William John Challee (April 6, 1904 – March 11, 1989) was an American actor.
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William Challee | |
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Born | William John Challe (1904-04-06)April 6, 1904 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | March 11, 1989(1989-03-11) (aged 84) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1926–1979 |
Spouse(s) | Ella Franklin Crawford (m. 1944; div. 19??) |
Challee was born in Chicago and was a student at Lake View High School.[1]
Challee appeared on Broadway by 1926 and by 1931 in early Group Theatre productions. He married actress Ruth Nelson on August 2, 1931; they divorced on August 13, 1937.[2] The two appeared in the 1947 film The Sea of Grass, in supporting roles, after they were divorced.
In 1937 Challee staged a suite of one-act plays at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, under the heading Plays of the Sea. The suite consisted of the Eugene O'Neill plays Bound East for Cardiff, In the Zone, The Long Voyage Home and Moon of the Caribbees. They were produced by the Federal Theatre Project of the WPA, running for 68 performances from October 29, 1937.[3]
Challee was living in Chicago by 1940. By the middle 1940s, Challee was working in films in California, mainly in supporting and uncredited roles. Challee married dancer Ella Franklin Crawford on April 19, 1944 in Santa Monica.[4]
Challee appeared in episodes of numerous television series, including a 1953 episode ("Stage for Mademoiselle") of The Lone Ranger and a 1957 episode ("The Case of the Runaway Corpse") of Perry Mason. In 1960 Challee appeared as Saunders on Laramie in the episode titled "Duel at Parkinson Town." [citation needed] In 1961 he appeared as Eli in the series finale of The Investigators, "The Dead End Man.",[citation needed] as well as the 1961 S3E27 episode "Meeting at the Mimbres" in the western series Bat Masterson.
In 1962 Challee appeared (uncredited) as a prisoner on the TV western The Virginian in the episode titled "The Brazen Bell." Challee played the incapacitated family patriarch in the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, whose illness brings his son (Jack Nicholson) home to the family estate.
In 1984 he married his long-time partner Joan Wheeler Ankrum. Together, in 1960, they opened the Ankrum Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles.[5][6]
Challee was buried in Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto.[citation needed]
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