Dec. 14, 1964 - Actor William Bendix (pictured right with Babe Ruth in 1948) died today in New York’s Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 58 years old. Bendix, who entered the hospital last Tuesday, was suffering from pneumonia and malnutrition resulting from a stomach ailment.
On the stage, the screen, and television, where a handsome face and figure can spell fortune, William Bendix parlayed into a fortune a face and figure admirably suited to the central role in Eugene O’Neill’s “The Hairy Ape,” a part he played in films.
The curly hair, moon face, jutting jaw, low brows, and bulbous, broken nose that topped a 200‐pound physique were familiar to audiences in a succession of good‐guy and bad-guy characterizations over the last 24 years.
The role of funny, shadowboxing barkeep, with which Mr. Bendix made his Hollywood debut in “Woman of the Year” in 1941, was counterbalanced by the hired thug and killer who manhandled Alan Ladd in “The Glass Key.” And T.V. viewers knew him best from the long-running “Life of Riley” series, in which he played an amiable Brooklynite who had become a California aircraft worker and a happy, if harassed, family man.
Bendix was born in a cold‐water tenement at Third Avenue and 45th St. on Jan. 14, 1906, the only son of Oscar and Hilda Bendix. His father was a veteran of the Spanish‐American War and a musician who performed in local bands.
Several years ago, Bendix recalled that though he grew up in a tough New York neighborhood, he never got into any serious trouble. For this he thanked his mother’s firm discipline.
“My mother was strict on honesty,” he said. “One time my father had $1.50 on the mantelpiece that he was saving to see a fight. I took it and bought lollipops and chocolates for the kids in the neighborhood.
“I was about 7. My mother gave me a whipping I will never forget, and to this day I have never taken anything else. Maybe she had the right idea.”
After a short spell at Townsend Harris High School, Bendix went out to earn his livelihood at a variety of odd jobs. His greatest interest was baseball, and most of the time he went to the Polo Grounds, eventually becoming a bat boy for the Giants and the Yankees, both of which played there.
In later years, Bendix recalled fetching dozens of hot dogs for Babe Ruth, who consumed them as regularly as he hit home runs. He also attested to having watched the Bambino put more than 100 of his blasts into the stands. This and a physical resemblance added authenticity to his portrayal of the title role in “The Babe Ruth Story” in 1948.
Bendix appeared in about 50 feature films, among them “Wake Island,” “Guadalcanal Diary,” “Lifeboat,” “Sentimental Journey,” “The Life of Riley,” “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” “Detective Story,” and “The Big Steal.” His last movie was a Paramount production, “Invitation to a Hanging.”
His last television appearance was in this season’s first episode of “Burke’s Law,” an ABC program.
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