John P. Connell (October 28, 1923 – September 10, 2015) was an American stage, television, film and voice actor. Born in Philadelphia, Connell served aboard a B-24 Liberator during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, for which he received a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. He attended the

University of Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic commu ...

upon his discharge from the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and graduated in 1950. Connell made his stage debut with the Henry Denker play ''Time Limit!'' and later acted in ''Uncle Willie''. Television appearances included multiple anthology series, such as ''

Studio One in Hollywood ''Studio One'' is an American anthology drama television series that was adapted from a radio series. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It premiered on November 7, 1948 and ended on Sept ...

'', '' Kraft Television Theatre'', '' Goodyear Playhouse'', and ''

The Alcoa Hour ''The Alcoa Hour'' is an American anthology television series that was aired live on NBC from 1955 to 1957. The series was sponsored by Alcoa. Overview Like the ''Philco Television Playhouse'' and ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' that had prec ...

'', though he was best known for his role as Dr. David Malone in ''

Young Doctor Malone ''Young Doctor Malone'' (a.k.a. ''Young Dr. Malone'') is an American soap opera, created by Irna Phillips, which had a long run on radio and television from 1939 to 1963. The producer was Betty Corday (1912–1987), who also produced '' Pepper You ...

''. Connell also wrote for ''

The Secret Storm ''The Secret Storm'' is an American soap opera that the CBS television network transmitted from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas ''Search for Tomorrow'' and ''Love ...

''. He had small roles in such films as ''

Fail Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safe ...

'' (1964), '' Three Days of the Condor'' (1975), and ''

Family Business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

'' (1989). He began doing voiceovers for advertisements in the 1960s, and represented

Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the ...

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

, and

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, among others. Connell was a member of

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recordi ...

's National Board of Directors for thirteen years and also served as editor of ''Reel'', the magazine published by the union. He was also the founder of Shakespearean acting troupe Come Hither Players. He married his wife Mila in 1952, with whom he had two children. Connell died in

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

on September 10, 2015.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, John 1923 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male Shakespearean actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Philadelphia Military personnel from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Philadelphia Missouri School of Journalism alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II