Responses: 11
Many times, I'd drive through Kingman AZ and see Andy Devine Blvd and wondered how many people remember him. So this is my vid.
Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that October 7 is the anniversary of the birth of American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films Andrew Vabre Devine. "He is probably best remembered for his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature films. He also appeared alongside John Wayne in films like Stagecoach (1939), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and How the West Was Won (both 1962)."
Rest in peace Andrew Vabre Devine!
Who was Andy Devine?
Many times, I'd drive through Kingman AZ and see Andy Devine Blvd and wondered how many people remember him. So this is my vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DnQ9-8Ha-U
Images:
1. Andy Devine with family, with Tommy Dorsey, eating candy and certificate of achievement presented by the Motion Picture Herald.
2. Andy Devine as Jingles.
3. On the Old Spanish Trail (1947) -Andy Devine, Roy Rogers, Trigger, Tito Guízar (Corriganville) Republic.
4. Trail of the Vigilantes (1940) - Andy Devine (Iverson Ranch)(Corriganville) Universal.
Biographies
1. Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame.
2. IMDB
1. Background from azmusichalloffame.org/andy-devine/
"Andrew Vabre “Andy” Devine was born on October 7, 1905 in Flagstaff, Arizona
Andy was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive, whiny voice.
He grew up in Kingman, AZ, where his family moved when he was a year old. The family owned the Beale hotel in Kingman.
He attended Northern Arizona State Teacher’s College (now known as Northern Arizona University), where he played football and basketball.
He also played football at Santa Clara University. He played semi-professional football under the pseudonym “Jeremiah Schwartz” while working as an “extra” in Hollywood. His football experience led to his first sizable film role, in the 1931 film “The Spirit of Notre Dame”.
In 1926 Andy accompanied his father, Tom Devine, to Long Beach California where Tom was to undergo a dangerous cancer operation.
Tom did not survive the operation. Andy went for a ride on the electric trolly “The Red Car” trying to sort out his life now that his father was gone.
By chance he ended up standing on Hollywood Boulevard, where an assistant director from Universal Pictures asked if Andy played football and if so Universal was hiring footballers for a series of college orientated films known as “the Collegians” and he “might get a few weeks work”, Andy didn’t go back to Arizona. While working as an “extra” in films Andy had several jobs to “pay the rent” among those was a period of time as an LA City Beach Life Guard at Venice Beach.
In the beginning people thought his strange whining voice would make it hard for him in the new talkie pictures, but it soon became his unique trademark.
Andy wasn’t sure but he thought his unique voice might have been the result of a childhood accident. He said he had been running with a curtain rod in his mouth at the Beale Hotel, when he fell, and it pierced the roof of his mouth. When he was able to speak again, he had developed a labored, scratchy, duo-tone voice.
Andy has appeared in more than 400 films.
His most notable roles included ten films as sidekick “Cookie” to Roy Rogers, a role in Romeo and Juliet in 1936 and “Danny” in A Star Is Born in 1937.
He made several appearances in films with John Wayne, including Stagecoach in 1939, Island in the Sky in 1953), and as the frightened marshal in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in 1962.
Although Andy was known generally for his comic roles, Jack Webb cast him as a police detective in Pete Kelly’s Blues in 1955. Devine lowered his voice in that film and was more serious than usual. His film appearances in his later years included movies such as Zebra in the Kitchen, The Over-the-Hill Gang, and he played “Coyote Bill” in Myra Breckinridge.
His stage career was also an important part of his later acting years. He played the Captain in Showboat in 1957 and went on to play in Anything Goes, My Three Angels and Never Too Late.
Andy also worked in radio. He is well-remembered for his role as “Jingles”, Guy Madison’s sidekick in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, which Devine and Madison reprised on television.
He appeared over 75 times on Jack Benny’s radio show between 1936 and 1942, often appearing in Benny’s semi-regular western series of sketches “Buck Benny Rides Again”.
Benny frequently referred to Andy as “the mayor of Van Nuys.” In fact, he did serve as honorary mayor of that city, where he lived from1938 to 1957, when he moved to Newport Beach.
He hosted a children’s TV show, Andy’s Gang on NBC from 1955 to 1960.
During this time, he also made multiple appearances on NBC’s The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
He played “Hap” on the TV series Flipper, also on NBC, in the 1960s.
He starred in a Twilight Zone episode called “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby” as “Frisby”,
Andy also performed voice parts in animated films, including “Friar Tuck” in Disney’s Robin Hood. He also was the voice of Cornelius the Rooster in several Kellogg’s Corn Flakes TV commercials.
Andy died of leukemia at the age of 71 in Orange, California on February 18, 1977.
The main street of his home town of Kingman was renamed “Andy Devine Avenue” in his honor. His career is highlighted in the Mohave Museum of History and Arts in Kingman, and there are two stars in his honor,, one for Film and one for Television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Andy Devine is one of Arizona’s favorite sons and we are happy to add his name to the inductees in the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame."
2. Background from
"Andy Devine
Biography
Overview (4)
Born October 7, 1905 in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Died February 18, 1977 in Orange, California, USA (leukemia)
Birth Name Andrew Vabre Devine
Height 6' (1.83 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Rotund comic character actor of American films. Born Andrew Vabre Devine in Flagstaff, Arizona, the later-to-be Rotund comic character actor was raised in nearby Kingman, Arizona, the son of Irish-American hotel operator Thomas Devine and his wife Amy. Devine was an able athlete as a student and actually played semi-pro football under a phony name (Jeremiah Schwartz, often erroneously presumed to be his real name). Devine used the false name in order to remain eligible for college football. A successful football player at St. Mary & St. Benedict College, Arizona State Teacher's College, and Santa Clara University, Devine went to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actor. After a number of small roles in silent films, he was given a good part in the talkie The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931) in part due to his fine record as a football player. His sound-film career seemed at risk due to his severely raspy voice, the result of a childhood injury. His voice, however, soon became his trademark, and he spent the next forty-five years becoming an increasingly popular and beloved comic figure in a wide variety of films. In the 1950s, his fame grew enormously with his co-starring role as Jingles opposite Guy Madison's Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951), on television and radio simultaneously. In 1955, before the Hickok series ended, Devine took over the hosting job on a children's show retitled Andy's Gang (1955), in which he gained new fans among the very young. He continued active in films until his death in 1977. He was survived by his wife and two sons.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver < [login to see] >
Spouse Dorothy Devine (28 October 1933 - 18 February 1977) ( his death) ( 2 children)
Trade Mark (1)
High-pitched raspy voice
Trivia (19)
1. The main street of Kingman, Arizona, near his birthplace of Flagstaff is named Andy Devine Boulevard.
2. Was once honorary mayor of Van Nuys, California.
3. Father of Tad Devine and Denny Devine, who played his sons in Canyon Passage (1946).
4. Had played Hap Gorman on the first season of the MGM/NBC television series Flipper (1964).
5. Was mentioned in the 1974 song "Pencil Thin Mustache" by Jimmy Buffett.
6. Was a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator with the call sign WB6RER. The call is now owned by an amateur radio club in Kingman, Arizona, which holds an annual event in memory of their favorite son.
7. His high-pitched gravelly voice was the result of a childhood accident. While running with a stick (some accounts say a curtain rod) in his mouth, he tripped and fell, ramming the stick through the roof of his mouth. For almost a year, he was unable to speak at all. When he did get his voice back, at length, it had the wheezing, almost duo-toned quality that would ultimately make him a star. Another account of his throat injury says he was sliding down the banister in his father's hotel and somehow damaged his throat.
8. John Ford picked him to play Buck, the stagecoach teamster, in Stagecoach (1939) because he had actual experience driving a six-horse team.
9. He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Radio at 6258 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
10. According to an in-depth article by Joe Collura for "Classic Images", Andy was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, but moved with his family west to Kingman in Mohave County. While there his father, Thomas, served as the Mohave County treasurer and owned the Hotel Beale. His father later suffered from stomach cancer and traveled to Los Angeles for treatment, where he died during surgery.
11. Had played professional football at one point and used the name Jeremiah Schwartz in order to avoid jeopardizing his amateur standing.
12. Best known for his sidekick role opposite Guy Madison on the Western series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). As Jingles P. Jones, he rode a horse named Joker. The role was originally offered to but turned down by Burl Ives.
13. Made his stage debut as Captain Andy Hawks in Guy Lombardo's 1957 production of "Show Boat" at a theatre in Long Island.
14. Was an avid pilot and owned a flying school that trained flyers for the government during World War II.
15. John Wayne and James Stewart were among those who attended his funeral.
16. Also had a children's television show on one of the local Los Angeles television stations called "Andy and Froggy" where his sidekick was a frog puppet.
17. Reminisced by Jimmy Buffett in his hit song, "Pencil Thin Mustache", in 1974 (it is song #10 on Buffett's album, "Songs You Know by Heart"). It is a song about the entertainment of Jimmy's youth, while growing up in the 1950s. Jimmy pays tribute to Andy in the chorus, "I wish I had a pencil thin mustache, The 'Boston Blackie' kind. A two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket and an autographed picture of Andy Devine.".
18. Was in movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in major role as town marshall of Shinbone. Movie also had main characters played by James Stewart, and John Wayne.
19. Was in six Oscar Best Picture nominees: Romeo and Juliet (1936), A Star Is Born (1937), In Old Chicago (1938), Stagecoach (1939), Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and How the West Was Won (1962). Around the World in 80 Days won.
Salary (1)
Stagecoach (1939) $10,000"
FYI SFC (Join to see)cmsgt-rickey-denickeSGT Forrest FitzrandolphCWO3 Dave AlcantaraCW3 Matt HutchasonLTC (Join to see)Sgt John H.1sg-dan-capriSGT Robert R.CPT Tommy CurtisSGT (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarlandCol Carl WhickerSGT Mark AndersonSFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSFC Jack ChampionA1C Ian WilliamsSFC Jay Thompson
Rest in peace Andrew Vabre Devine!
Who was Andy Devine?
Many times, I'd drive through Kingman AZ and see Andy Devine Blvd and wondered how many people remember him. So this is my vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DnQ9-8Ha-U
Images:
1. Andy Devine with family, with Tommy Dorsey, eating candy and certificate of achievement presented by the Motion Picture Herald.
2. Andy Devine as Jingles.
3. On the Old Spanish Trail (1947) -Andy Devine, Roy Rogers, Trigger, Tito Guízar (Corriganville) Republic.
4. Trail of the Vigilantes (1940) - Andy Devine (Iverson Ranch)(Corriganville) Universal.
Biographies
1. Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame.
2. IMDB
1. Background from azmusichalloffame.org/andy-devine/
"Andrew Vabre “Andy” Devine was born on October 7, 1905 in Flagstaff, Arizona
Andy was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive, whiny voice.
He grew up in Kingman, AZ, where his family moved when he was a year old. The family owned the Beale hotel in Kingman.
He attended Northern Arizona State Teacher’s College (now known as Northern Arizona University), where he played football and basketball.
He also played football at Santa Clara University. He played semi-professional football under the pseudonym “Jeremiah Schwartz” while working as an “extra” in Hollywood. His football experience led to his first sizable film role, in the 1931 film “The Spirit of Notre Dame”.
In 1926 Andy accompanied his father, Tom Devine, to Long Beach California where Tom was to undergo a dangerous cancer operation.
Tom did not survive the operation. Andy went for a ride on the electric trolly “The Red Car” trying to sort out his life now that his father was gone.
By chance he ended up standing on Hollywood Boulevard, where an assistant director from Universal Pictures asked if Andy played football and if so Universal was hiring footballers for a series of college orientated films known as “the Collegians” and he “might get a few weeks work”, Andy didn’t go back to Arizona. While working as an “extra” in films Andy had several jobs to “pay the rent” among those was a period of time as an LA City Beach Life Guard at Venice Beach.
In the beginning people thought his strange whining voice would make it hard for him in the new talkie pictures, but it soon became his unique trademark.
Andy wasn’t sure but he thought his unique voice might have been the result of a childhood accident. He said he had been running with a curtain rod in his mouth at the Beale Hotel, when he fell, and it pierced the roof of his mouth. When he was able to speak again, he had developed a labored, scratchy, duo-tone voice.
Andy has appeared in more than 400 films.
His most notable roles included ten films as sidekick “Cookie” to Roy Rogers, a role in Romeo and Juliet in 1936 and “Danny” in A Star Is Born in 1937.
He made several appearances in films with John Wayne, including Stagecoach in 1939, Island in the Sky in 1953), and as the frightened marshal in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in 1962.
Although Andy was known generally for his comic roles, Jack Webb cast him as a police detective in Pete Kelly’s Blues in 1955. Devine lowered his voice in that film and was more serious than usual. His film appearances in his later years included movies such as Zebra in the Kitchen, The Over-the-Hill Gang, and he played “Coyote Bill” in Myra Breckinridge.
His stage career was also an important part of his later acting years. He played the Captain in Showboat in 1957 and went on to play in Anything Goes, My Three Angels and Never Too Late.
Andy also worked in radio. He is well-remembered for his role as “Jingles”, Guy Madison’s sidekick in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, which Devine and Madison reprised on television.
He appeared over 75 times on Jack Benny’s radio show between 1936 and 1942, often appearing in Benny’s semi-regular western series of sketches “Buck Benny Rides Again”.
Benny frequently referred to Andy as “the mayor of Van Nuys.” In fact, he did serve as honorary mayor of that city, where he lived from1938 to 1957, when he moved to Newport Beach.
He hosted a children’s TV show, Andy’s Gang on NBC from 1955 to 1960.
During this time, he also made multiple appearances on NBC’s The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
He played “Hap” on the TV series Flipper, also on NBC, in the 1960s.
He starred in a Twilight Zone episode called “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby” as “Frisby”,
Andy also performed voice parts in animated films, including “Friar Tuck” in Disney’s Robin Hood. He also was the voice of Cornelius the Rooster in several Kellogg’s Corn Flakes TV commercials.
Andy died of leukemia at the age of 71 in Orange, California on February 18, 1977.
The main street of his home town of Kingman was renamed “Andy Devine Avenue” in his honor. His career is highlighted in the Mohave Museum of History and Arts in Kingman, and there are two stars in his honor,, one for Film and one for Television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Andy Devine is one of Arizona’s favorite sons and we are happy to add his name to the inductees in the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame."
2. Background from
"Andy Devine
Biography
Overview (4)
Born October 7, 1905 in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Died February 18, 1977 in Orange, California, USA (leukemia)
Birth Name Andrew Vabre Devine
Height 6' (1.83 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Rotund comic character actor of American films. Born Andrew Vabre Devine in Flagstaff, Arizona, the later-to-be Rotund comic character actor was raised in nearby Kingman, Arizona, the son of Irish-American hotel operator Thomas Devine and his wife Amy. Devine was an able athlete as a student and actually played semi-pro football under a phony name (Jeremiah Schwartz, often erroneously presumed to be his real name). Devine used the false name in order to remain eligible for college football. A successful football player at St. Mary & St. Benedict College, Arizona State Teacher's College, and Santa Clara University, Devine went to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actor. After a number of small roles in silent films, he was given a good part in the talkie The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931) in part due to his fine record as a football player. His sound-film career seemed at risk due to his severely raspy voice, the result of a childhood injury. His voice, however, soon became his trademark, and he spent the next forty-five years becoming an increasingly popular and beloved comic figure in a wide variety of films. In the 1950s, his fame grew enormously with his co-starring role as Jingles opposite Guy Madison's Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951), on television and radio simultaneously. In 1955, before the Hickok series ended, Devine took over the hosting job on a children's show retitled Andy's Gang (1955), in which he gained new fans among the very young. He continued active in films until his death in 1977. He was survived by his wife and two sons.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver < [login to see] >
Spouse Dorothy Devine (28 October 1933 - 18 February 1977) ( his death) ( 2 children)
Trade Mark (1)
High-pitched raspy voice
Trivia (19)
1. The main street of Kingman, Arizona, near his birthplace of Flagstaff is named Andy Devine Boulevard.
2. Was once honorary mayor of Van Nuys, California.
3. Father of Tad Devine and Denny Devine, who played his sons in Canyon Passage (1946).
4. Had played Hap Gorman on the first season of the MGM/NBC television series Flipper (1964).
5. Was mentioned in the 1974 song "Pencil Thin Mustache" by Jimmy Buffett.
6. Was a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator with the call sign WB6RER. The call is now owned by an amateur radio club in Kingman, Arizona, which holds an annual event in memory of their favorite son.
7. His high-pitched gravelly voice was the result of a childhood accident. While running with a stick (some accounts say a curtain rod) in his mouth, he tripped and fell, ramming the stick through the roof of his mouth. For almost a year, he was unable to speak at all. When he did get his voice back, at length, it had the wheezing, almost duo-toned quality that would ultimately make him a star. Another account of his throat injury says he was sliding down the banister in his father's hotel and somehow damaged his throat.
8. John Ford picked him to play Buck, the stagecoach teamster, in Stagecoach (1939) because he had actual experience driving a six-horse team.
9. He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Radio at 6258 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
10. According to an in-depth article by Joe Collura for "Classic Images", Andy was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, but moved with his family west to Kingman in Mohave County. While there his father, Thomas, served as the Mohave County treasurer and owned the Hotel Beale. His father later suffered from stomach cancer and traveled to Los Angeles for treatment, where he died during surgery.
11. Had played professional football at one point and used the name Jeremiah Schwartz in order to avoid jeopardizing his amateur standing.
12. Best known for his sidekick role opposite Guy Madison on the Western series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). As Jingles P. Jones, he rode a horse named Joker. The role was originally offered to but turned down by Burl Ives.
13. Made his stage debut as Captain Andy Hawks in Guy Lombardo's 1957 production of "Show Boat" at a theatre in Long Island.
14. Was an avid pilot and owned a flying school that trained flyers for the government during World War II.
15. John Wayne and James Stewart were among those who attended his funeral.
16. Also had a children's television show on one of the local Los Angeles television stations called "Andy and Froggy" where his sidekick was a frog puppet.
17. Reminisced by Jimmy Buffett in his hit song, "Pencil Thin Mustache", in 1974 (it is song #10 on Buffett's album, "Songs You Know by Heart"). It is a song about the entertainment of Jimmy's youth, while growing up in the 1950s. Jimmy pays tribute to Andy in the chorus, "I wish I had a pencil thin mustache, The 'Boston Blackie' kind. A two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket and an autographed picture of Andy Devine.".
18. Was in movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in major role as town marshall of Shinbone. Movie also had main characters played by James Stewart, and John Wayne.
19. Was in six Oscar Best Picture nominees: Romeo and Juliet (1936), A Star Is Born (1937), In Old Chicago (1938), Stagecoach (1939), Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and How the West Was Won (1962). Around the World in 80 Days won.
Salary (1)
Stagecoach (1939) $10,000"
FYI SFC (Join to see)cmsgt-rickey-denickeSGT Forrest FitzrandolphCWO3 Dave AlcantaraCW3 Matt HutchasonLTC (Join to see)Sgt John H.1sg-dan-capriSGT Robert R.CPT Tommy CurtisSGT (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarlandCol Carl WhickerSGT Mark AndersonSFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSFC Jack ChampionA1C Ian WilliamsSFC Jay Thompson
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LTC Stephen F.
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LTC Stephen F.
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LTC Stephen F.
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