WENDELL COREY BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Wendell Corey was born on March 20th, 1914 in Dracut, Massachusetts.  He was the son of a Congregationalist clergyman, Milton R. Corey Sr. who was also a working actor and his mother was Julia Etta McKenney.  After graduating from High School, he decided to work in summer stock theater. 
 
During the years of the depression he worked for an organization that was a part of the works Progress Administration that had been created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that helped give the unemployed jobs.  He was working with the Federal Theater Project.  

Corey soon made his Broadway debut in, "Comes the Revelation" (1942) but this was unsuccessful and only lasted two performances.  However, his next Broadway performance was more successful in, "Strip For Action" (1942-1943) which lasted for more then ten performances.

As his career continued he worked on a couple more stage productions before finally getting a bigger break in a comedy called, "Dream Girl" (1945-1946) this ran for a total of 341 performances.   During the run of this production, he was discovered by a producer by the name of Hal B. Wallis who was the former head of production at Warner Brothers Studios.  He was now working as an Independent producer with Paramount Pictures.  Wallis soon signed Corey to a contract.   
 
Corey's film debut was under his new contract with Paramount appearing in the film, "Desert Fury" (1947).  His career progressed to working as a supporting player during the 1940's and 1950's in a variety of "A" level films such as, "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948), "Holiday Affair" (1949), "The File on Thelma Jordon" (1950) and "Rear Window" (1954) starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr and even a movie with Elvis Presley, "Loving You" (1956) also starring Dolores Hart and Lizabeth Scott. 
 
Alongside his successful stage and film career, Corey also worked on television appearing on the series, "Climax!" (1955-1956), "Zane Grey Theatre" (1956-1960), "Peck's Bad Girl" (1959), "The Nanette Fabray Show" (1961) he had the lead role in the medical drama, "The Eleventh Hour" (1962-1963) and "Burke's Law" (1964).     
 
He was also highly involved in politics and was elected to the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) as well as serving as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences between 1961 through 1963.  Corey was also on the city Council in Santa Monica, California in 1965. 
 
Corey married only once to Alice Wiley whom he had four children with, Jonathan, Robin, Jennifer and Bonnie Alice.  He fought an addiction to alcoholism throughout his entire life and on November 8th, 1968, Corey passed away at the age of fifty four in Woodland Hills, CA. from liver ailment which had been caused by years of alcohol abuse.  He is interred in Washington Cemetery in Washington, Massachusetts.  

Wendell Corey was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Television.    

 
Filmography

1968 The Astro-Zombies 
1968 Buckskin 
1968 The Wild Wild West
1968 The Star Maker 
1967 The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967 Red Tomahawk 
1966 Picture Mommy Dead 
1966 The Road West 
1966 Run for Your Life 
1966 Waco 
1966 Women of the Prehistoric Planet 
1966 Perry Mason 
1966 Agent for H.A.R.M.  
1966 Cyborg 2087 
1965 Branded 
1964 Blood on the Arrow 
1964 Burke's Law 
1963 Channing
1962-1963 The Eleventh Hour
1962 Bus Stop 
1961 Target: The Corruptors
1961 The New Breed
1961 The Untouchables 
1961 Westinghouse Playhouse
1956-1960 Zane Grey Theatre
1960 Sunday Showcase 
1959 Peck's Bad Girl
1959 Alias Jesse James
1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1958 The Light in the Forest
1957-1958 Harbor Command 
1955-1958 Studio One in Hollywood 
1957 Loving You
1957 The 20th Century-Fox Hour
1956 The Rainmaker
1956 Eye on New York
1956 The Rack 
1956 Celebrity Playhouse
1956 The Bold and the Brave 
1955-1956 Climax!
1956 The Killer Is Loose 
1955 Star Stage
1955 The Alcoa Hour
1955 The Big Knife 
1955 The United States Steel Hour
1954 Rear Window
1954 Hell's Half Acre
1951-1954 Lux Video Theatre
1953-1954 Robert Montgomery Presents 
1953 The Backbone of America
1953 Laughing Anne 
1953 Willys Theatre Presenting Ben Hecht's Tales of the City
1953 The Plymouth Playhouse  
1953 Jamaica Run
1952 Hollywood Opening Night
1952 The Gulf Playhouse
1952 My Man and I
1952 Curtain Call 
1952 Carbine Williams
1951-1952 Celanese Theatre
1952 Chesterfield Presents 
1952 The Wild North
1951 The Wild Blue Yonder  
1951 Schlitz Playhouse
1951 Rich, Young and Pretty
1951 The Great Missouri Raid 
1950 Harriet Craig 
1950 The Furies 
1950 No Sad Songs for Me 
1950 The File on Thelma Jordon 
1949 Holiday Affair
1949 Any Number Can Play
1949 The Accused
1948 Sorry, Wrong Number 
1948 Man-Eater of Kumaon 
1948 The Search 
1948 I Walk Alone 
1947 Desert Fury