Kerwin Mathews(1926-2007)
- Actor
Before there was a George Lucas and
Harrison Ford running around
creating special-effects excitement, there was a virile, boyishly
handsome actor named Kerwin Mathews who was entertaining audiences
battling a variety of creatures courtesy of pioneer special effects
guru Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen's
legendary monsters of the late 50s and early 60s earned cult film
infamy and it was those wondrous storybook fantasies and the
Harryhausen association that also put Kerwin on the Hollywood map.
Born an only child in Seattle, Washington, on January 8, 1926, Kerwin's
parents split up while he was quite young and he and his mother
relocated to Janesville, Wisconsin. He developed an early interest in
acting while performing in high school plays. Following a couple of
years in the Army Air Force during WWII, Kerwin studied at Beloit
College in Wisconsin on both dramatic and musical scholarships. He
later taught speech and drama at the college and also found acting jobs
in regional theater. In the early 1950s, after teaching high school
English in Lake Geneva, Wisconin, for a few years, he decided to make
the big trek to Hollywood to seek out his fame and fortune.
While training at the Pasadena Playhouse, Kerwin met a casting agent
for Columbia Pictures and was eventually signed to a seven-year contact
after winning over the approval of studio boss
Harry Cohn. Finding a number of roles
on TV, he acquitted himself quite well with his film debut in
5 Against the House (1955) as
one of four college pals (the others being
Guy Madison,
Brian Keith and
Alvy Moore) who decide to carry out a faux
casino robbery in Las Vegas, a plan that backfires badly. The offbeat
ensemble picture drew good reviews and Kerwin was off and running.
Following decent showings in the crime yarn
The Garment Jungle (1957) and
war flick
Tarawa Beachhead (1958), he
found respect as a middleweight talent, but truly came into his own in
the Saturday afternoon-styled adventure fantasies popular with the
school crowd. An agile fencer with fine all-American looks, he won the
opportunity to play the role of the dauntless hero in Columbia's
classic
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).
Out to rescue fair damsel
Kathryn Grant (who later became
Mrs. Bing Crosby), he battled everything in
his path -- from a colossal, one-eyed Cyclops to a fire-spewing dragon.
The final climactic battle scene was his
Errol Flynn /
Basil Rathbone-like swordplay against a
dexterous, sword-swinging skeleton, all courtesy of Harryhausen.
Kerwin worked with Harryhausen's stop-motion creations again in
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) as a
doctor whose foes this time around included a giant squirrel and
alligator. He then played the countrified folk legend
Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
and again found himself saving a princess while pitted against evil
wizards and other specially-designed effects (by
Jim Danforth). Other less arduous films he
made included the WWII war drama
The Last Blitzkrieg (1959)
with Van Johnson, the crime thriller
Man on a String (1960) with
Ernest Borgnine and his third-billed
role behind Spencer Tracy and
Frank Sinatra in
The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
in which he and Tracy played priests.
By the early 1960s Kerwin was typecast in adventure tales and was now
searching for work overseas to display his stoic heroics, though his
efforts were mostly for naught in such empty spectacles as Italy's
The Warrior Empress (1960)
["The Warrior Princess"] opposite
Gilligan's Island (1964)
star Tina Louise; England's
The Pirates of Blood River (1962);
and the Franco-Italian co-production
Shadow of Evil (1964)
["Panic in Bangkok"]. He fared somewhat better in the British-made
Maniac (1963) in a change-of-pace role and
received some of his best notices on TV playing composer Johann Strauss
Jr. in Disney's 1963 TV biopic
The Waltz King: Part 1 (1963)
(and "Part 2").
Kerwin's career ended in 1978 after making a small sprinkling of
appearances in low-budget sci-fi and horror films, plus some TV guest
appearances throughout the decade. By this time he had already moved to
San Francisco and spent his later years selling antiques and furniture.
He was also a stalwart patron of the arts and supporter of the city's
various opera and ballet companies. Kerwin died overnight in his sleep
at age 81 in his San Francisco home, survived by his partner of 46
years Tom Nicoll.
Harrison Ford running around
creating special-effects excitement, there was a virile, boyishly
handsome actor named Kerwin Mathews who was entertaining audiences
battling a variety of creatures courtesy of pioneer special effects
guru Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen's
legendary monsters of the late 50s and early 60s earned cult film
infamy and it was those wondrous storybook fantasies and the
Harryhausen association that also put Kerwin on the Hollywood map.
Born an only child in Seattle, Washington, on January 8, 1926, Kerwin's
parents split up while he was quite young and he and his mother
relocated to Janesville, Wisconsin. He developed an early interest in
acting while performing in high school plays. Following a couple of
years in the Army Air Force during WWII, Kerwin studied at Beloit
College in Wisconsin on both dramatic and musical scholarships. He
later taught speech and drama at the college and also found acting jobs
in regional theater. In the early 1950s, after teaching high school
English in Lake Geneva, Wisconin, for a few years, he decided to make
the big trek to Hollywood to seek out his fame and fortune.
While training at the Pasadena Playhouse, Kerwin met a casting agent
for Columbia Pictures and was eventually signed to a seven-year contact
after winning over the approval of studio boss
Harry Cohn. Finding a number of roles
on TV, he acquitted himself quite well with his film debut in
5 Against the House (1955) as
one of four college pals (the others being
Guy Madison,
Brian Keith and
Alvy Moore) who decide to carry out a faux
casino robbery in Las Vegas, a plan that backfires badly. The offbeat
ensemble picture drew good reviews and Kerwin was off and running.
Following decent showings in the crime yarn
The Garment Jungle (1957) and
war flick
Tarawa Beachhead (1958), he
found respect as a middleweight talent, but truly came into his own in
the Saturday afternoon-styled adventure fantasies popular with the
school crowd. An agile fencer with fine all-American looks, he won the
opportunity to play the role of the dauntless hero in Columbia's
classic
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).
Out to rescue fair damsel
Kathryn Grant (who later became
Mrs. Bing Crosby), he battled everything in
his path -- from a colossal, one-eyed Cyclops to a fire-spewing dragon.
The final climactic battle scene was his
Errol Flynn /
Basil Rathbone-like swordplay against a
dexterous, sword-swinging skeleton, all courtesy of Harryhausen.
Kerwin worked with Harryhausen's stop-motion creations again in
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) as a
doctor whose foes this time around included a giant squirrel and
alligator. He then played the countrified folk legend
Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
and again found himself saving a princess while pitted against evil
wizards and other specially-designed effects (by
Jim Danforth). Other less arduous films he
made included the WWII war drama
The Last Blitzkrieg (1959)
with Van Johnson, the crime thriller
Man on a String (1960) with
Ernest Borgnine and his third-billed
role behind Spencer Tracy and
Frank Sinatra in
The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
in which he and Tracy played priests.
By the early 1960s Kerwin was typecast in adventure tales and was now
searching for work overseas to display his stoic heroics, though his
efforts were mostly for naught in such empty spectacles as Italy's
The Warrior Empress (1960)
["The Warrior Princess"] opposite
Gilligan's Island (1964)
star Tina Louise; England's
The Pirates of Blood River (1962);
and the Franco-Italian co-production
Shadow of Evil (1964)
["Panic in Bangkok"]. He fared somewhat better in the British-made
Maniac (1963) in a change-of-pace role and
received some of his best notices on TV playing composer Johann Strauss
Jr. in Disney's 1963 TV biopic
The Waltz King: Part 1 (1963)
(and "Part 2").
Kerwin's career ended in 1978 after making a small sprinkling of
appearances in low-budget sci-fi and horror films, plus some TV guest
appearances throughout the decade. By this time he had already moved to
San Francisco and spent his later years selling antiques and furniture.
He was also a stalwart patron of the arts and supporter of the city's
various opera and ballet companies. Kerwin died overnight in his sleep
at age 81 in his San Francisco home, survived by his partner of 46
years Tom Nicoll.