Mike Mazurki's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Chicago Teddy Bears Julie

Main Movie Roles 1990 - Dick Tracy 1987 - Amazon Women on the Moon 1981 - ...All the Marbles 1980 - The Man With Bogart's Face 1980 - Alligator 1974 - The Centerfold Girls 1967 - The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin 1964 - The Disorderly Orderly 1964 - Cheyenne Autumn 1963 - It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1963 - Donovan's Reef 1963 - 4 for Texas 1962 - Five Weeks in a Balloon 1961 - The Errand Boy 1961 - Pocketful of Miracles 1960 - The Facts of Life 1959 - Alias Jesse James 1959 - Some Like It Hot 1958 - The Buccaneer 1956 - Around the World in Eighty Days 1955 - Kismet 1955 - Blood Alley 1955 - Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier 1955 - New Orleans Uncensored 1955 - New York Confidential 1954 - The Egyptian 1951 - Criminal Lawyer 1950 - Night and the City 1950 - Dark City 1949 - Rope of Sand 1949 - Abandoned 1949 - Neptune's Daughter 1948 - I Walk Alone 1948 - The Noose Hangs High 1947 - Nightmare Alley 1947 - Sinbad the Sailor 1946 - Mysterious Intruder 1944 - The Missing Juror 1944 - The Canterville Ghost 1944 - The Princess and the Pirate 1944 - Murder, My Sweet 1943 - Thank Your Lucky Stars 1942 - Dr. Renault's Secret 1942 - Gentleman Jim

BIOGRAPHY:

With an intimidating face like craggy granite, and his towering 6'5" solid, frame Mike Mazurki (born Mikhail Mazurski) was one of the cinema's first serial thugs and specialized in playing strong-arm men, gangsters and bullies for over 50 years on screen. Nearly always portrayed as a lowbrow muscle, in real life Mazurski was highly intelligent, very well read and a witty conversationalist. He was also an accomplished sportsman with his ventures in American football and wrestling. He first appeared onscreen in uncredited roles in films such as Gentleman Jim (1942) and About Face (1942);, however, his daunting bruiser looks were soon noticed and he became phenomenally busy in the 1940s, appearing in nearly 50 movies during the decade, including his well remembered performance as ex-con "Moose Malloy" in the film noir thriller Murder, My Sweet (1944), and as the gruesome "Splitface" in Dick Tracy (1945).

He continued his menacing onscreen presence throughout the 1950s and 1960s, often showing he could be quite adept at deadpan comedy roles in films including _Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945)_, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Donovan's Reef (1963) and The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967). Demand for his talents slowed down in the late 1970s and most of the 1980s, as younger villains came to the fore; however, he still turned up in support roles and was still acting at the age of 83 when he passed away in December, 1990.


TRIVIA:

• American actor of Ukrainian origin.
• Awarded the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame's New York State Award, which was presented to an individual who made significant contributions to the sport of Professional Wrestling in the PWHF's home state of New York.
• Well known to generations of wrestling fans as "Iron" Mike Mazurki, whom he delighted with several world-class battles in during his long career. Outside the squared circle, Mike was dedicated to serving those in his wrestling brotherhood, and in the 1960s founded the "Cauliflower Alley Club", a non-profit organization that awarded scholarships and financial assistance to retired or injured wrestlers and their families.
• Wrestler turned actor in tough guy roles.
• Best remembered as the lumbering, intense yet soft-hearted Moose Malloy in the classic 1945 film-noir adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel 'Farewell, My Lovely', called 'Murder, My Sweet' in the US (while retaining the novel's title overseas).
• Father of actress 'Michelle Mazurki' (qv).
• Contrary to his image as a brawny, not very smart tough guy, Mazurki graduated at the top of his class from Manhattan College, class of 1930, with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
• In 1936 he played minor league football with the Wessington Passiac (NJ) Red Devils. The Red Devils were a member of the American Football Association.