Max Wagner (1901-1975) was born in Mexico, the son of William W. Wagner, a railroad conductor. His mother, Edith Wagner, was a writer and correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. He was 10 years old when Mexican rebels fatally wounded his father. His mother then brought him to Salinas, California, where he struck up a lifelong friendship with John Steinbeck. Max's brothers - Jack, Blake and Bob - were already in Hollywood working on films. While most of Max's work was with major studios, he was a regular with Mascot, the low-budget studio that churned out serials including The Lost Jungle (1934) and Tom Mix's The Miracle Rider (1935). Max was a regular in the Charlie Chan series and was a company player with Preston Sturges, appearing in such films as The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), The Great Moment (1944) and The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1946). During World War II, he took a break to serve in the U.S. Army in North Africa.

Clint Walker (1927- ) [None But the Brave (1965); The Night of the Grizzly (1966); The Dirty Dozen (1967)] was born in Hartford, Illinois. He is best known for his cowboy role as Cheyenne Bodie in the TV Western series, "Cheyenne" (1955-1963). He had left school to join the United States Merchant Marine at the tail end of World War II then worked at odd jobs in California and Las Vegas. In Los Angeles, a friend in the film business helped get him a few bit parts that brought him to the attention of Warner Bros. who were in the process of developing a western style television series. [Excerpted from filmbug.com]

Eli Wallach (1915- ) [Baby Doll (1956); The Two Jakes (1990)] has enjoyed a career that spanned six decades, amassing awards, critical kudos and a list of credits that includes a number of classic films and plays. Wallach's first public performance came at the age of 15 in an amateur production. After graduating with a BA degree from the University of Texas in Austin and earning his MA from the City College of New York, he received a scholarship to New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. He graduated in 1940 and acted in minor roles on stage before enlisting in the Army in 1941. Wallach served in the Army's Medical Administrative Corps during World War II, and reached the rank of Captain. After he left the service, he resumed acting, making his Broadway debut in Skydrift in 1945. In 1946, he appeared in the Equity Library Theater's production of This Property Is Condemned in New York.

Sam Wanamaker (1919-1993) Actor and director, born in Chicago, IL. He studied at Drake University, IA, then trained at Goodman Theatre, Chicago, worked with summer stock companies in Chicago as an actor and director. Wanamaker left the U.S. in the late 1940s because he thought he might be blacklisted due to his leftist (communist and socialist) convictions. He made his London debut in 1952. In 1957, he was appointed director of the New Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool, and in 1959 joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company at Stratford-upon-Avon. He produced or directed several works at Covent Garden and elsewhere in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations (1974). He worked both as director and actor in films and television, his appearances included The Spiral Staircase (1975), Private Benjamin (1980), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), and Baby Boom (1987). Served in the U.S. Army during and after World War II, from 1943 to 1946.

Jack Warden (1920-2006) [12 Angry Men (1957); "Doc" in Donovan's Reef (1963)]. Warden was a Paratrooper with the 101st Airborne in WWII. On the last practice jump in England he broke his leg and injured his back, preventing him from making the D-Day jump. In the 1980 TV movie, A Private Battle, he portrayed Cornelius Ryan, who as a correspondent did jump with the 101st at D-Day.

David Wayne (1914-1995) [With a Song in My Heart (1952); The Andromeda Strain (1971)]. His father was an insurance executive; his mother died when he was four. He attended Western Michigan University then worked as a statistician in Cleveland where he joined a Shakespeare repertory company. Two years later he had a minor role in The American Way in New York. Before the U.S. entered World War II, he was rejected by the army so he volunteered as an ambulance driver in North Africa. After the U.S. entered the war, he served in the U.S. Army. He returned to critical acclaim on Broadway (Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill). He was the first to receive a Tony award for acting. He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 though his movie credits go back to Portrait of Jennie (1948) and Adam's Rib (1949). Among his many television roles were the part of Inspector Queen in the Manfred Lee's Ellery Queen (1975) series and of "Digger" Barnes in Dallas (1978).

John Wayne (1907-1979) [Stagecoach (1939); Red River (1948); The Quiet Man (1952); The Searchers (1956)] was born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa but moved to California in childhood due to his father's health. When Morrison narrowly failed admission to Annapolis he went to USC on a football scholarship (1925-7). Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man in exchange for football tickets. On the set he became close friends with director John Ford for whom, among others, he began doing bit parts, some billed as John Wayne. During World War II, Wayne worked with the USO, visited the troops and was honored by the military with an Army RAH-66 Helicopter named the "Duke." Although he never served in the armed forces offscreen, Wayne did volunteer three times for active duty in World War II, in the army, navy and as a member of John Ford's field photographic unit. Classified 4-F due to chronic back pain suffered during a youthful surfing accident (and further aggravated by 10 years of doing his own movie stunts), Wayne was rejected every time. In his first Oscar-nominated role, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Wayne leads his fellow marines through battle to watch the flag raised on Mt. Suribachi.

Robert Webber (1924-1989) [12 Angry Men (1957); The Dirty Dozen (1967); Midway (1976)], the son of a merchant seaman he grew up in northern California and attended Compton College. He served with the Marine Corps. in World War II and fought in Guam and Okinawa. Over his 40-year career as one of Hollywood's veteran character actors, Robert Webber always marked his spot by playing all types of roles and was not stereotyped into playing just one kind of character. He died of Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in Malibu, California. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]

Jack Weston (1924-1996) [Cactus Flower (1969); Dirty Dancing (1987)] was born in Cleveland and was a Machine Gunner and USO performer in World War II before arriving in New York to start his theater career. In a 40-year career that spanned Broadway, television and movies, the versatile actor played everyone from sleazy villains to terrifying killers to clumsy comics. His bad-guy roles included a stalker who, along with Alan Arkin terrorized a blind Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 cult classic Wait Until Dark (1967).

David White (1916-1990) [The Lawbreakers (1960); Brewster's Millions (1985)] was an American stage actor who appeared frequently on television and occasionally but impressively in films. A Marine Corps veteran of World War II, he worked on Broadway and on tour in stage productions after the war. In the late 1950s, he became an increasingly familiar face on American television, following a strong performance in the film Sweet Smell of Success (1957).

O.Z. Whitehead (1911-1998) [The Horse Soldiers (1959); The Lion in Winter (1968)] was an American character actor of rather bizarre range. He was a member of the so-called "John Ford Stock Company." Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. He was (later) a devout anti-war pacifist, but nevertheless served during World War II and was discharged as a sergeant, but a curvature of the spine kept him from seeing any combat during his active duty. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.

Stuart Whitman (1928- ) [Ten North Frederick (1958); The Sound and the Fury (1959)] was born in San Francisco, the son of a realtor, he graduated from high school in Los Angeles and spent three years with the Army Corps of Engineers. In the army he won 32 fights as a light-heavyweight boxer. Upon his discharge from service in 1948 he attended L.A. City College where his interest in acting emerged. He studied at the Los Angeles Academy of Dramatic Art and with Michael Chekhov and Ben Bard. He toured the U.S. in a stage company of Here Comes Mr. Jordan and began to get small roles in television and film. Eventually his athleticism, his handsome features, and his talent for portraying either tough or vulnerable characters led him to a level of stardom. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his leading role of a child molester in The Mark (1961), and starred in the television series "Cimarron Strip" (1967). A shrewd investor, he amassed a substantial fortune (1998 est: $100 million) while continuing his career even after its peak in the mid-Sixties. -- [Excerpted from IMDB]

James Whitmore (1921-2009) [Battleground (1949), The Shawshank Redemption (1994)] was born Oct. 1, 1921 in White Plains, N.Y. and raised in Buffalo, N.Y. He played football at Yale, where one of the assistant coaches was future President Gerald R. Ford. Knee injuries ended his athletic career, and he turned his attention to the university's radio station, hosting a nightly sports program, "Jim Whitmore Speaks".

Whitmore joined the Marine Corps during his senior year at Yale in 1944 and served in the South Pacific. After being discharged in 1946, he used benefits from the GI Bill to study acting at the American Theatre Wing in New York City.

Richard Widmark (1914-2008) [Panic in the Streets (1950); Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)]. He grew up in Princeton, Illinois, and attended Lake Forest (IL) College, where he first began acting. He taught acting at Lake Forest after graduation until 1938, when he made his radio debut in New York in Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories. Widmark made his Broadway stage debut in 1943 in Kiss and Tell. He had been rejected as unsuitable for military service (WW II) because of a perforated eardrum. In 1947, he got his big break, making film history as Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), beginning a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. His hand and footprints were cast in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1949.

Frank Wilcox (1907-1974) [The Monroe Doctrine (1939); The Fighting 69th (1940); The Million Dollar Duck (1971)]. American character actor in scores of films after substantial stage experience. He was born in DeSoto, Missouri, but raised in Atchison, Kansas. The son of a railroad worker and law clerk, he wavered between various careers including oil exploration, but found his way after an introduction to the stage with the Atchison Civic Theatre and Kansas City Civic Theatre. He signed with Warners as a contract player and was thereafter virtually never without work. Wilcox earned five battle stars during World War II.

Adam Williams (1922-2006) was a film and television actor, born Adam Berg in Wall Lake, Iowa. Williams had a few notable roles including playing Larry, a car bomber, in The Big Heat (1953). In 1952, Williams played the lead role as Los Angeles woman killer in Without Warning! which typed him into playing gunslingers, psychos and menacers. One of his last roles was playing Terrence Milik in the television movie Helter Skelter (1976). He also appeared on dozens of television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. Williams began his acting career after distinguished World War II military service as a U.S. Navy pilot, being awarded the Navy Cross.

Bill Williams (1915-1992) [Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944); Rio Lobo (1970)], husband (1946-1992) of Barbara Hale (Della Street in TV's Perry Mason (1957-1966)). A solid film and TV player bearing a strong, honest persona for most his career, this innocent-eyed, boyishly handsome blond "B" actor of the 40s and 50s was born in Brooklyn on May 21, 1915, and educated there at the Pratt Institute. A natural athlete, Bill Williams was a professional swimmer who broke into the entertainment business combining his swimming and dancing skills performing in aquatic underwater shows. Gaining experience as a performer in vaudeville and stock shows (both here and England), he started appearing in extra or bit parts in films following U.S. Army duty in World War II.

Kenneth Williams (1926-1988) [Valley of Song (1953); The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)] was born near Euston station, London, the son of a hairdresser. He was educated at Lyulph Stanley School. His relationship with his parents - he hated his father and adored his mother - was key to the development of his personality. Williams apprenticed as a draughtsman and joined the army age 18. He was part of the Royal Engineers survey section in Bombay when he had his first experience of going on stage with Combined Services Entertainment.

William Windom (1923- ) [The Angry Breed (1968); TV: My World and Welcome to It (26 episodes, 1969-1970)], New York-born character actor was named after his great-grandfather, Lincolnesque politician William Windom. He attended Williams College and the University of Kentucky, among others, before serving as a paratrooper in the Army during World War II with the 508 PIR of the famous 82nd Airborne Division. After the war he studied at both Fordham U. and Columbia U. in New York City before settling on an acting career. Trained at the American Repertory Theatre (1946-1961), he made his minor Broadway debut with the company in November of 1946 with revolving productions of Henry VIII, What Every Woman Knows, John Gabriel Borkman and Androcles and the Lion. The following year he continued building up his Broadway resume with roles in Yellow Jack and as the White Rabbit in a production of Alice in Wonderland. For the duration of the decade he shifted between stage and TV drama, with stalwart work in such programs as "Robert Montgomery Presents" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame." He enjoyed critical notice as the cartoonist/protagonist in the 1969-1970 mini-hit My World and Welcome to It.

Jonathan Winters (1925- ) [It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963); Cattle Call (2006)] was born in Dayton, Ohio. His father, also Jonathan, was a banker who became an alcoholic after being crushed in the Great Depression. His parents divorced in 1932. Jonathan and his mother then moved to Springfield to live with his grandmother. There his mother remarried and became a radio personality. Jonathan joined the Marines during his senior year of high school and served during World War II. Upon his discharge, he entered Kenyon College and later transferred to Dayton Art Institute. He met his wife, Eileen Schauder, in 1948 and married a month later. They remain married until her death in January of 2009. They have a son, Jay, who is a contractor, and a daughter, Lucinda, who is a talent scout for movies. Jonathan is an accomplished abstract painter. Personal Quote: "If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it." -- Text excerpted from IMDB

Billy De Wolfe (1907-1974) was born in Massachusetts as William Andrew Jones, the son of a Welsh-born immigrant and bookbinder. The family returned to Wales almost immediately and did not come back to the States until Billy was nine years old. He began his career in the theater as an usher until he found work as a dancer with a band. He subsequently took his name from a theater manager, William De Wolfe, who actually offered him his name. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy for World War II in 1942 shortly after completing his first movie role as a riverboat conman in Dixie (1943) for Paramount. At war's end, he returned to Paramount and brought hyper comedy relief to a number of films including Miss Susie Slagle's (1946), Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946) and The Perils of Pauline (1947).

Iggie Wolfington (1920-2004) [Penelope (1966); Herbie Rides Again (1974)]. Served in WW II, earned Purple Heart and Silver Star and a battlefield commission as second lieutenant. West Coast representative of the New York-based Actors' Fund of America. In 1958, he created the role of Marcellus Washburn, the accomplice and best friend of Harold Hill in original production of The Music Man. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance. As an actor, he first won acclaim in the 1952 Broadway production of Mrs. McThing, starring Helen Hayes.

Morgan Woodward (1925- ) [Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956); The Gun Hawk (1963); Dark Before Dawn (1988); plus many TV shows] was born Thomas Morgan Woodward in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a pilot, has been flying airplanes since age 16 and restoring old aircraft is a life-long hobby. He served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. After graduating from college, Woodward entered the University of Texas Law School in 1951. His studies were interrupted when he was recalled to active duty with the Air Force during the Korean War. He was sent to Korea and served with the Military Air Transport Command. After being demobilized, he did not return to law school but became an actor instead. His deep bass voice made him a natural to play the meanest of the bad guys but with his acting versatility he has been highly successfull in white-hat roles as well. He holds the record for most guest appearances (19) on the long running TV series, Gunsmoke, starring his friend, James Arness.

Sheb Wooley (1921-2003) was an American character actor in many Westerns, he was also a figure in country-western music. Born and raised in Oklahoma, he spent his youth as a cowhand. During World War II, Wooley was turned down for service because of his rodeo injuries. Wooley's musical ability led to radio work and subsequently movies. He played minor supporting roles for a dozen years starting in 1950, including one of the villains of High Noon (1952) [Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller scheduled to arrive on the noon train.] In 1958, he had a giant hit record with his own song "The Purple People Eater" and he followed it with a string of similar humorous country ditties, often recorded under the name Ben Colder. For a number of years appeared as scout Pete Nolan on the hit TV series Rawhide (1959-1966).

Hank Worden (1901-1992) [Bandits and Ballads (1939); Red River (1948); The Searchers (1956)] was raised on a cattle ranch in Montana and was Educated at Stanford and the University of Nevada as an engineer. He washed out as an Army pilot and toured the country in rodeos as a saddle bronc rider. He broke his neck in a horsefall in his 20s, but didn't know it until his 40s. He was chosen along with Tex Ritter from a rodeo at Madison Square Garden in New York to appear in the Broadway play Green Grow the Lilacs, the play from which the musical Oklahoma was later derived. He drove a cab in New York, then worked on dude ranches as a wrangler and as a guide on the Bright Angel trail of the Grand Canyon. He was recommended by Billie Burke to several movie producers and became friends with John Wayne, Howard Hawks, and later John Ford, all of whom provided him with much work.

Ben Wright (1915-1989) [The Desert Rats (1953); Raid on Rommel (1971)] was born to an English mother and an American father in London, England, UK. At 16 he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where classmates included such future stars as Ida Lupino. Upon graduating, he acted in several West End stage productions. When WWII broke out, he enlisted and served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He came to America in 1946 to attend a cousin's wedding and settled in Hollywood. He began his American acting career in radio, establishing himself as a master of dialects with such roles as Hey Boy, the Chinese servant, on "Have Gun, Will Travel" with John Dehner. His talent for dialects also kept him busy in the many WWII-related films and TV shows of the 1950s and '60s wherein he played countless Germans and Frenchmen as well as a variety of Englishmen for which he ensured the dialects were accurate depending on which part of England they were from.