Tom D'Andrea

Tom D'Andrea

Born: May 15, 1909
Died: May 14, 1998
in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Thomas J. D'Andrea was an American actor in films and on television. D'Andrea's first job was at the Chicago Public Library, after which he worked in publicity at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago. Contacts with entertainers at the hotel led to an opportunity to work in Hollywood. After moving there in 1934, he became a publicist for Betty Grable, Gene Autry, Mae Clarke and Jackie Coogan.

He began writing scripts in 1937, creating lines for Ben Bernie, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and Olsen and Johnson and continued in television, writing for Cantor and Donald O'Connor on their shows. In 1941, D'Andrea was drafted into the Army Air Corps. He was assigned to write a Gracie Fields program after being stationed at Camp Roberts, California..Reading lines at a rehearsal, Fields decided to have him read the lines in the show. He was assigned to the Overseas Radio Unit in 1943, and he began performing comedy in addition to writing.

While at Ciro's Restaurant on Sunset Strip attracted a Warner Bros.' executive's attention, resulting in a role in This is the Army, with Ronald Reagan. In 1946, the studio sighed him to a long-term contract. He went on to roles in Pride of the Marines with John Garfield, Night and Day with Cary Grant, Never Say Goodbye, Silver River with Errol Flynn, and Dark Passage with Humphrey Bogart. His last film was A House Is Not a Home with Shelley Winters in 1964.

After working in the film Kill the Umpire, with William Bendix in 1950, D'Andrea was chosen to play the part of Gillis, Riley's talkative neighbor in the long running television series, The Life of Riley starring Bendix. Other TV shows he appeared in were "Death Valley Days" with Ronald Reagan, "Playhouse 90" and the "Hallmark Hall of Fame."

"He retired in his '60s. But, he didn't really retire. Like all actors and writers he never stopped performing. They would meet at places like the Friars Club and amuse themselves," said his son Tom. "That was when he started doing club dates at The Sands with Frank Sinatra. He Coalso did a summer replacement TV show called 'The Soldiers' with Hal March. After they left, the show was kept on with Phil Silvers and renamed 'Sgt. Bilko'.

On television, D'Andrea portrayed Bill, the bartender, in Dante and acted as himself in The Soldiers.

He appeared in the films This Is the Army, Pride of the Marines, Night and Day, Two Guys from Milwaukee, Never Say Goodbye, Humoresque, Love and Learn, Dark Passage, To the Victor, Silver River, Smart Girls Don't Talk, Fighter Squadron, Flaxy Martin, Tension, Kill the Umpire, The Next Voice You Hear..., Little Egypt and A House Is Not a Home. He appeared in the television series' The Soldiers, The Life of Riley, The Bill Dana Show, My Living Doll, The Farmer's Daughter, The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres and That Girl, among others.

Movies for Tom D'Andrea...

Title: My World and Welcome to It
Released: September 15, 1969
Type: TV
My World and Welcome to It is an American half-hour television sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber. It starred William Windom as John Monroe, a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist who works for a magazine closely resembling The New Yorker called The Manhattanite. Wry, fanciful and curmudgeonly, Monroe observes and comments on life, to the bemusement of his rather sensible wife Ellen and intelligent, questioning daughter Lydia. Monroe's frequent daydreams and fantasies are usually based on Thurber material. My World — And Welcome To It is the name of a book of illustrated stories and essays, also by James Thurber. The series ran one season on NBC 1969-1970. It was created by Mel Shavelson, who wrote and directed the pilot episode and was one of the show's principal writers. Sheldon Leonard was executive producer. The show's producer, Danny Arnold, co-wrote or directed numerous episodes, and even appeared as Santa Claus in "Rally Round the Flag."
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Divorce American Style
Title: Divorce American Style
Character: Mildred's Irate Husband (voice) (uncredited)
Released: June 21, 1967
Type: Movie
After 17 years of marriage in American suburbia, Richard and Barbara Harmon step into the new world of divorce.
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Title: That Girl
Released: September 8, 1966
Type: TV
That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.
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Title: Green Acres
Character: Bailiff
Released: September 15, 1965
Type: TV
Green Acres is an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a rural country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was first broadcast on CBS, from September 15, 1965 to April 27, 1971. Receiving solid ratings during its six-year run, Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of the "rural purge" by CBS. The sitcom has been in syndication and is available in DVD and VHS releases. In 1997, the two-part episode "A Star Named Arnold is Born" was ranked #59 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
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Title: Green Acres
Released: September 15, 1965
Type: TV
Green Acres is an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a rural country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was first broadcast on CBS, from September 15, 1965 to April 27, 1971. Receiving solid ratings during its six-year run, Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of the "rural purge" by CBS. The sitcom has been in syndication and is available in DVD and VHS releases. In 1997, the two-part episode "A Star Named Arnold is Born" was ranked #59 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
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Title: The Addams Family
Character: Examiner
Released: September 18, 1964
Type: TV
A satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening. In fact, they themselves are often terrified by "normal" people.
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A House Is Not a Home
Title: A House Is Not a Home
Character: Gabe
Released: August 12, 1964
Type: Movie
Story follows the life of Polly Adler, who grew to become one of New York's most successful bordello madams of the 1920s.
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Title: The Beverly Hillbillies
Released: September 26, 1962
Type: TV
Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
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Title: The Andy Griffith Show
Character: Bill Stone
Released: October 3, 1960
Type: TV
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
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Title: Dante
Character: Biff
Released: October 3, 1960
Type: TV
Dante is a short-lived NBC adventure/drama television series starring Howard Duff as Willie Dante, a former gambler who operates Dante's Inferno, a San Francisco, California, nightclub. Alan Mowbray co-starred as Stewart Styles, the Maitre d'; Tom D'Andrea as Biff, Dante's "man Friday", and Mort Mills as police Lieutenant Bob Malone. Dante claims to have put his past behind him but has retained old associates Stewart and Biff. While his club is legitimate, neither the police nor the mob believe that he is truly finished with the criminal underworld. Dante's old associates in crime keep appearing at the club in efforts to lure him back to the underworld. Dick Powell had previously played Dante in eight episodes of his Four Star Playhouse, initially written by Blake Edwards, who had previously created the radio drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective for Powell. There, Willie operates an illegal gambling operation in the back room of the "Inferno", which police soon shut down. The only regular from the Four Star Playhouse version to be cast in the series as well was Mowbray, who had first played a millionaire named Jackson who had gambled away his fortune and then worked as one of Dante's waiters. These episodes were subsequently rebroadcast under the collective title The Best in Mystery.
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Title: The George Gobel Show
Character: Self
Released: October 2, 1954
Type: TV
The George Gobel Show is an American television series hosted George Gobel that aired on NBC from 1954 to 1960.
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Title: The Life Of Riley
Character: Gillis
Released: January 2, 1953
Type: TV
Riley worked in an aircraft plant in California, but viewers usually saw him at home, cheerfully disrupting life with his malapropisms and ill timed intervention into minor problems.
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Title: The Life Of Riley
Character: Jim Gillis
Released: January 2, 1953
Type: TV
Riley worked in an aircraft plant in California, but viewers usually saw him at home, cheerfully disrupting life with his malapropisms and ill timed intervention into minor problems.
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Little Egypt
Title: Little Egypt
Character: Max
Released: October 1, 1951
Type: Movie
A belly dancer causes a scandal with her suggestive dancing at a Worlds Fair exhibition at the turn of the 20th century.
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Title: The Colgate Comedy Hour
Character: Self
Released: September 10, 1950
Type: TV
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
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The Next Voice You Hear...
Title: The Next Voice You Hear...
Character: Harry Magee
Released: June 29, 1950
Type: Movie
The Next Voice You Hear... (1950) is a drama film in which a voice claiming to be that of God preempts all radio programs for days all over the world. It stars James Whitmore and Nancy Davis as Joe and Mary Smith, a typical American couple. It was based on a short story of the same name by George Sumner Albee.
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Kill the Umpire
Title: Kill the Umpire
Character: Roscoe Snooker
Released: April 27, 1950
Type: Movie
Ex-baseball player Bill Johnson, failing at many jobs when his ball-playing days are over, reluctantly takes the advice of his father-in-law, Jonah Evans, a retired umpire, and enters an umpire-training school. Assigned to the Texas League, he does fine until the championship play-offs when a riot develops over one of his calls. The involved player is knocked unconscious in the proceedings and cannot verify that Bill made the correct call. Despite lynch mob plans to at least tar-and-feather him, Bill's family - his daughters Lucy (Gloria Henry and Susan and his wife Betty - help Bill reach the ballpark safely the next day through a series of hair-raising encounters.
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Tension
Title: Tension
Character: Freddie, Coast to Coast Counter Man
Released: November 25, 1949
Type: Movie
Warren Quimby manages a drugstore while trying to keep his volatile wife, Claire, happy. However, when Claire leaves him for a liquor store salesman, Warren can no longer bear it. He decides to assume a new identity in order to murder his wife's lover without leaving a trace. Along the way, his plans are complicated by an attractive neighbor, as well as a shocking discovery that opens up a new world of doubts and accusations.
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Flaxy Martin
Title: Flaxy Martin
Character: Sam Malko
Released: February 15, 1949
Type: Movie
Attorney Walter Colby has ties to the mob, but he begins to regret his criminal affiliations. When his girlfriend, showgirl Flaxy Martin, who also has shady connections, becomes a suspect in a murder, Walter takes the fall. However, on his way to prison, he escapes, determined to bring the real killer to justice.
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Fighter Squadron
Title: Fighter Squadron
Character: M / Sgt. James F. Dolan
Released: November 27, 1948
Type: Movie
During World War II, an insubordinate fighter pilot finds the shoe on the other foot when he's promoted.
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To the Victor
Title: To the Victor
Character: Gus Franklin
Released: October 26, 1948
Type: Movie
An American serviceman remains in France after WWII and becomes a black marketeer.
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Smart Girls Don't Talk
Title: Smart Girls Don't Talk
Character: Sparky Lynch
Released: October 9, 1948
Type: Movie
A society woman gets involved with a gangster only to find he has hidden plans.
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Silver River
Title: Silver River
Character: 'Pistol' Porter
Released: May 20, 1948
Type: Movie
Unjustly booted out of the cavalry, Mike McComb strikes out for Nevada, and deciding never to be used again, ruthlessly works his way up to becoming one of the most powerful silver magnates in the west. His empire begins to fall apart as the other mining combines rise against him and his stubbornness loses him the support of his wife and old friends.
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Dark Passage
Title: Dark Passage
Character: Cabby (Sam)
Released: September 5, 1947
Type: Movie
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.
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Love and Learn
Title: Love and Learn
Character: Wells
Released: May 2, 1947
Type: Movie
A wealthy socialite bored with her life meets and falls in love with a struggling songwriter on the verge of leaving New York and quitting the music business.
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Humoresque
Title: Humoresque
Character: Phil Boray
Released: January 25, 1947
Type: Movie
A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
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Never Say Goodbye
Title: Never Say Goodbye
Character: Jack Gordon
Released: November 9, 1946
Type: Movie
Phil and Ellen Gayley have been divorced for a year, and their 7-year old daughter, Flip, is very unhappy that her parents are not together. Flip starts a correspondence with a Marine, sending a picture of her beautiful mother as the author of Flip's flirtatious letters. When the Marine shows up to meet his pen pal, Ellen takes the opportunity to make her ex-husband jealous.
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Two Guys from Milwaukee
Title: Two Guys from Milwaukee
Character: Happy
Released: July 26, 1946
Type: Movie
Balkan Prince Henry has two wishes, to meet Lauren Bacall and see the "real" America. He befriends cabbie Buzz Williams and, without knowing the microphone is live, the two stage a debate on democracy versus monarchy broadcast back to the Prince's homeland. A plebiscite there puts Henry out of a job. Flying to Milwaukee to become a beer salesman, he meets Bacall on the seat next to his, but a tap on his shoulder means he must give up his seat (and dream) to Bogie.
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Night and Day
Title: Night and Day
Character: Tommy
Released: July 2, 1946
Type: Movie
Swellegant and elegant. Delux and delovely. Cole Porter was the most sophisticated name in 20th-century songwriting. And to play him on screen, Hollywood chose debonair icon Cary Grant. Grant stars for the first time in color in this fanciful biopic. Alexis Smith plays Linda, whose serendipitous meetings with Porter lead to a meeting at the alter. More than 20 of his songs grace this tail of triumph and tragedy, with Grant lending is amiable voice to "You're the Top", "Night and Day" and more. Monty Woolley, a Yale contemporary of Porter, portrays himself. And Jane Wyman, Mary Martin, Eve Arden and others provide vocals and verve. Lights down. Curtain up. Showtune standards embraced by generations are yours to enjoy in "Night and Day."
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Pride of the Marines
Title: Pride of the Marines
Character: Tom
Released: August 24, 1945
Type: Movie
Marine hero Al Schmid is blinded in battle and returns home to be rehabilitated. He readjusts to his civilian life with the help of his soon to be wife.
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This Is the Army
Title: This Is the Army
Character: Tom D'Andrea
Released: August 14, 1943
Type: Movie
In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War, he becomes a producer. In WW II his son Johnny Jones, who was before his fathers assistant, gets the order to stage a knew all-soldier show, called THIS IS THE ARMY. But in his pesonal life he has problems, because he refuses to marry his fiancée until the war is over.
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Across the Pacific
Title: Across the Pacific
Character: Toy Seller (uncredited)
Released: September 4, 1942
Type: Movie
Rick Leland makes no secret of the fact he has no loyalty to his home country after he is court-marshaled out of the army and boards a Japanese ship for the Orient in late 1941. But has Leland really been booted out, or is there some other motive for his getting close to fellow passenger Doctor Lorenz? Any motive for getting close to attractive traveller Alberta Marlow would however seem pretty obvious.