John Hoyt

Infobox actor
name = John Hoyt
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birthname = John Hoysradt
birthdate = October 5, 1905
birthplace = Bronxville, New York, USA
deathdate = September 15, 1991
deathplace = Santa Cruz, California
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John Hoyt (October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American film, theatre, and television actor.

John Hoyt was born John Hoysradt. Before becoming an actor with Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, the Yale graduate worked as a history instructor, acting teacher and even as a nightclub comedian. Under his birth name (John Hoysradt), Hoyt began his performing career in a nightclub act doing impressions of famous entertainers. His impersonation of Noël Coward was so remarkable that he was hired for the original cast of the Broadway comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner", in which he played Beverley Carlton, a role clearly based on Coward. Hoysradt began his movie career still using his birth name, but soon shortened it to Hoyt. He was known for playing villains in films, but also had a part (a non-pornographic one) in the softcore porn film "Flesh Gordon". He also briefly appeared naked (shown only from the waist up) in "X (The Man with X-Ray Eyes)".

Television and Motion Pictures

Hoyt had a number of memorable television roles including the grandfather on "Gimme a Break!", a number of guest roles on "Hogan's Heroes" and the role of Dr. Philip Boyce on ""'s first pilot episode "The Cage". Another memorable role was as an evil Martian invader who tricks a busload of people and two policemen to take an unsafe bridge and fall to their deaths in episode 64 in the second season of the "The Twilight Zone" titled "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up" and "The Lateness of the Hour" also in the second season of The Twilight Zone. Hoyt also made a memorable appearance as the Dr. Frankenstein-inspired Dr. Mendoza in "The Monkees" episode "I Was a Teenage Monster." He appeared in one Shakespearean film, MGM's "Julius Caesar", reprising the role of Decius Brutus (a.k.a Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus), which he had played in the famous 1937 Mercury Theatre production starring Orson Welles. He also appeared as KAOS agent Conrad Bunny in the "Get Smart" episode, "Our Man in Toyland". The last role of his acting career was an extended passionate monologue from the Gospel of Mark. In 1953, he portrayed Elijah in the biblical film "Sins of Jezebel".

Hoyt, who died of lung cancer in Santa Cruz, California, was also in the film "The Conqueror". The movie was shot in Nevada while atomic bomb tests were being conducted nearby and is infamous for the number of cast members dying of cancer. He was cremated and his ashes were given to his wife in Soquel, California.

Partial filmography

*"O.S.S." (1946) (film debut)
*"My Favorite Brunette" (1947)
*"The Unfaithful" (1947)
*"Brute Force" (1947)
*"To the Ends of the Earth" (1948)
*"Winter Meeting" (1948)
*"The Bribe" (1949)
*"The Lady Gambles" (1949)
*"Trapped" (1949)
*"Everybody Does It" (1949)
*"Quebec" (1951)
*"Lost Continent" (1951)
*"When Worlds Collide" (1951)
*"The Black Castle" (1952)
*"Androcles and the Lion" (1952)
*"Julius Caesar" (1953)
*"Casanova's Big Night" (1954)
*"The Student Prince" (1954)
*"Désirée" (1954)
*"The Big Combo" (1955)
*"Blackboard Jungle" (1955)
*"Moonfleet" (1955)
*"Trial" (1955)
*"Forever, Darling" (1956)
*"The Conqueror" (1956)
*"Death of a Scoundrel" (1956)
*"Novel Appeal" (1957) (TV)
*"Baby Face Nelson" (1957)
*"Attack of the Puppet People" (1958)
*"Never So Few" (1959)
*"Spartacus" (1960)
*"Merrill's Marauders" (1962)
*"Cleopatra" (1963)
*"X", also known as "X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes" (1963)
*"The Time Travelers" (1964)
*"Two on a Guillotine" (1965)
*"Duel at Diablo" (1966)
*"Flesh Gordon" (1974)
*"Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985)

External links

*Find A Grave|id=7021
*imdb name|id=0398466