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Les Tremayne
Age: 90 (passed away Dec. 19th, 2003)
Height:
Birth Place: Balham, London, England, UK
Born: Apr. 16th, 1913
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Les Tremayne's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Born in Balham, England, and best known for his abundant work on radio, actor Les Tremayne moved to Chicago with his family at the age of 4 (his mother was actress Dolly Tremayne), disguising his British accent while growing up. He began his career with community theater, dancing in vaudeville shows and even served as a barker in amusement parks. Landing his first radio job in 1930, he went on to appear in scores of serials and shows using a variety of voices and accents. In 1936, he earned fame after replacing actor Don Ameche as the leading man on "The First Nighter," a weekly program of radio dramas. In 1943, he finally left the Chicago area and moved to Los Angeles and later to New York. There he starred with Bob Crosby (I) on the "Old Gold Show" before serving in the military service. Back in New York, he starred in the popular "Thin Man" and "Falcon" mystery thrillers. Divorced from first wife, Lenore Kingston, he co-starred with second wife, Alice Reinhardt, on "The Tremaynes" breakfast talk show. It is estimated that Les worked on more than 30,000 broadcasts, with as many as 45 radio shows a week in the 1930s and '40s. He later appeared on stage with "Heads or Tails" in 1947 and for 18 months on Broadway with "Detective Story" starting in 1949. In the 1950s, he was a durable player in film and TV dramas. Films included The Racket (1951), the sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds (1953), A Man Called Peter (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). Typically playing shifty execs, errant husbands, and authoritative, no-nonsense professionals in teams of TV dramas, he appeared in numerous shows ("Perry Mason" (1957), "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955), "77 Sunset Strip" (1958), etc.) along with a few sitcoms for good measure. After a six-decade plus career in radio, Les was finally inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. He died of heart failure at age 90, survived by his third wife, Joan.
TRIVIA:
- Elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.
- He became so popular on 1940s radio that one poll cited him as one of the three most famous voices in America, along with 'Franklin Delano Roosevelt' (qv) and 'Bing Crosby' (qv).
- Began working in radio when just in his teens.
- He and his second wife, Alice, hosted a breakfast radio talk-show entitled "The Tremaynes".
- Charter member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).
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