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New biography finally reveals the life and work of beloved character actor Hans Conried
“Hans Conried: A Biography; With a Filmography and a Listing of Radio, Television, Stage and Voice Work” by Suzanne Gargiulo, with a foreword by Leonard Maltin (McFarland & Co, Inc: ISBN 078641337)
For a printable version of this release, please click here.
January 2003 - Finally, a biography and resource work dedicated to one of the hardest working character actors in Hollywood: Hans Conried. During the "Golden Age" of radio, Conried was at the top of his field and performed in--by his own estimate--over 10,000 shows. He worked with some of the biggest actors of the time: Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, and many more. Success in motion pictures was elusive, but Conried did secure a place in film history by appearing as Dr. Terwilliker in the quirky cult classic--and Dr. Seuss' only live action film--"The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T" (Columbia: 1953). Though he performed in nearly 100 films, his biggest success came on television in the mid to late 1950s as a frequent guest--mainly in comedy--on such shows as "I Love Lucy", "Make Room for Daddy" (later called "The Danny Thomas Show". Conried was the lively Uncle Tonoose.), and on the "Tonight Show" hosted by Jack Paar. After appearing as a semi-regular on Paar's show, Conried found himself re-invented as a television "personality". He was able to capitalize on this new celebrity by accepting commercial endorsements, stage work, and more television roles. Conried was no stranger to the legitimate theater having been a veteran of hundreds of stage productions, most notably on Broadway in 1953 as Boris Adzinidzinadze in Cole Porter's "Can-Can".
Conried's radio experience made the transition to voice artist a natural one, and he is probably most recognizable as the voice of Captain Hook (and Mr. Darling) in Disney's 1953 animated classic "Peter Pan", and later on as the comical villain Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's "Dudley Do-right" cartoon series.
The new book, "Hans Conried: A Biography; With a Filmography and a Listing of Radio, Television, Stage and Voice Work" (McFarland & Company, Inc.: ISBN 0786413387), combines what has been described as an "amazingly complete" (Old Time Radio--old-time.com) and "wonderfully in-depth" (Classic Images Magazine) biography with the only comprehensive logs of Conried's work ever assembled in print. To compliment the book, the author has created a web site – www.hansconriedbook.com – to encourage feedback from the readers, as well as post any new additions to the logs, comments, interviews with people who worked with Conried, and more. All those who already know and love Hans Conried's work, as well as those who may just be discovering his talents, will thoroughly enjoy reading the book and visiting the web site over and over again.
A complex, witty, erudite, and somewhat eccentric man, Conried's story is full of the highs and lows of a hard working character actor trying to make it in a market that prized physical beauty above all. Always a bit out-of-step with his times, Conried's versatility and humor kept him afloat when other radio actors sunk under the weight of the new medium: television. He persevered, often amid serious personal and professional hardships, and continued to work in some form or another as a professional actor until his untimely death at age 64 in 1982. "Hans Conried" brings this colorful character--both on stage and off--to life once more, through many quotes, photographs, interviews with friends, colleagues, and family members.
Printed using McFarland & Company's commitment to high quality editions on 50# alkaline paper, the book, as with Conried's legacy as an actor, will be around for many generations to come. The web site – www.hansconriedbook.com – also provides direct links to on-line booksellers' sites (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and others) to facilitate the purchasing of this fine book.
Suzanne Gargiulo
newinfo@hansconriedbook.
http://www.hansconriedbook.com
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