Richard Whorf

Biography: A school dropout at 15, Richard Whorf began his acting career with a Boston Stock company. At first billed as Dickie Whorf, the young actor rose to prominence as a member of the Theatre Guild in the 1920s and 1930s. He made his first screen appearance in the New York-filmed Midnight (1934), but did not officially launch his movie career until he was signed by Warner Bros. in 1941. An unorthodox screen type, he seemed more comfortable in supporting roles than in leads; his best-remembered Warners appearance was as playwright/producer Sam Harris in the 1942 George M. Cohan biopic Yankee Doodle Dandy. He moved to MGM in 1942, where he made his film directorial debut with Blonde Fever (1944). Though he continued acting on and off into the 1950s, Whorf devoted the bulk of his time to directing. Extremely busy in television, Richard Whorf directed numerous episodes of such popular series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, and The Beverly Hillbillies.