Bottom

Born: 20 March 1914 Dracut, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 8 November 1968 Woodland Hills, California, USA. (liver ailment)

Wendell starred with Elvis in Loving You as Tex Warner.

A minister's son who turned to life upon the wicked stage in 1934, the poker-faced Corey made his way to Broadway in the early 1940s, appearing in several prominent shows before being signed to a movie contract by producer Hal Wallis in 1946. He made his film debut in a strong supporting role in Desert Fury (1947), and went on to meaty roles in I Walk Alone, The Search, Sorry, Wrong Number (all 1948), The Accused, Any Number Can Play, Holiday Affair, The File on Thelma Jordon (all 1949), The Furies, Harriet Craig (all 1950), The Wild Blue Yonder (1951), Carbine Williams (1952), and many others. A reasonably good actor, Corey lacked the charisma to make him a star; his few leading-man turns are bland at best. But he ably projected menace when called upon to do so, and few could rival his cynical delivery of tart dialogue. His later films include Rear Window (1954), The Big Knife (1955), The Killer Is Loose, The Rainmaker (both 1956), Loving You (1957), Alias Jesse James (1956, as Jesse), Blood on the Arrow (1964), Agent for H.A.R.M., Picture Mommy Dead, Women of the Prehistoric Planet, Cyborg 2087 (all 1966), AstroZombies (1968, his career low-point). A onetime president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Actors Guild, he made a brief but unsuccessful stab at politics in 1966. Corey died of a liver ailment brought on by alcoholism.

Filmography

• Astro-Zombies, The (1969) .... Holman ... aka Space Vampires, The (1969) ... aka Space Zombies (1969)
• Star Maker, The (1968)
• Buckskin (1968) .... Rep Marlowe ... aka Frontiersman, The (1968)
• Red Tomahawk (1967) .... Sy Elkins
• Cyborg 2087 (1966) .... Sheriff ... aka Man from Tomorrow (1966)
• Picture Mommy Dead (1966) .... Clayborn ... aka Color Mommy Dead (1966)
• Waco (1966) .... Preacher Sam Stone
• Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966) .... Adm. David King ... aka Prehistoric Planet Women (1966)
• Broken Sabre (1966)
• Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966) .... Jim Graff
• Blood on the Arrow (1964) .... Clint Mailer
• "Eleventh Hour, The" (1962) TV Series .... Dr. Theodore Bassett (1962-1963) 1962-63)
• "Westinghouse Playhouse" (1961) TV Series .... Dan McGovern ... aka "Nanette Fabray Show, The" (1961) ... aka "Westinghouse Playhouse Starring Nanette Fabray and Wendell Corey" (1961) ... aka "Yes, Yes Nanette" (1961) (syndication title)
• "Peck's Bad Girl" (1959) TV Series .... Steven Peck (1959)
• Alias Jesse James (1959) .... T.J. 'Jesse' James
• Light in the Forest, The (1958) .... Wilse Owens
• "Harbor Command" (1957) TV Series .... Capt. Ralph Baxter, USCG
• Loving You (1957) .... Walter (Tex) Warner
• Rainmaker, The (1956) .... Deputy Sheriff J.S. File, Three Point Texas
• Rack, The (1956) .... Maj. Sam Moulton
• Bold and the Brave, The (1956) .... Fairchild
• Killer Is Loose, The (1956) .... Leon Poole
• Big Knife, The (1955) .... Smiley Coy
• Rear Window (1954) .... Lt. Thomas J. Doyle ... aka Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) (USA: complete title)
• Laughing Anne (1954) .... Capt. Davidson ... aka Between the Tides (1954)
• Hell's Half Acre (1954) .... Chet Chester
• Jamaica Run (1953) .... Todd Dacey
• My Man and I (1952) .... Ansel Ames
• Carbine Williams (1952) .... Captain H.T. Peoples
• Wild North, The (1952) .... Constable Pedley ... aka Big North, The (1952) (USA)
• Wild Blue Yonder, The (1951) .... Capt. Harold Calvert ... aka Thunder Across the Pacific (1951) (UK)
• Rich, Young and Pretty (1951) .... Jim Stauton Rogers
• Great Missouri Raid, The (1951) .... Frank James
• Harriet Craig (1950) .... Walter Craig
• Furies, The (1950) .... Rip Darrow
• No Sad Songs for Me (1950) .... Brad Scott
• File on Thelma Jordon, The (1950) .... Cleve Marshall ... aka Thelma Jordon (1950)
• Holiday Affair (1949) .... Carl Davis
• Any Number Can Play (1949) .... Robbin Elcott
• Accused, The (1949) .... Lt. Ted Dorgan ... aka Strange Deception (1949)
• Man-Eater of Kumaon (1948) .... Dr. John Collins
• Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) .... Doctor Alexander
• Search, The (1948) .... Jerry Fisher
• I Walk Alone (1948) .... Dave
• Desert Fury (1947) .... Johnny Ryan

Himself - filmography
• Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Premiere (1955) .... Himself
• Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special (1950) .... Himself

Top