Don Ameche
Acting
Born: May 31, 1908 · Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Died: December 6, 1993 (aged 85)
Highest Rated
Biography
Don Ameche (born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor and radio entertainer whose career spanned over six decades. Known for his charming, dapper presence and signature mustache, Ameche became one of 20th Century Fox's premier leading men throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to an Italian immigrant father and a mother of European descent, he adapted his family's surname from "Amici" to "Ameche" to preserve its original Italian pronunciation in the United States. He began his entertainment career in vaudeville and radio, where he achieved nationwide fame as the host of popular broadcasts like The Chase and Sanborn Hour. He transitioned to film in 1935, starring in a string of successful musical comedies and dramas, most notably Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), and Ernst Lubitsch’s classic comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943). As film roles slowed in the 1950s, Ameche worked extensively in live theatre and television. His screen career experienced a celebrated renaissance in the 1980s, beginning with his role as the scheming commodities broker Mortimer Duke in Trading Places (1983). Two years later, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a revitalized retiree in Ron Howard’s Cocoon (1985). In his final years, Ameche introduced himself to a new generation of filmgoers providing the warm, patriarchal voice of Shadow the Golden Retriever in Disney's Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), before completing his final screen appearance in Corrina, Corrina (1994). Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986; the couple had six children. Ameche died of prostate cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1993 at the age of 85.
Known for
Coming to America
1988
Trading Places
1983
Cocoon
1985
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
1993
Cocoon: The Return
1988
Columbo
1971
Harry and the Hendersons
1987
Oscar
1991
Corrina, Corrina
1994
The Golden Girls
1985
Heaven Can Wait
1943
The Love Boat
1977
Photos (2)
Movies (63)
Coming to America
Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited)
Trading Places
Mortimer Duke
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Shadow (voice)
Cocoon
Arthur Selwyn
Harry and the Hendersons
Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
Cocoon: The Return
Art Selwyn
Corrina, Corrina
Grandpa Harry
Oscar
Father Clemente
Heaven Can Wait
Henry Van Cleve
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Folks!
Harry Aldrich
Things Change
Gino
In Old Chicago
Jack O'Leary
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Col. Flanders
Happy Landing
Jimmy Hall
Sleep, My Love
Richard W. Courtland
A Fever in the Blood
Senator Alex S. Simon
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Charlie Dwyer
Greenwich Village
Kenneth Harvey
That Night in Rio
Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte
Something to Shout About
Ken Douglas
Midnight
Tibor Czerny
You Can't Have Everything
George Macrae
That's My Man
Joe Grange
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
(archive footage)
Wing and a Prayer
Bingo Harper
Guest Wife
Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Lloyd Lloyd
Love Is News
Martin J. Canavan
Ladies in Love
Dr. Rudi Imre
So Goes My Love
Hiram Stephen Maxim
The Boatniks
Commander Taylor
Girl Trouble
Pedro Sullivan
It's in the Bag!
Don Ameche
One in a Million
Bob Harris
Sunstroke
Jake
The Three Musketeers
D'Artagnan
Hollywood Cavalcade
Mike Connors
Slightly French
John Gayle
Down Argentine Way
Ricardo Quintana
Love Under Fire
Tracy Egan
Gateway
Dick Court
Fifty Roads to Town
Peter Nostrand
Gidget Gets Married
Otis Ramsey
Picture Mommy Dead
Edward Shelley
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Don Ameche
Moon Over Miami
Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil
Confirm or Deny
'Mitch' Mitchell
Swanee River
Stephen Foster
Land of Liberty
Alexander Graham Bell (archive footage)
Lillian Russell
Edward Solomon
Happy Land
Lew Marsh
The Magnificent Dope
Dwight Dawson
Shadow Over Elveron
Justin Travers
The Feminine Touch
John Hathaway
Ramona
Alessandro
Four Sons
Chris Bern
Rings Around the World
Host/Ringmaster
Sins of Man
Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli
The Chinese Typewriter
Armand Beller
Pals
Art Riddle
Josette
David Brassard Jr.
Oddball Hall
G. Paul Siebriese
TV Shows (14)
Columbo
Frank Simpson · 1 eps
The Love Boat
Stewart Coolidge · 1 eps
The Love Boat
Henry Dobson · 1 eps
The Love Boat
Hollis Witkin · 1 eps
Quincy, M.E.
Harry Whitehead · 1 eps
The Golden Girls
Brother Martin · 1 eps
Climax!
Sam Waterman · 1 eps
Petticoat Junction
Uncle George · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Whitman Saunders · 1 eps
McCloud
1 eps
Alias Smith and Jones
1 eps
Ellery Queen
Dr. Norman Marsh · 1 eps
DuPont Show of the Month
Harry Graves · 1 eps
Good Heavens
1 eps
Self / Appearances (12)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · 2 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host · 3 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · 2 eps
What's My Line?
Self · 2 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 2 eps
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self · 1 eps
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · 2 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 1 eps
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self · 1 eps
Night of 100 Stars
Self
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Self (archiveFootage)
