6.0
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
2009
Don Ameche
Acting
Born May 31, 1908Died December 6, 1993Kenosha, 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.
Movies
See All
7.7
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
1997
5.3
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997
6.7
Corrina, Corrina
1994
7.0
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
1993
3.0
Sunstroke
1992
5.5
Folks!
1992
Our Shining Moment
8.0
Our Shining Moment
1991
6.4
Oscar
1991
9.0
Oddball Hall
1990
6.2
Things Change
1988
6.5
Cocoon: The Return
1988
6.9
Coming to America
1988
6.1
Harry and the Hendersons
1987
5.2
Pals
1987
A Masterpiece of Murder
10.0
A Masterpiece of Murder
1986
6.6
Cocoon
1985
7.2
Trading Places
1983
5.8
Night of 100 Stars
1982
7.0
The Chinese Typewriter
1979
6.3
Gidget Gets Married
1972
5.5
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970
5.3
The Boatniks
1970
6.6
Shadow Over Elveron
1968
5.0
Rings Around the World
1967
5.7
Picture Mommy Dead
1966
6.7
A Fever in the Blood
1961
7.5
Slightly French
1949
6.3
Sleep, My Love
1948
6.7
That's My Man
1947
7.3
So Goes My Love
1946
6.4
Guest Wife
1945
6.3
It's in the Bag!
1945
6.7
Greenwich Village
1944
6.7
Wing and a Prayer
1944
7.1
Happy Land
1943
6.9
Heaven Can Wait
1943
6.5
Something to Shout About
1943
7.5
Girl Trouble
1942
7.3
The Magnificent Dope
1942
4.8
Confirm or Deny
1941
5.1
The Feminine Touch
1941
6.5
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
1941
6.5
Moon Over Miami
1941
6.2
That Night in Rio
1941
6.4
Down Argentine Way
1940
7.0
Four Sons
1940
6.6
Lillian Russell
1940
7.0
Swanee River
1939
6.2
Hollywood Cavalcade
1939
9.0
Land of Liberty
1939
4.0
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939
6.3
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939
7.4
Midnight
1939
6.0
The Three Musketeers
1939
7.4
Gateway
1938
7.2
Josette
1938
6.8
Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938
6.7
In Old Chicago
1938
6.2
Happy Landing
1938
5.2
Love Under Fire
1937
6.5
You Can't Have Everything
1937
10.0
Fifty Roads to Town
1937
6.3
Love Is News
1937
7.0
One in a Million
1937
6.5
Ladies in Love
1936
5.8
Ramona
1936
9.0
Sins of Man
1936
TV Shows
See All
7.6
The Golden Girls
7.4
The Kennedy Center Honors
6.2
The Love Boat
6.2
The Love Boat
6.2
The Love Boat
7.5
Quincy, M.E.
7.0
Good Heavens
7.5
Ellery Queen
6.3
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
8.1
Columbo
7.0
Alias Smith and Jones
7.2
McCloud
5.9
Petticoat Junction
6.2
Burke's Law
The Greatest Show on Earth
7.5
The Greatest Show on Earth
6.8
The Merv Griffin Show
7.6
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
5.8
The Mike Douglas Show
5.8
The Mike Douglas Show
7.4
DuPont Show of the Month
The Lux Show
6.0
The Lux Show
7.5
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
3.8
Climax!
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
9.0
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
7.0
What's My Line?
6.8