Don Ameche
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 31, 1908
- Died
- Dec 6, 1993 (aged 85)
- Place of birth
- Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
- Credits
- 91
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
1988Movie
Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited)
Trading Places
1983Movie
Mortimer Duke
Cocoon
1985Movie
Arthur Selwyn
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
1993Movie
Shadow (voice)
Cocoon: The Return
1988Movie
Art Selwyn
Columbo
1971TV
Frank Simpson
Filmography
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
2009Movie
(archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
1997Movie
Self (archiveFootage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
1997Movie
Self (archive footage)
Corrina, Corrina
1994Movie
Grandpa Harry
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
1993Movie
Shadow (voice)
Sunstroke
1992Movie
Jake
Folks!
1992Movie
Harry Aldrich
Our Shining Moment
1991Movie
John 'Papa' McGuire Sr.
Oscar
1991Movie
Father Clemente
Oddball Hall
1990Movie
G. Paul Siebriese
Things Change
1988Movie
Gino
Cocoon: The Return
1988Movie
Art Selwyn
Coming to America
1988Movie
Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited)
Harry and the Hendersons
1987Movie
Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
Pals
1987Movie
Art Riddle
A Masterpiece of Murder
1986Movie
Frank Aherne
The Golden Girls
1985TV
Brother Martin
Cocoon
1985Movie
Arthur Selwyn
Trading Places
1983Movie
Mortimer Duke
Night of 100 Stars
1982Movie
Self
The Chinese Typewriter
1979Movie
Armand Beller
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978TV
Self
The Love Boat
1977TV
Stewart Coolidge, Henry Dobson, Hollis Witkin
Quincy, M.E.
1976TV
Harry Whitehead
Good Heavens
1976TV
Ellery Queen
1975TV
Dr. Norman Marsh
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973TV
Self
Gidget Gets Married
1972Movie
Otis Ramsey
Columbo
1971TV
Frank Simpson
Alias Smith and Jones
1971TV
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970Movie
Col. Flanders
The Boatniks
1970Movie
Commander Taylor
McCloud
1970TV
Shadow Over Elveron
1968Movie
Justin Travers
Rings Around the World
1967Movie
Host/Ringmaster
Picture Mommy Dead
1966Movie
Edward Shelley
Petticoat Junction
1963TV
Uncle George
Burke's Law
1963TV
Whitman Saunders
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963TV
Collie McCullough
The Merv Griffin Show
1962TV
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962TV
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
1961TV
Self - Co-Host, Self
A Fever in the Blood
1961Movie
Senator Alex S. Simon
DuPont Show of the Month
1957TV
Harry Graves
The Lux Show
1957TV
Self
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957TV
Self
Climax!
1954TV
Sam Waterman
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher
1953TV
What's My Line?
1950TV
Self
Slightly French
1949Movie
John Gayle
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948TV
Self
Sleep, My Love
1948Movie
Richard W. Courtland
That's My Man
1947Movie
Joe Grange
So Goes My Love
1946Movie
Hiram Stephen Maxim
Guest Wife
1945Movie
Joseph Jefferson 'Joe' Parker
It's in the Bag!
1945Movie
Don Ameche
Greenwich Village
1944Movie
Kenneth Harvey
Wing and a Prayer
1944Movie
Bingo Harper
Happy Land
1943Movie
Lew Marsh
Heaven Can Wait
1943Movie
Henry Van Cleve
Something to Shout About
1943Movie
Ken Douglas
Girl Trouble
1942Movie
Pedro Sullivan
The Magnificent Dope
1942Movie
Dwight Dawson
Confirm or Deny
1941Movie
'Mitch' Mitchell
The Feminine Touch
1941Movie
John Hathaway
Kiss the Boys Goodbye
1941Movie
Lloyd Lloyd
Moon Over Miami
1941Movie
Phil O'Neil (Credits) / Phil 'Mac' McNeil
That Night in Rio
1941Movie
Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte
Down Argentine Way
1940Movie
Ricardo Quintana
Four Sons
1940Movie
Chris Bern
Lillian Russell
1940Movie
Edward Solomon
Swanee River
1939Movie
Stephen Foster
Hollywood Cavalcade
1939Movie
Mike Connors
Land of Liberty
1939Movie
Alexander Graham Bell (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939Movie
Don Ameche
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939Movie
Alexander Graham Bell
Midnight
1939Movie
Tibor Czerny
The Three Musketeers
1939Movie
D'Artagnan
Gateway
1938Movie
Dick Court
Josette
1938Movie
David Brassard Jr.
Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938Movie
Charlie Dwyer
In Old Chicago
1938Movie
Jack O'Leary
Happy Landing
1938Movie
Jimmy Hall
Love Under Fire
1937Movie
Tracy Egan
You Can't Have Everything
1937Movie
George Macrae
Fifty Roads to Town
1937Movie
Peter Nostrand
Love Is News
1937Movie
Martin J. Canavan
One in a Million
1937Movie
Bob Harris
Ladies in Love
1936Movie
Dr. Rudi Imre
Ramona
1936Movie
Alessandro
Sins of Man
1936Movie
Karl Freyman / Mario Signarelli