JOHN PAYNE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

John Howard Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia on May 12th, 1912 to quite a wealthy family.  His mother was a successful opera singer.  From an early age he was introduced to music and from early on, showed he had a natural talent for singing.
 
When the stock market crashed in 1929, his family lost all their money and then the family also suffered the loss of their father.  Payne, however, had to move on with his life and decided to go to college at Columbia University in New York and also studied music at the school of Julliard.

To support himself financially during school he worked various jobs and performed as a singer in vaudeville as well as wrestled professionally.  When a talent scout for the Schubert theatrical organization saw him in 1934, he was hired for their touring productions.  John also took his singing career to the next step on began performing on radio.
 
His career began to advance when he got a contract with Samuel Goldwyn in 1935.  One of his more known films under contract with them was, "Dodsworth" (1936).  Payne soon moved on to work on a various low budget films after his contract with Goldwyn ended.  His films, even though low budget, were good enough to gain attention from 20th Century Fox Studio's who decided to sign Payne to a contract with them.
 
Under his contract with 20th Century, Payne did some musical work, one of the more well known was, "Tin Pan Alley" (1940) which really helped kick off his career followed by a role in "Springtime in the Rockies" (1942).  He was quite admired by female viewers during his time.  

During World War II, Payne served in the United States Army Air Force and upon completion he returned back to civilian life working as an actor.  "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) co-starring Maureen O'Haha and Natalie Wood,  became one of Payne's most well known films and one of the most popular Christmas films.
 
As his career progressed into the 1950's, he continued to act but take on challenging new roles.  Some of Payne's best work was filmed in the 50's such as his role in, "Silver Lode" (1954), "Kansas City Confidential", "River Street" (1954) and "Slightly Scarlet" (1956).  He was now trying to portray a different type of character, the tough guy roles.  
 
As Payne entered the late 50's he took on a new challenge starting his own production company and also took a chance at working television.  He began with producing a series, "The Restless Gun" (1957-1959).  His career was at an all time high, when sadly, he was hit by a car in new York in March 1961 and for most of the 60's he was unable to work.  
 
Payne was able to return to work in 1968 with a role on, "They Ran for Their Lives" (1968) and he also co directed.  Payne was pretty smart with the money he made during his acting career and he invested wisely.  He had purchased some decent real estate and therefore, he really did not need to over exert himself.
 
He soon decided to return back to working on stage in the 70's as even though he could have retired, he absolutely enjoyed his work.  He did a Broadway revival of the DeSylva-Brown-Henderson musical, "Good News" (1973).  His final role was in the Columbio episode, "Forgotten Lady" (1975).

He was married three times throughout his life.  First to actress Anne Shirley from 1937 to 1943 and together the couple had one daughter.  He then married his second wife, another actress, Gloria Dehaven in 1944 and had two more children, a boy and a girl.  This marriage too, ended in divorce in 1950.  His third and final marriage was to, Alexandra Beryl Curtis in 1953 and they remained married until he passed away.  
 
At the age of seventy seven, John Payne passed away from heart failure on December 6th, 1989 in Malibu, California.  He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  
 

Filmography
 
1936  Dodsworth
1937  Fair Warning 
1937  Hats Off 
1937  Love on Toast 
1938  College Swing
1938  Garden of the Moon 
1939  Kid Nightingale 
1939  Wings of the Navy
1939  Indianapolis Speedway 
1939  The Royal Rodeo 
1940  Star Dust 
1940  Maryland 
1940  King of the Lumberjacks 
1940  The Great Profile 
1940  Tear Gas Squad 
1940  Tin Pan Alley
1941  The Great American Broadcast 
1941  Sun Valley Serenade
1941  Week-End in Havana
1941  Remember the Day 
1942  To the Shores of Tripoli
1942  Footlight Serenade
1942  Springtime in the Rockies
1942  Iceland 
1943  Hello, Frisco, Hello
1945  The Dolly Sisters
1946  Wake Up and Dream
1946  Sentimental Journey 
1946  The Razor's Edge
1947  Miracle on 34th Street
1947  Larceny 
1948  The Saxon Charm 
1949  The Crooked Way
1949  Captain China 
1949  El Paso 
1950  Tripoli 
1950  The Eagle and the Hawk 
1951  Mystery Street 
1951  Passage West 
1951  Crosswinds 
1952  Kansas City Confidential
1952  Caribbean 
1952  The Blazing Forest 
1953  The Vanquished 
1953  Raiders of Seven Seas 
1953  99 River Street
1954  Silver Lode
1954  Rails Into Laramie 
1955  Santa Fe Passage 
1955  The Road to Denver 
1955  Tennessee's Partner
1955  Hell's Island 
1956  Slightly Scarlet
1956  Hold Back the Night
1956  The Boss 
1956  Rebel in Town 
1957  Hidden Fear 
1957  Bailout at 43,000 
1960  O'Conner's Ocean 
1968  They Ran for Their Lives 
1975  Columbo: Forgotten Lady