Screen Guild Theater: Laura / Twelve O'Clock High

• published: 05 Dec 2012
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Laura Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb Twelve O'Clock High Gregory Peck, Ward Bond, Hugh Marlowe, Millard Mitchell, Reed Hadley, John Kellogg Wardell Edwin "Ward" Bond (April 9, 1903 -- November 5, 1960)[1] was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train. Bond made his screen debut in Salute, and thereafter played over 200 supporting roles, rarely playing the lead in a theatrical release but starring in the television series Wagon Train from 1957 until his death in 1960. He was frequently typecast as a friendly policeman or as a brutal thug. He had a long-time working relationship with directors John Ford and Frank Capra, performing in such films as The Searchers, Drums Along the Mohawk, The Quiet Man, and Fort Apache for Ford, with whom he made 25 films, and It Happened One Night and It's a Wonderful Life for Capra. Among his other well-known films were Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Sergeant York (1941), They Were Expendable (1945), Joan of Arc (1948), in which he was atypically cast as Captain La Hire, Rio Bravo (1959), and Raoul Walsh's 1930 widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail, which also featured John Wayne's first leading role. Bond later starred in the popular NBC western television series Wagon Train from 1957 until his death. Wagon Train was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master, in which Bond also appeared, and was influenced by The Big Trail. For Wagon Train Bond specifically requested Terry Wilson for the role of assistant trailmaster Bill Hawks and Frank McGrath as the cook Charlie Wooster. Wilson and McGrath stayed with the series for the entire run. An epileptic, he was rejected by the draft during World War II. During the 1940s, Bond was a member of the conservative group called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, whose major rationale was opposition to communists in the film industry. In 1960, Bond campaigned for the Republican presidential nominee Richard M. Nixon. Bond died three days before Democrat John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Nixon. The wide-shouldered 6'2" Bond appears in more of the films on both the original and the tenth anniversary edition of the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies lists than any other actor, albeit always as a supporting player: It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Searchers (1956). Bond has also been in 11 films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, which may be more than any other actor:[4] Arrowsmith (1931/32), Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Sergeant York (1941), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), The Quiet Man (1952) and Mister Roberts (1955). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Bond