Don Ameche
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 31, 1908
- Died
- December 6, 1993 (aged 85)
- Birthplace
- Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Movie · as (archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Movie · as Self (archiveFootage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Corrina, Corrina
Movie · as Grandpa Harry
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Movie · as Shadow (voice)
Folks!
Movie · as Harry Aldrich
Sunstroke
Movie · as Jake
Oscar
Movie · as Father Clemente
Our Shining Moment
Movie · as John 'Papa' McGuire Sr.
Oddball Hall
Movie · as G. Paul Siebriese
Cocoon: The Return
Movie · as Art Selwyn
Things Change
Movie · as Gino
Coming to America
Movie · as Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited)
Harry and the Hendersons
Movie · as Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
Pals
Movie · as Art Riddle
A Masterpiece of Murder
Movie · as Frank Aherne
Cocoon
Movie · as Arthur Selwyn
The Golden Girls
TV · as Brother Martin · 1 ep
Trading Places
Movie · as Mortimer Duke
Night of 100 Stars
Movie · as Self
The Chinese Typewriter
Movie · as Armand Beller
The Kennedy Center Honors
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Love Boat
TV · as Stewart Coolidge, Henry Dobson, Hollis Witkin · 1 ep
Good Heavens
TV · 1 ep
Quincy, M.E.
TV · as Harry Whitehead · 1 ep
Ellery Queen
TV · as Dr. Norman Marsh · 1 ep
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Gidget Gets Married
Movie · as Otis Ramsey
Alias Smith and Jones
TV · 1 ep
Columbo
TV · as Frank Simpson · 1 ep
The Boatniks
Movie · as Commander Taylor
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Movie · as Col. Flanders
McCloud
TV · 1 ep
Shadow Over Elveron
Movie · as Justin Travers
Rings Around the World
Movie · as Host/Ringmaster
Picture Mommy Dead
Movie · as Edward Shelley
Burke's Law
TV · as Whitman Saunders · 1 ep
Petticoat Junction
TV · as Uncle George · 1 ep
The Greatest Show on Earth
TV · as Collie McCullough · 1 ep
The Merv Griffin Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 2 eps
A Fever in the Blood
Movie · as Senator Alex S. Simon
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self - Co-Host · 3 eps
The Lux Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
DuPont Show of the Month
TV · as Harry Graves · 1 ep
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Climax!
TV · as Sam Waterman · 1 ep
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
TV · 1 ep
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Slightly French
Movie · as John Gayle
Sleep, My Love
Movie · as Richard W. Courtland
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
That's My Man
Movie · as Joe Grange
So Goes My Love
Movie · as Hiram Stephen Maxim
Guest Wife
Movie · as Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker
It's in the Bag!
Movie · as Don Ameche
Wing and a Prayer
Movie · as Bingo Harper
Greenwich Village
Movie · as Kenneth Harvey
Heaven Can Wait
Movie · as Henry Van Cleve
Something to Shout About
Movie · as Ken Douglas
Happy Land
Movie · as Lew Marsh
The Magnificent Dope
Movie · as Dwight Dawson
Girl Trouble
Movie · as Pedro Sullivan
Moon Over Miami
Movie · as Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil
That Night in Rio
Movie · as Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte
The Feminine Touch
Movie · as John Hathaway
Confirm or Deny
Movie · as 'Mitch' Mitchell
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Movie · as Lloyd Lloyd
Down Argentine Way
Movie · as Ricardo Quintana
Four Sons
Movie · as Chris Bern
Lillian Russell
Movie · as Edward Solomon
Midnight
Movie · as Tibor Czerny
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Movie · as Alexander Graham Bell
Hollywood Cavalcade
Movie · as Mike Connors
The Three Musketeers
Movie · as D'Artagnan
Swanee River
Movie · as Stephen Foster
Land of Liberty
Movie · as Alexander Graham Bell (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Movie · as Don Ameche
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Movie · as Charlie Dwyer
Happy Landing
Movie · as Jimmy Hall
In Old Chicago
Movie · as Jack O'Leary
Josette
Movie · as David Brassard Jr.
Gateway
Movie · as Dick Court
Love Is News
Movie · as Martin J. Canavan
One in a Million
Movie · as Bob Harris
Love Under Fire
Movie · as Tracy Egan
You Can't Have Everything
Movie · as George Macrae
Fifty Roads to Town
Movie · as Peter Nostrand
Ramona
Movie · as Alessandro
Ladies in Love
Movie · as Dr. Rudi Imre
Sins of Man
Movie · as Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli