John Dall

John Dall (May 26, 1918 – January 15, 1971) was an American actor.

Life and career

Dall was born in New York City, New York, the second son of Charles Jenner Thompson, a civil engineer, and his wife Henry (née Worthington). Sources differ as to his year of birth and legal name: some authorities state he was born John Jenner Thompson on 26 May 1918, while other records indicate his birth name was John Dall Thompson and his birthdate was 26 May 1920. His older brother, Worthington Thompson, was later a decorated lieutenant in the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team.

Primarily a stage actor, he is best remembered today for two film roles: the cool-minded intellectual killer in Alfred Hitchcock's film Rope, and the trigger-happy lead in the 1950 noir Gun Crazy. He also had a substantial role in Stanley Kubrick's film Spartacus.

He first came to fame as the young prodigy who comes alive under the tutelage of Bette Davis in The Corn Is Green, for which he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Warner Bros signed him to a contract to make the film but they let him go in 1946.

In 1962 Dall made two guest appearances on Perry Mason: "The Case of the Lonely Eloper", and the murder victim in "The Case of the Weary Watchdog." In 1963 he again portrayed the murder victim in "The Case of the Reluctant Model." He made his fourth and final appearance on the show in the 1965 episode, "The Case of the Laughing Lady."

Dall sustained a serious fall while visiting London in October 1970, and died of a reported heart attack at his home inHollywood, California on 15 January 1971. He donated his body to medical science.

Filmography

• The Corn Is Green (1945)
• Something in the Wind (1947)
• Another Part of the Forest (1948)
• Rope (1948)
• Gun Crazy (1950)
• The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
• Spartacus (1960)
• Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961)