Craggy-faced character player with a distinctive raspy voice who made his film debut in 1932 and went on to enliven numerous films, usually as an endearing curmudgeon, until he was blacklisted in the early 1950s. Stander supported himself as a stock player and Wall Street broker before resurfacing in international films, particularly "spaghetti westerns," in the 1960s. He later played the eccentric chauffeur on the TV series, "Hart to Hart" (1979-84). Stander was memorable as the cynical press agent in "A Star is Born" (1937) and as an old-time gangster in Roman Polanski's atmospheric "Cul-de-Sac" (1966).
- Born:
January 11, 1908 in New York, New York
- Died:
November 30, 1994.
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Job Titles:
Actor, Producer, Investment broker
Family
Education
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University of North Carolina, 1927-28
Milestones
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1928 New York stage debut in "him"
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1932 Screen debut in Fatty Arbuckle and Harold Lloyd comedy shorts
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1935 Feature film debut, "The Scoundrel"
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1941 Produced first stage show, "Brooklyn, U.S.A." (With Bern Bernard)
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1963 Returned to acting when Tony Richardson cast him in stage production of "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui"
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1965 Returned to film in "The Loved One" (dir. Tony Richardson)
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Blacklisted in the early 1950s due to uncooperative testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee
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Moved to Italy in late 1960s; appeared in over 50 films during next ten years
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Worked as reporter on the New York newspapers, the "Evening Journal" and "The Daily News"
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Worked as stockbroker on Wall Street
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Worked on radio with Fred Allen, Eddie Cantor and Rudy Vallee