two Rode Together 1960 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1956 - Around the World in Eighty Days 1955 - Pete Kelly's Blues 1948 - Under California Stars 1947 - Bells of San Angelo 1946 - Canyon Passage 1944 - Follow the Boys 1944 - Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 1943 - Crazy House 1939 - Stagecoach 1937 - A Star Is Born 1936 - Romeo and Juliet 1931 - The Criminal Code

BIOGRAPHY:

Rotund comic character actor of American films. Born Andrew Vabre Devine in Flagstaff, Arizona, the later-to-be Rotund comic character actor was raised in nearby Kingman, Arizona, the son of Irish-American hotel operator Thomas Devine and his wife Amy. Devine was an able athlete as a student and actually played semi-pro football under a phony name (Jeremiah Schwartz, often erroneously presumed to be his real name). Devine used the false name in order to remain eligible for college football. A successful football player at St. Mary & St. Benedict College, Arizona State Teacher's College, and Santa Clara University, Devine went to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actor. After a number of small roles in silent films, he was given a good part in the talkie The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931) in part due to his fine record as a football player. His sound-film career seemed at risk due to his severely raspy voice, the result of a childhood injury. His voice, however, soon became his trademark, and he spent the next forty-five years becoming an increasingly popular and beloved comic figure in a wide variety of films. In the 1950s, his fame grew enormously with his co-starring role as Jingles opposite Guy Madison's "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" (1951), on television and radio simultaneously. In 1955, before the Hickok series ended, Devine took over the hosting job on a children's show retitled "Andy's Gang" (1955), in which he gained new fans among the very young. He continued active in films until his death in 1977. He was survived by his wife and two sons.


TRIVIA:

• His high-pitched, gravelly voice was the result of a childhood accident. While running with a stick (some accounts say a curtain rod) in his mouth, he tripped and fell, ramming the stick through the roof of his mouth. For almost a year, he was unable to speak at all. When he did get his voice back, at length, it had the wheezing, almost duo-toned quality that would ultimately make him a star.
• Was once honorary mayor of Van Nuys, California.
• He was awarded 2 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio at 6258 Hollywood Boulevard and for television at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard.
• According to an in-depth article by Joe Collura for "Classic Images," Andy was born in Flagstaff, Arizona but moved with his family west to Kingman in Mohave County. While there his father, Thomas, served as the Mohave County treasurer and owned the Hotel Beale. His father later suffered from stomach cancer and traveled to Los Angeles for treatment, where he died during surgery.
• Was an avid pilot and owned a flying school that trained flyers for the government during World War II.
• Made his stage debut as Cap'n Andy in 'Guy Lombardo' (qv)'s 1957 production of "Show Boat" at a theatre in Long Island.
• Was a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator with the call sign WB6RER. The call is now owned by an amateur radio club in Kingman, AZ, which holds an annual event in memory of their favourite son.
• 'John Wayne (I)' (qv) and 'James Stewart (I)' (qv) were among those who attended his funeral.