John Dall

John Dall was an American actor who built his career on the stage before finding success in Hollywood. Born in New York City and raised partly in Panama, he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Theodora Irvine School of Theater. After six years in stock companies, he took small Broadway roles in the early 1940s, and his lead in the touring production of The Eve of St Mark led to a Warner Bros screen test and contract. His film debut came as the Welsh mining prodigy in The Corn Is Green (1945), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was best remembered for playing a thrill killer in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and appearing opposite Peggy Cummins in the film noir Gun Crazy (1950). Later films included The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950), Spartacus (1960), and Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961), along with many television guest roles.