Don Ameche
Don Ameche (born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor and radio entertainer whose career spanned over six decades. Known for his charming, dapper presence and signature mustache, Ameche became one of 20th Century Fox's premier leading men throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to an Italian immigrant father and a mother of European descent, he adapted his family's surname from "Amici" to "Ameche" to preserve its original Italian pronunciation in the United States. He began his entertainment career in vaudeville and radio, where he achieved nationwide fame as the host of popular broadcasts like The Chase and Sanborn Hour. He transitioned to film in 1935, starring in a string of successful musical comedies and dramas, most notably Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), and Ernst Lubitsch’s classic comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943). As film roles slowed in the 1950s, Ameche worked extensively in live theatre and television. His screen career experienced a celebrated renaissance in the 1980s, beginning with his role as the scheming commodities broker Mortimer Duke in Trading Places (1983). Two years later, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a revitalized retiree in Ron Howard’s Cocoon (1985). In his final years, Ameche introduced himself to a new generation of filmgoers providing the warm, patriarchal voice of Shadow the Golden Retriever in Disney's Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), before completing his final screen appearance in Corrina, Corrina (1994). Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986; the couple had six children. Ameche died of prostate cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1993 at the age of 85.
Trading Places
(Mortimer Duke)
Cocoon
(Arthur Selwyn)
Cocoon: The Return
(Art Selwyn)
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
(Shadow (voice))
Midnight
(Tibor Czerny)
Oscar
(Father Clemente)
Harry and the Hendersons
(Dr. Wallace Wrightwood)
The Boatniks
(Commander Taylor)
Moon Over Miami
(Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil)
Down Argentine Way
(Ricardo Quintana)
Alexander's Ragtime Band
(Charlie Dwyer)
Happy Landing
(Jimmy Hall)
That Night in Rio
(Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte)
Folks!
(Harry Aldrich)
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
(Alexander Graham Bell)
Heaven Can Wait
(Henry Van Cleve)
Wing and a Prayer
(Bingo Harper)
Hollywood Cavalcade
(Mike Connors)
Things Change
(Gino)
Love Is News
(Martin J. Canavan)
Sleep, My Love
(Richard W. Courtland)
The Feminine Touch
(John Hathaway)
Confirm or Deny
('Mitch' Mitchell)
So Goes My Love
(Hiram Stephen Maxim)
In Old Chicago
(Jack O'Leary)
Something to Shout About
(Ken Douglas)
Picture Mommy Dead
(Edward Shelley)
Four Sons
(Chris Bern)
The Three Musketeers
(D'Artagnan)
One in a Million
(Bob Harris)
Guest Wife
(Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker)
Love Under Fire
(Tracy Egan)
Ramona
(Alessandro)
Swanee River
(Stephen Foster)
A Fever in the Blood
(Senator Alex S. Simon)
Greenwich Village
(Kenneth Harvey)
Lillian Russell
(Edward Solomon)
Ladies in Love
(Dr. Rudi Imre)
Oddball Hall
(G. Paul Siebriese)
Gidget Gets Married
(Otis Ramsey)
Pals
(Art Riddle)
Slightly French
(John Gayle)
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
(Lloyd Lloyd)
Happy Land
(Lew Marsh)
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
(Col. Flanders)
That's My Man
(Joe Grange)
The Magnificent Dope
(Dwight Dawson)
You Can't Have Everything
(George Macrae)
Land of Liberty
(Alexander Graham Bell (archive footage))
Josette
(David Brassard Jr.)
Gateway
(Dick Court)
Girl Trouble
(Pedro Sullivan)
It's in the Bag!
(Don Ameche)
Sins of Man
(Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli)
Shadow Over Elveron
(Justin Travers)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
(Self (archiveFootage))
Coming to America
(Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited))
Rings Around the World
(Host/Ringmaster)
A Masterpiece of Murder
(Frank Aherne)
Fifty Roads to Town
(Peter Nostrand)
Corrina, Corrina
(Grandpa Harry)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
(Self (archive footage))
Sunstroke
(Jake)
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
(Don Ameche)
Night of 100 Stars
(Self)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
((archive footage))
The Chinese Typewriter
(Armand Beller)
Our Shining Moment
(John 'Papa' McGuire Sr.)
Burke's Law
(Whitman Saunders)
The Golden Girls
(Brother Martin)
Alias Smith and Jones
Petticoat Junction
(Uncle George)
The Merv Griffin Show
(Self)
The Ed Sullivan Show
(Self)
The Greatest Show on Earth
(Collie McCullough)
McCloud
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
Climax!
(Sam Waterman)
Good Heavens
Ellery Queen
(Dr. Norman Marsh)
The Love Boat
(Stewart Coolidge)
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
(Self)
Columbo
(Frank Simpson)
The Lux Show
(Self)
DuPont Show of the Month
(Harry Graves)
The Love Boat
(Henry Dobson)
The Love Boat
(Hollis Witkin)
What's My Line?
(Self)
Quincy, M.E.
(Harry Whitehead)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(Self)
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self - Co-Host)
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self)
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
(Self)
The Kennedy Center Honors
(Self)
