Tom Ewell

Infobox Actor
name = Tom Ewell


caption = from the trailer for
"Adam's Rib" (1949)
birthname = Samuel Yewell Tompkins
birthdate = April 29, 1909
location = Owensboro, Kentucky
deathdate = September 12, 1994, age 85
deathplace = Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
spouse = Judith Abbott (1946-1947)
Marjorie Sanborn (1948-1994)
goldenglobeawards = Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1956 "The Seven Year Itch"

Tom Ewell (April 29 1909 - September 12, 1994) was an American Tony Award-winning actor.

Born Samuel Yewell Tompkins in Owensboro, Kentucky, Ewell began acting in Summer Stock in 1928 with Don Ameche, before moving to New York in 1931. He enrolled in the Actors Studio alongside classmates Montgomery Clift and Karl Malden. He made his Broadway debut in 1934 and his film debut in 1940, and for several years played comic supporting roles. He attracted attention with a strong performance in the film "Adam's Rib" (1949) and he began to receive Hollywood roles more frequently. Ewell continued acting in Summer Stock through the 1940's: He starred opposite June Lockhart in Lawrence Riley's biographical play "Kin Hubbard" in 1951, the story of one of America's greatest humourists and cartoonists. With this play, Ewell made also his debut as a producer.

His most successful and arguably most identifiable role came in 1952 when he began the Broadway production of "The Seven Year Itch". With Vanessa Brown as "The Girl", the show ran for almost three years, and Ewell played the part more than 900 times, as he said when he appeared as a mystery guest on "What's My Line" to promote the movie. He won a 1953 Tony Award for this role. He reprised his role in the 1955 film version, with Brown replaced by Marilyn Monroe. The scene of Ewell slyly admiring Monroe as she stood over a subway grate with her skirt billowing has become one of the most iconic moments in films. He won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.

He enjoyed another film success in "The Girl Can't Help It" (1956) opposite Jayne Mansfield. He co-starred in the U.S. premiere of "Waiting for Godot" with Bert Lahr in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida. However, as his film and theater careers seemed to have reached their peaks, he turned his attention to television. Over several years he played guest roles in numerous series, and received an Emmy Award nomination for his continuing role in the television series "Baretta", with Ewell commenting that working on that series had given him greater pleasure than any project he had ever worked on. His final acting performance was in a 1986 episode of "Murder, She Wrote".

In a 1983 interview Ewell stated that the theater was the only arena in which actors could be creative, because films were the work of directors, and television was the work of technicians. He said he did not hold any particular regard for any of his films, with the exception of "The Seven Year Itch". He also spoke highly of his co-star Monroe, saying that he "adored" her and that she weryas "such a lovely person to work with". He claimed never to have seen any of his films, including "The Seven Year Itch", and had only ever seen glimpses of himself onscreen when his wife was watching television. He said he suffered from an inferiority complex and could not bear to see himself on screen as he was too critical of himself.

He died in Woodland Hills, California, aged 85, of undisclosed causes.

Television

Appeared on What's My Line? as mystery celebrity guest. (1955)

External links

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* [http://www.hollywoodpinup.com/old_movie_scene_stills/Girl_Cant_Babydoll/_gchi3.html Photograph of Ewell with Jayne Mansfield in "The Girl Can't Help It"]
* [http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/specialarchives/connections/7618634.htm Owensboro Messenger-Enquirer article on Ewell]