Regis Toomey

Infobox Actor
name = Regis Toomey
birthname = John Regis Toomey
birthdate = birth date|1898|8|13
birthplace = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1991|10|12|1898|8|13
deathplace = Los Angeles, California, U.S
spouse = Kathryn Scott (1925-1981)
yearsactive = 1929 - 1987
occupation = actor

John Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898 - October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey and attended Peabody High School. He initially pondered a law career, but acting won out and he established himself as a musical stage performer.

Educated in dramatics at the University of Pittsburgh, where he became a brother of Sigma Chi, Toomey began as a stock actor and eventually made it to Broadway. Toomey was a singer on stage until throat problems (acute laryngitis) while touring in Europe stopped that aspect of his career. In 1929, Toomey first began appearing in films. He initially started out as a leading man, but found more success as a character actor (sans his toupee).

Toomey appeared in over 180 films, including classics such as "The Big Sleep" with Humphrey Bogart. He was one of the stars of the ABC series "Burke's Law" from 1963-66, playing Sgt. Les Hart, one of the detectives assisting the murder investigations of millionaire police captain Amos Burke. He also guest-starred on dozens of television programs, including the "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" episode of "Maverick".

In 1941, Toomey appeared in "You're in the Army Now", in which he and Jane Wyman had the longest screen kiss in cinema history - 3 minutes and 5 seconds. [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0943837/bio]

elected filmography

*"Street of Chance" (1930)
*"Graft" (1931)
*"Shopworn" (1932)
*"Murder on the Blackboard" (1934)
*"G Men" (1935)
*"The Invisible Menace" (1938)
*"The Phantom Creeps" (1939 serial)
*"Union Pacific" (1939)
*"Confessions of a Nazi Spy" (1939) uncredited
*"Thunder Afloat" (1939)
*"His Girl Friday" (1940)
*"Northwest Passage" (1940)
*"North West Mounted Police" (1940)
*"Arizona" (1940)
*"Meet John Doe" (1941)
*"Dive Bomber" (1941)
*"They Died with Their Boots On" (1941)
*"You're in the Army Now" (1941)
*"Tennessee Johnson" (1942)
*"Adventures of the Flying Cadets" (1943 serial)
*"Destroyer" (1943)
*"Phantom Lady" (1944)
*"Follow the Boys" (1944)
*"Song of the Open Road" (1944)
*"Spellbound" (1945)
*"Follow That Woman" (1945)
*"The Big Sleep" (1946)
*"The Guilty" (1947)
*"The Bishop's Wife" (1947)
*"Raw Deal" (1948)
*"Station West" (1948)
*"The Boy with Green Hair" (1948)
*"Mighty Joe Young" (1949)
*"Come to the Stable" (1949)
*"The Devil's Henchman" (1949)
*"Beyond the Forest" (1949)
*"Cry Danger" (1951)
*"Show Boat" (1951)
*"My Pal Gus" (1952)
*"Island in the Sky" (1953)
*"The High and the Mighty" (1954)
*"Guys and Dolls" (1955)
*"The Last Sunset" (1961)
*"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1961)
*"Man's Favorite Sport?" (1964)
*"Gunn" (1967)
*"Change of Habit" (1969)

External links

*imdb name|id=0867538|name=Regis Toomey
*tcmdb name|id=192986|name=Regis Toomey
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8145490&pt Find-A-Grave profile for Regis Toomey]