WELLESNET MESSAGE BOARD

Posted: **Sat Dec 31, 2005 3:50 pm**

Just picked up Boris Karloff’s Thriller on DVD and was surprised to see so many of Orson Welles’ colleagues in these masterful supernatural/horror/suspense stories. Here is a list of Mercury Theatre veterans or Welles co-stars who made guest appearances or otherwise contributed to Boris Karloff's Thriller (1960-1962), which Stephen King says is "the best horror series that ever aired."

Dan Tobin (The Fountain of Youth): Worse Than Murder (1960)
Berry Kroeger (Black Magic): The Mark of the Hand (1960)
Mary Astor (Royal Regiment - The Campbell Playhouse): Rose's Last Summer (1960)
Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane, Journey into Fear, The Lady from Shanghai, Prince of Foxes): The Guilty Men (1960)
Richard Anderson (Compulsion), Rip Torn (King of Kings) and Alan Napier (Macbeth): The Purple Room (1960)
Richard Chamberlain (Shogun), Martin Gabel (Julius Caesar, Danton’s Death, A Tale of Two Cities episode of Mercury Theatre on the Air) and Alan Baxter (Romance segment of Mercury Theatre on the Air): The Watcher (1960)
Henry Daniell (Jane Eyre): The Cheaters (1960)
Kenneth Haigh (Under Suspicion, episode of Great Mysteries) and Alan Napier: Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook (1961)
Guy Rolfe (King of Kings): The Terror in Teakwood (1961)
Peter Brocco (Compulsion): Trio for Terror (1961)
Peter Brocco: The Prisoner in the Mirror (1961)
Peter Brocco: Guillotine (1961)
Eduardo Ciannelli (Prince of Foxes): Man in a Cage (1961)
Doris Lloyd (Follow the Boys): The Closed Cabinet (1961)
Ted de Corsia (The Lady from Shanghai): The Fingers of Fear (1961)
Henry Daniell and Torin Thatcher (The Black Rose): Well of Doom (1961)
Patricia Medina (Mr. Arkadin/Confidential Report): The Devil's Ticket (1961)
Jeanette Nolan (Macbeth): Parasite Mansion (1961)
Henry Daniell: The Prisoner in the Mirror (1961)
John Abbott (Jane Eyre, Slapstick [of Another Kind]): Trio for Terror (1961)
Alan Napier: Dark Legacy (1961)
Marlo Thomas (It Happened One Christmas): The Ordeal of Dr. Cordell (1961)
Henry Daniell: The Grim Reaper (1961)
Patricia Medina: The Premature Burial (1961)
George Macready (Follow the Boys): The Weird Tailor (1961)
Henry Daniell: God Grante That She Lye Stille (1961)
Richard Long (The Stranger): An Attractive Family (1962)
Ursula Andress (Casino Royale) and Jeanette Nolan: La Strega (1962)
Alan Baxter: Waxworks (1962)
Eduardo Ciannelli and Peter Brocco: The Bride Who Died Twice (1962)
George Kennedy (The Double McGuffin): The Innocent Bystanders (1962)
Richard Carlson (The Sexes segment of Mercury Theatre on the Air): Kill My Love (1962)

Ida Lupino (The Bad Man, episode of The Campbell Playhouse) directed episodes The Bride Who Died Twice, The Closed Cabinet, Guillotine, La Strega, The Last of the Sommervilles (1961), The Lethal Ladies (1962), Mr. George (1961), Trio for Terror, What Beckoning Ghost? (1961)

Fletcher Markle (actor, Life with Adam, Mercury Summer Theatre on the Air; co-writer on The Lady from Shanghai) co-produced Thriller and directed Man in the Middle episode (1960).

The cinematographer on some episodes was John L. Russell (Macbeth).

Posted: **Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:21 pm**

Harvey - Have you spent your life savings on supernatural anthology show box sets?! Seems like you've "picked up" around 300 hours of programming within the last week or so. At any rate, thanks for the rundown. I expect to see "The Outer Limits" cast posted in a day or two!

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:33 am**

I'd like to find out more about Everett Sloane. What happened to the poor bloke?
This superb actor committed suicide with barbiturates in 1965 because he was afraid he was going blind. Sloane may also have been depressed over his flatlining career. His last films were the Italian-made Hercules Vs. the Sea Monster and The Disorderly Orderly, with Jerry Lewis.
It's hard to believe that Sloane was only 55 when he died, because he looked 25 years older.
Sloane thought of himself as quite ugly and had several nose jobs. Welles observed that his talent diminished as the size of his nose was reduced.
They had a falling out over OTHELLO, didn't they? Sloane was cast as Iago and backed out when he realized it would be an open-ended assignment.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 10:39 am**

Sloane had two children, a son and a daughter; perhaps they are still around and would be interested in discussing their father. Assuming they could be found, of course.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:14 pm**

Here's something from imdb.com:

Biography for
Everett Sloane (I)

Spouse
Luba Herman (1933 - 6 August 1965) (his death) 2 children

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trivia
Apparent suicide with bartiturates in Brentwood because he was afraid he was going blind.

Wrote the lyrics to theme song of "The Andy Griffith Show." However, they were not used in favor of whistling the theme song.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:24 pm**

Sorry -- didn't mean to repeat Jeff's note. My intent was to highlight the last point, about the Griffith song -- if you'll go to the imdb Web site, you'll find an astonishing list of accomplishments by Sloane, including TV director...

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:55 pm**

A rather morbid list might be the number of suicides of those associated with Welles! I can think of Sloane, Comingore, Rick Jason, Romy Schneider, Philip Van Zandt (Mr. Rawlston in "Kane") and Robert Pittard (barely appearing as Charlie Johnston in "Ambersons") off the top of my head.

Perhaps performers and creative types are more prone to mood swings which can turn devastatingly depressive. I wouldn't necessarily agree with Welles' description of Sloane's degenerating talent. His turn as Arthur Bannister in "Shanghai" is fabulous (Welles thought it was weak). It's possible that Sloane grew more difficult to work with as the years went on which affected Welles' view of his talent. He was certainly about the only male actor appearing in early Welles' films that Welles didn't employ when he returned to Hollywood for "Touch Of Evil". It's interesting to note how many bit parts in that film were cast with actors who appeared only briefly in "Kane", "Ambersons" and "Shanghai" - that's in addition to the casting of Ray Collins, Joseph Cotten, Harry Shannon, Billy House and Gus Schilling in larger roles. Welles wanted as many familiar faces around as possible it seems.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 1:45 pm**

Acting is a very demanding profession. Ageing, the lack of phone calls from one's agent, and the general insecurity resulting from that type of life leaves many people vulnerable so we should not associate this with Welles.

Also Sloane deliver some very good performances post-Welles guesting in series such as WAGON TRAIN (where he played a vicious Confederate guerilla who incinerated Robert Horton's fiance), appeared in a cop show and did other things as well.

Often, as is the case with Scorsese and DeNiro for example, directors and actors often feel that they need a change from working together closely.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:34 pm**

"Welles wanted as many familiar faces around as possible it seems." Welles wasn't alone. Other directors who came to film from another medium and brought their "troupes" with them include, for example, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who made Hanna Schygulla a household name in Germany after bringing her (and other prominent actors) from his Munich action-theatre.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:00 pm**

tonyw wrote:Acting is a very demanding profession. Ageing, the lack of phone calls from one's agent, and the general insecurity resulting from that type of life leaves many people vulnerable so we should not associate this with Welles.

Please understand that I did not intend to imply that Welles would be responsible for an actor taking his or her life. The list was just an off-color aside; so much so that I changed the subject mid-post (although I probably should have left it out altogether).

Certainly, Welles hiring Mercury players and people he was familiar with made sense in 1940 when he was new to the film industry. But I suspect he brought back so many of them for "Touch Of Evil" as an act of gratitude, a "thank you" perhaps for their earlier service. I don't imagine that Welles was directly involved in the casting of walk-ons for "Evil", but was surprised at how many of these bit actors had appeared in his earlier work. One can check out imdb.com for more details.

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