Regis Toomey

Regis Toomey

1898-08-13 – 1991-10-12 (age 93) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898 – October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey and attended Peabody High School. He initially pondered a law career, but acting won out and he established himself as a musical stage performer.

Educated in dramatics at the University of Pittsburgh, where he became a brother of Sigma Chi, Toomey began as a stock actor and eventually made it to Broadway. Toomey was a singer on stage until throat problems (acute laryngitis) while touring in Europe stopped that aspect of his career. In 1929, Toomey first began appearing in films. He initially started out as a leading man, but found more success as a character actor (sans his toupee).

Toomey appeared in over 180 films, including classics such as The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart. In 1956, he appeared as a judge, with Chuck Connors as "Andy", in the third episode, "The Nevada Nightingale", of the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show. Toomey thereafter appeared in another anthology series too as the character "Harry" in the 1960 episode "The Doctor and the Redhead", with Dick Powell and Felicia Farr, of CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson. In the 1961–1962 television season, he appeared in a supporting role with George Nader in the syndicated crime drama Shannon about insurance investigators. From 1963–1966, Toomey was one of the stars of the ABC crime drama, Burke's Law, starring Gene Barry. He played Sergeant Les Hart, one of the detectives assisting the murder investigations of the millionaire police captain Amos Burke. He also guest-starred on dozens of television programs, including the "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" episode of Maverick.

In 1941, Toomey appeared in You're in the Army Now, in which he and Jane Wyman had the longest screen kiss in cinema history: 3 minutes and 5 seconds.

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Known For

The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep

1946

as Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls

Spellbound
Spellbound

1945

as Det. Sgt. Gillespie

His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday

1940

as Sanders

Warlock
Warlock

1959

as Skinner

'G' Men
'G' Men

1935

as Eddie Buchanan

Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls

1955

as Arvide Abernathy

Mighty Joe Young
Mighty Joe Young

1949

as John Young

Show Boat
Show Boat

1951

as Sheriff Ike Vallon (uncredited)

The Last Sunset
The Last Sunset

1961

as Milton Wing

The High and the Mighty
The High and the Mighty

1954

as Tim Garfield

The Bishop's Wife
The Bishop's Wife

1947

as Mr. Miller

The Boy with Green Hair
The Boy with Green Hair

1948

as Mr. Davis

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
They Died with Their Boots On
They Died with Their Boots On

1941

as Fitzhugh Lee

Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage

1940

as Webster

Magic Town
Magic Town

1947

as Ed Weaver

The Night of the Grizzly
The Night of the Grizzly

1966

as Cotton Benson

Great Day in the Morning
Great Day in the Morning

1956

as Father Murphy

Meet John Doe
Meet John Doe

1941

as Bert Hansen

Union Pacific
Union Pacific

1939

as Paddy O'Rourke