In Remembrance: Keith Andes

     Keith Andes, who starred opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1952 feature Clash By Night, has passed away on November 11, 2005 in Santa Clarita, CA. He was 85.

     Born John Charles Andes on July 12, 1920 in Ocean City, New Jersey, Andes began acting early, singing and acting on the radio at age 12. He attended Oxford University and graduated from Temple University in 1943 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He also studied voice at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. He then enlisted in the Army Air Forces where he sang and acted in USO shows. During this time he appeared in the patriotic Broadway show Winged Victory where he was seen by 20^th Century Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, who offered Andes a minor part in the show’s 1944 film adaptation.

     Following his discharge from the service, Andes appeared in the Broadway production The Chocolate Soldier, winning a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Breakout Performance before returning to Hollywood to a supporting role in the Loretta Young comedy The Farmer’s Daughter (1947). After headlining the low budget film Project X (1949) with Jack Lord, Andes returned to stage acting.

     In 1952, RKO Pictures coaxed Andes back to motion pictures, casting him and a young Marilyn Monroe in major supporting roles in the drama Clash By Night. Andes stayed at the studio for two more pictures – Blackbeard, The Pirate (1952) and the noir Split Second (1953) – before heading over to Universal Studios. There he acted in films such as the musical The Second Greatest Sex (1955), the war film Away All Boats (1956) and dramas Back From Eternity (1956) and Interlude (1957).

     Andes returned to the Broadway stage in 1960 to star with Lucille Ball in the musical comedy Wildcat. He also lead the cast in a touring company production of Man Of La Mancha in 1967. Following appearances in the films Hell’s Bloody Devils and Tora! Tora! Tora! (both 1970), Andes went into semi-retirement to run a charter boat service out of Los Angeles. He made one last film appearance in …And Justice For All (1979).