Wendell Holmes (August 17, 1914 – April 27, 1962) was an American actor whose career included work in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, television, Broadway, and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Early years

Holmes was born Oliver Wendell Holmes in

Cheshire, Ohio Cheshire is a village in Gallia County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 132 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Point Pleasant, WV–OH Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Cheshire, Ohio, was named for ...

to Ferdie and Ada Holmes. Census records indicate that by 1930 the family was living in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

Career

An article appearing in

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

(1941) mentions Holmes being born on a farm and describes his winning a Chautauqua competition at age six, entering high school at age ten, and graduating from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

at age 18 with a degree in Education. It further states that instead of becoming an educator, Holmes hitch-hiked to New York and began working as an actor, starting his radio career in 1934. An article appearing in

The Daily Dispatch ''The Daily Dispatch'' is an American, English language community-oriented daily newspaper based in Henderson, North Carolina, primarily covering the North Carolina counties of Vance, Granville, and Warren. It is published three times a week on ...

(1949) mentions that Holmes' parents were school teachers and adds to the Chautauqua event by noting it took place in Middleport, Ohio, where a talent scout signed him up for more work. The same Daily Dispatch article (1949) quotes Holmes as saying at the time, "There are about 5,000 radio actors here, and last year they averaged $16 a week salary. Only about 500 manage to earn a truckdriver's living...When I started in 1934 I got $20 a week for working in 30 shows." During the years 1947–48, Holmes appeared as

Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle fe ...

in the adaptation of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

starring John Stanley, but was credited as "

George Spelvin George Spelvin, Georgette Spelvin, and Georgina Spelvin are traditional pseudonyms used in programs in American theater. "Georgina Spelvin" has fallen out of general use since it was adopted as a screen name by pornographic actress Shelley Grah ...

" to avoid confusion between his actual surname and the surname of the show's protagonist. Over the years, Holmes acted in more than 40 radio dramas, 50 TV episodes, and 10 movies.

Personal life

On June 20, 1938, Holmes married actress Lois E Jesson in Manhattan, New York. Following his divorce (date unknown) from Jesson, Holmes married actress

Adrienne Marden Adrienne Marden (born Mabel Adrienne Baruch, September 2, 1909 – November 9, 1978) was an American film and television actress. Early years Marden was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Lenore (Stein) and Ralph Baruch. Marden attended th ...

in Santa Monica, California, on August 12, 1956. Wendell Holmes died of what is thought to have been a heart attack in Paris, France, on April 27, 1962.

Radio acting

Filmography

Citations

General bibliography

* Andreychuk, Ed. ''Burt Lancaster: A Filmography and Biography''. McFarland, 2005. * Presnell, Don and McGee, Marty. ''A Critical History of Television's ''The Twilight Zone'', 1959–1964''. McFarland, 2015. * Terrace, Vincent. ''Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland, 2015.

External links

* * *
otr.com – Dimension X

Wendell Holmes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Wendell 1914 births 1962 deaths American male film actors American male radio actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors