RICHARD DENNING BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Richard Denning born with the birth name Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr. in Poughkeepsie, New York on March 27th, 1914.  His father was a garment manufacturer.  Denning intended to follow in his fathers footsteps and take over the family business, therefore attending Woodbury College and majoring in foreign trade.  
 
However, when Denning won a minor-league radio talent contest called, "Do You Want To Be an Actor" he was awarded a contract and arrived in Hollywood and signed to a paramount stock player contract in 1937.  It was then that he changed his name to Denning. 
 
He was well liked for his great physical attributes and his debut film, "Hold 'Em Navy" (1937) highlighted his handsome physical features.  Richard's first major television credit was, "Spy" (1939).  He enlisted in the military during World War II and upon his return to Hollywood, it took Paramount almost 18 months before using him in another film. 
 
In 1940, he married Evelyn Ankers, an actress who retired from her career after getting married.  She passed away from Cancer in 1985 and only later did Denning marry again to Patricia Leffingwell. 
 
During this time of no employment he lived in a mobile home with his wife, Evelyn which was parked at Malibu in palm Springs.  He finally was offered employment when he got to work opposite Lucille Ball on the radio in the late 1940's on, "My Favorite Husband" (1948-1951).  This radio series turned out to be such a success that CBS executives offered Ball and Denning a TV deal, however, Ball refused and insisted her real life husband portray her husband character on the show if it were to go to television. 
 
One of his best known roles was in, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954).  He also furthered his career with various roles on television such as playing the star of the series, "Mr. and Mrs. North (1952-1954) followed by the lead role in, "The Flying Doctor" (1959) and "Private Detective" (1960).  Richard Denning seemed to have an in working in Television with another very popular role on, "Hawaii Five-O" (1968-1980) where he played the Governor of Hawaii.  He got this role after already being retired and living on the Island of Maui with his wife when producer, Leonard Freeman approached him with the offer.  The offer included a guaranteed five hours a day of work with 4 days of work per week.  This offer enticed Denning to come out of retirement and take the job. 
 
Not only was Denning highly involved in furthering his acting career, he also served as a minister in the Lutheran church.  Richard had one daughter with his first wife.  Richard Denning passed away October 11, 1998 in Escondido, California of cardiac arrest and was interred beside his first wife in Maui Veterans cemetery.
 
 
Filmography

1937  Hold 'em Navy 
1937  Wells Fargo
1938  The Buccaneer
1938  Captain Reid
1938  The Big Broadcast of 1938
1938  Her Jungle Love
1938  College Swing
1938  You and Me
1938  The Texans
1938  Give Me a Sailor
1938  Campus Confessions 
1938  King of Alcatraz
1938  Touchdown Army
1938  The Arkansas Traveler 
1938  Illegal Traffic
1938  Say It in French
1939  Ambush
1939  Persons in Hiding 
1939  King of Chinatown
1939  I'm From Missouri 
1939  Sudden Money 
1939  Union Pacific
1939  Hotel Imperial
1939  Some Like It Hot
1939  Undercover Doctor
1939  The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939  Grand Jury Secrets 
1939  Million Dollar Legs
1939  The Star Maker 
1939  Television Spy 
1939  Disputed Passage
1940  Our Neighbors - The Carters 
1940  Geronimo 
1940  The Night of Nights 
1940  Emergency Squad 
1940  Parole Fixer 
1940  The Farmer's Daughter 
1940  Seventeen
1940  Queen of the Mob
1940  Those Were the Days!
1940  Golden Gloves 
1940  Northwest Mounted Police
1940  Love Thy Neighbor
1941  Adam Had Four Sons
1941  West Point Widow 
1942  Beyond the Blue Horizon
1942  The Glass Key
1942  Quiet Please: Murder 
1942  Ice-Capades Revue
1944  Golden Gloves 
1946  Black Beauty 
1946  The Fabulous Suzanne 
1947  Seven Were Saved
1948  Caged Fury
1948  Lady at Midnight
1948  Unknown Island
1948  Disaster
1950  No Man of Her Own
1950  Harbor of Missing Men
1950  Double Deal 
1951  The Bigelow Theatre
1951  The Hot Welcome
1951  Secrets of Beauty
1951  Flame of Stamboul
1951  Insurance Investigator
1951  Week-End with Father
1952-1954 Mr. and Mrs. North 
1952  Okinawa Lt. Phillips
1952  Scarlet Angel
1952  Cavalcade of America
1952  The Man Who Took a Chance
1952  Hangman's Knot
1953  Target Hong Kong
1953  Ford Television Theatre
1953  The 49th Man
1953  The Glass Web
1954  Jivaro Jerry Russell
1954  Ford Television Theatre George Beagle
1954  Battle of Rogue River
1954  Creature from the Black Lagoon
1954  Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1954  Tapu
1954  Target Earth
1955  TV Reader's Digest
1955  Ford Television Theatre
1955  Air Strike 
1955  The Magnificent Matador
1955  Creature with the Atom
1955  The Gun That Won the West
1955  The Crooked Web
1955  The Day the World Ended Rick
1956  Cheyenne
1956  Celebrity Playhouse
1956  The Oklahoma Woman
1956  Girls in Prison
1956  Crossroads
1956  The Bowery Bishop
1956  The Pure White Orchid
1956  Million Dollar Manhunt
1956  Ford Television Theatre 
1957  An Affair to Remember
1957  The Buckskin Lady
1957  The Black Scorpion
1957  General Electric Theater
1958  The Lady Takes a Flyer
1958  Studio One
1958  Desert Hell
1959  The Flying Doctor
1960  No Greater Love
1960  Michael Shayne
1960–1961 Private Detective
1963  Going My Way
1963  Twice-Told Tales
1964–1965 Karen
1966  Alice Through the Looking Glass
1968  I Sailed to Tahiti With an All Girl Crew
1968  I Spy
1968–1980 Hawaii Five-O
1974  McCloud
1980  The Asphalt Cowboy