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In
Remembrance: Keith Andes
Keith Andes, who starred opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1952 feature
Clash By Night, has passed away on November 11, 2005 in Santa
Clarita, CA. He was 85.
Born John Charles Andes on July 12, 1920 in Ocean City, New Jersey,
Andes began acting early, singing and acting on the radio at age
12. He attended Oxford University and graduated from Temple
University in 1943 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He also
studied voice at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. He then
enlisted in the Army Air Forces where he sang and acted in USO
shows. During this time he appeared in the patriotic Broadway show
Winged Victory where he was seen by 20th Century
Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, who offered Andes a minor part in
the show’s 1944 film adaptation.
Following his discharge from the service, Andes appeared in the
Broadway production The Chocolate Soldier, winning a Theatre
World Award for Outstanding Breakout Performance before returning
to Hollywood to a supporting role in the Loretta Young comedy The
Farmer’s Daughter (1947). After headlining the low budget film
Project X (1949) with Jack Lord, Andes returned to stage acting.
In 1952, RKO Pictures coaxed Andes back to motion pictures, casting
him and a young Marilyn Monroe in major supporting roles in the
drama Clash By Night. Andes stayed at the studio for two more
pictures – Blackbeard, The Pirate (1952) and the noir
Split Second (1953) – before heading over to Universal Studios.
There he acted in films such as the musical The Second Greatest
Sex (1955), the war film Away All Boats (1956) and dramas Back From Eternity (1956) and Interlude (1957).
Andes returned to the Broadway stage in 1960 to star with Lucille
Ball in the musical comedy Wildcat. He also lead the cast in
a touring company production of Man Of La Mancha in 1967.
Following appearances in the films Hell’s Bloody Devils and
Tora! Tora! Tora! (both 1970), Andes went into
semi-retirement to run a charter boat service out of Los Angeles. He
made one last film appearance in …And Justice For All (1979).
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