BRIAN DONLEVY BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Brian Donlevy was born on February 9th, 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio with the birth name Waldo Brian Donlevy.  In 1916 he joined the army lying about his age, being really only fourteen.  In World War I he was a pilot with a unit of the French Air Force.  He also spent two years at the Us Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD.  He finally left his military career in pursuit of an acting career. 
 
He began with a career on stage landing small roles and soon got a larger part in the play,: What Price Glory" followed by larger roles on, "Three For One", " The Milky Way" and "Life Begins at 8:30".  Feeling now more prepared as an experienced actor, he left for Hollywood to pursue a career in the film industry.
 
He began with his first silent film, "A Man of Quality" (1926) and in 1929 he starred in his first sound film, "Gentlemen of the Press".  It took a while to get his film career going with a five year gap before his next roles on three films, "Another Face" (1935), "Barbary Coast" (1935) and "Mary Burns, Fugitive" (1935). 
 
He was now becoming known in the industry and starred in seven films back to back, some of the more popular being "Strike Me Pink" (1936), "36 Hours To Kill" (1936), "The Milky Way" (1940) and "Beau Geste" (1939) in which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  Brian also took a chance at television with the series, "Dangerous Assignment" (1952), which he also produced.
 
He continued to work in the film industry and portrayed a historical figure, William Quantrill in two films, "Kansas Raiders" (1950) and "Woman They Almost Lynched" (1953).  In 1955 he starred in the British Science Fiction horror film, "The Quatermass Xperiment" which turned out to be a success due to the way Donlevy chose to portray the main character, Professor Bernard Quatermass.  Hammer Films was not pleased with his portrayal, but due to the films success in the US it had a sequel, "Quatermass 2" called "Enemy of the Space" in the United States and was again quite successful.  
 
Throughout his career along with film and television work, Donlevy also did several radio shows and guest appearances on programs such as, "Perry Mason", "Wagon trail" and "Rawhide".

He was married three times during his lifetime.  First to Yvonne Grey from October 5th, 1928 to 1936, he then married Marjorie Lane from December 31st, 1936 to 1948.  He waited nineteen years to get married again to Lillian Lugosi on February 25th, 1966 and they remained married until he passed on April 5th, 1972.  He had one daughter, Judy, from his first marriage.  After his final film role in "Pit Stop" (1969) aka "The Winner", he retired to Palm Springs, California and began writing short stories and lived quite financially stable by also supplementing his income from a California tungsten mine he owned. 
 
On April 5th, 1972, Donlevy passed away from throat cancer in Woodland Hills, California even though he claims he only smoked for his roles in the movies.  His ashes were scattered over Santa Monica Bay.
 
 
Filmography

1969  Pit Stop Aka The Winner
1968  Rogues Gallery
1967  Arizona Bushwackers
1967  Gammera the Invincible
1967  Hostile Guns
1967  Five Golden Dragons
1966  Waco
1966  Perry Mason: The Case of the Positive Negative
1966  The Fat Spy
1965  How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
1965  Gammera the Invincible
1965  The Curse of the Fly
1962  The Pigeon That Took Rome
1961  The Errand Boy
1961  Girl in Room 13
1959  Never So Few
1959  Juke Box Rhythm
1958  Cowboy
1958  Escape from Red Rock
1957  Du Pont Show of the Month: Beyond This Place
1957  Quatermass II
1956  A Cry in the Night
1955  The Big Combo
1955  The Quatermass Xperiment
1953  The Woman They Almost Lynched
1953  Colgate Comedy Hour: November 29, 1953
1953  Ride the Man Down
1952  Hoodlum Empire
1952  Dangerous Assignment, Vol. 1-17
1952  Brian Donlevy
1951  Slaughter Trail
1951  Fighting Coast Guard
1950  Shakedown
1950  Kansas Raiders
1949  Impact
1949  The Lucky Stiff
1948  Command Decision
1948  A Southern Yankee
1947  Kiss of Death
1947  The Beginning or the End
1947  Song of Scheherazade
1947  Killer McCoy
1947  Heaven Only Knows
1947  The Trouble with Women
1946  Our Hearts Were Growing Up
1946  The Virginian
1946  Two Years Before the Mast
1946  Canyon Passage
1945  Duffy's Tavern
1944  The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944  An American Romance
1943  The City That Stopped
1943  Hangmen Also Die!
1942  The Glass Key
1942  The Remarkable Andrew
1942  Nightmare
1942  Wake Island
1942  Two Yanks in Trinidad
1942  Stand by for Action
1942  A Gentleman After Dark
1942  The Great Man's Lady
1941  Billy the Kid
1941  I Wanted Wings
1941  Hold Back the Dawn
1941  South of Tahiti
1941  Birth of the Blues
1940  When the Daltons Rode
1940  The Great McGinty
1940  Brigham Young
1939  Destry Rides Again
1939  Union Pacific
1939  Jesse James
1939  Beau Geste
1939  Allegheny Uprising
1939  Behind Prison Gates
1938  We're Going to Be Rich
1938  Sharp Shooters
1938  Battle of Broadway
1937  Midnight Taxi
1937  In Old Chicago
1937  The Crack-Up
1937  This is My Affair
1937  Born Reckless
1936  High Tension
1936  Human Cargo
1936  Half Angel
1936  Thirty Six Hours to Kill
1936  Thirteen Hours by Air
1936  Strike Me Pink
1935  The Barbary Coast
1935  Mary Burns, Fugitive
1935  Another Face
1929  Mother's Boy
1929  Gentlemen of the Press
1926  Man of Quality