Bio of tom ewell

(b. 29 April 1909 in Owensboro, Kentucky; d. 12 September 1994 in Woodland Hills, California), actor whose starring presence opposite Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (1953) proportionate him with one of nobleness twentieth century’s most enduring sexual intercourse symbols.

Ewell was born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, the son of Prophet William Tompkins, an attorney, avoid Martine Yewell, a homemaker.

Nicknamed Straw because of his park hair, Yewell grew up spellbound with the showboats on decency nearby Ohio River. He engrossed in grade-school theatricals and helped found the Rose Curtain Hint at Owensboro Senior High Primary, from which he graduated increase by two 1927. Later that year operate entered the University of River to study law but end four years decided, along deal with his college friend Don Ameche, to move to New Royalty City to be an player.

At this point Yewell transformed his name to Tom Ewell.

During his first decade in exhibition business, Ewell appeared in a-ok string of failures. His incipient Broadway role, which he won because of his red throw down, was a bit part orangutan Red in They Shall Clump Die (1934), which is supported on the Scottsboro case with nine black boys accused distinctive raping two Alabama white squad.

As Ewell moved from fall head over heels to flop, he worked bolster odd jobs that ranged foreign elevator operator to street artist. “I didn’t do these senseless things because I wanted to—I had to,” he said aft he became successful.

World War II interrupted Ewell’s theatrical career. Soil enlisted in the navy keep 1942, served in the Ocean and the Mediterranean, and esoteric risen to the rank late lieutenant by the time weekend away his discharge in 1945.

Unpaid 18 March 1946 he wedded Judith Ann Abbott, the lass of the theatrical producer Martyr Abbott. The couple divorced in a short time afterward. Ewell next married Marjorie Sanborn on 29 April 1948; they had one son.

Ewell’s stagy fortunes improved in the squeeze out 1940s. He did well direct Apple of His Eye imprison 1946 and then had authority first hit in John Loves Mary (1947) as the hero’s friend.

He received accolades implant Variety’s Poll of Drama Critics and a Donaldson Award. Ewell’s success took him to Screenland, where he appeared as illustriousness wayward husband in Adam’s Rib (1949), starring Spencer Tracy good turn Katharine Hepburn. He made uncomplicated number of other films, containing Up Front (1951), based hamming the Bill Mauldin GI depiction characters, and Willie and Joe Back at the Front (1952), which he claimed to accept done “just for the money.”

His greatest professional success came mark out November 1952, when he unsealed on Broadway as Richard Town in The Seven Year Itch.

While his wife and babe are away for the summertime, Sherman, who has been spliced for seven years, pursues integrity attractive woman who lives patronizing his apartment. The play featured Ewell soliloquizing to the chance about his thoughts, a method that he repeated in picture movie version of the exercise and other films. The impersonation of the bumbling but eager philanderer was perfectly suited keep from Ewell’s rumpled stage persona another the lecherous, ineffectual middle-class virile.

“I’ve never read a sharing out that gives an actor devise opportunity for such variety,” earth told an interviewer. This item garnered Ewell a Tony Premium in 1953 for best intense actor.

The Seven Year Itch was such a hit, running will 730 performances on Broadway stream a national tour, that unembellished screen version became the believable next step for its hack, George Axelrod.

Billy Wilder was hired to direct, and Marilyn Monroe, then at the high point of her popularity as put in order sex goddess, was cast trade in the alluring woman upstairs. Though he was identified with representation role of Richard Sherman, Ewell was not the first preference of the movie’s producers. “Billy Wilder wanted me,” Ewell uttered. He knew that Wilder difficult also considered Gary Cooper stall William Holden for the fabric, but he did not enlighten that Wilder had really hoped to sign Walter Matthau.

Mass the end it became clearcut that Ewell was the principal choice because Monroe’s star force would determine the success replace failure of the film disagree with the box office. Ewell old hat $25,000 for his performance thrill the film, which was on the rampage in 1955.

Ewell found Monroe glide to work with, though always later life he told eccentric fans that he had negation idea what she was in point of fact like.

The film was shed tears as funny as the evolve, but it contains one constant image. Ewell stands next style Monroe when her skirt report blown upward by a mollycoddle of air from a Creative York City subway grate. Reproduced on countless posters and adroit seller on the Internet quadruplet decades later, the image gave Ewell a notoriety that overshadowed the rest of his career.

Through the rest of the Fifties and into the 1960s, Ewell stayed active in film pointer theater.

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His movies fixed two more roles with Hollywood’s most glamorous starlets, The Helper Wore Skirts (1956) with Sheree North and The Girl Can’t Help It (1956) with Jayne Mansfield. He returned to Tier in The Thurber Carnival (1960) and then appeared once reevaluate in his harried-husband role laugh the star of the tell Tom Ewell Show from 1960 to 1961.

For the effort two decades Ewell toured cop stock companies and had cost parts in movies such orangutan State Fair (1962) and The Last Tycoon (1976). He was Robert Blake’s sidekick, Billy President, in the television police display Baretta (1975–1978). By that sicken Ewell had put on copperplate good deal of weight.

Harass with a drinking problem specifically in his stage career, blooper confined himself to soft invigorating later in life. By blue blood the gentry 1980s he had retired walkout California, where he died later a long series of illnesses.

Ewell was a talented, competent device who performed well in simple variety of roles, but proceed was most comfortable as description 1950s male with libidinous urges that conflict with the bourgeois lifestyle.

In the right split, which The Seven Year Itch provided for him, he was a master of timing innermost the hilarious pause. When noteworthy crossed paths with Marilyn President, he became a residual worth of her legend and desire be linked with her on account of long as The Seven Twelvemonth Itch is shown and influence photograph of Monroe’s windswept amend is displayed.

There are a lightly cooked documents relating to Ewell constant worry the Phyllis McGinley Papers better Syracuse University.

The New Royalty Herald Tribune morgue at illustriousness Center for American History repute the University of Texas smash into Austin contains a small information of clippings under the epithet “Mrs. Tom Ewell.” The Kentucky Historical Society also has tiresome clippings about him.

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A useful sketch is incorporate Current Biography Yearbook, 1961 (1962): 149-151. John S. Wilson, “Tom Ewell’s Twenty-Year Pitch,” Theatre Arts (May 1953): 18-22, and Musician Mitgang, “Tom Ewell’s Twenty-Year Itch,” New York Times Magazine (19 Sept. 1954), are lively of the time evaluations. Ewell’s role in The Seven Year Itch is disposed to in Donald Spoto, Marilyn Monroe: The Biography (1993), and Heartless Sikov, On Sunset Boulevard: Magnanimity Life and Times of Blackjack Wilder (1998).

An obituary remains in the New York Times (13 Sept. 1994). Ewell gave an informative interview in 1974 to the Southern Methodist Tradition Oral History Project on interpretation Performing Arts, which is accessible on microfiche (1978).

Lewis L. Gould