Vince Edwards
Stiffly handsome leading man of some 50s features, but mostly remembered as Dr. Ben Casey, neurosurgeon, on "Ben Casey," an ABC series which aired from 1961-66, Vince Edwards spent his post-Casey career fighting off the image of the brooding, caring doctor who broke a minor TV taboo when he unbuttoned his frock and revealed a forest of chest hair. Edwards had originally dreamed of swimming in the Olympics, but when an appendectomy put a damper on those dreams he turned to acting. He made his Broadway debut in 1947 in "High Button Shoes." By 1951, he was under contract to Paramount in Hollywood and made his debut in a low-budget programmer, "Mr. Universe," playing a wrestler being groomed as the "new find." Hollywood casting practices put him in a version of the Native American legend "Hiawatha" (1952). But his subsequent film roles were of the supporting variety in the 50s, including a small one in "The Three Faces of Eve" (1957). Having begun appearing on TV dramas in the mid-50s, including "Ford Theatre" (1955), Edwards was ripe for a series when "Ben Casey" came his way in 1961. He had been picked by the show's executive producer and owner, Bing Crosby. The same year ABC premiered "Casey," NBC premiered the TV version of "Dr. Kildare" and viewers debated their preference for the five years both were on the air. "Ben Casey" was often grittier, dealing with the poignancy of life and death. Edwards also became one of the first TV stars to step behind the cameras, directing about 20 of the 154 "Ben Casey" episodes produced. And he used the show to launch a singing career, recording six albums, including "Vince Edwards Sings," and playing Las Vegas. But the demise of the series temporarily stymied his career, as if often the case as the audience searches for a new face. In 1964, Edwards appeared in the first 20 minutes of Carl Foreman's oddly-structured feature "The Victors," and in 1968, he was helping William Holden create a commando force in "The Devil's Brigade," but the period in between roles increased. Edwards turned back to TV in 1970 playing a hip psychiatrist working with teens in the one-season series "Matt Lincoln." He also made his TV movie debut in "Sole Survivor" for ABC. In 1973, he directed the CBS TV movie "Maneater" and he had strong roles in two TV movies of the decade, "The Rhinemann Exchange," in which he was a general gathering information from a spying Stephen Collins (NBC, 1977), and "Evening in Byzantium" (1978), one of the first syndicated TV movies. But Edwards found himself less in demand in the 80s. An old friend, manager-producer Jay Bernstein, hired Edwards to co-star in the 1986 TV movie "The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer" and Edwards went on to direct episodes of the "Mike Hammer" series for CBS as well as episodes of "Fantasy Island," "Police Story," and "In The Heat of the Night." In 1988, he made the syndicated TV movie "The Return of Ben Casey," playing the stalwart doctor as having been in Vietnam, married and divorced. He died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles on March 13, 1996.
Photos
Vince Edwards
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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No Score Yet |
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The Fear | Uncle Pete (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Jailbreakers | Mr. Norton (Character) | - | 1994 |
No Score Yet |
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Dillinger | Hoover (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Gumshoe Kid | Ben Sherman (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wrong Number | General Daniel T. Donovan (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
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Cellar Dweller | Norman Meshelski (Character) | - | 1988 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Return of Ben Casey | Dr. Ben Casey (Character) | - | 1988 |
No Score Yet |
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The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission | Sgt. Holt (Character) | - | 1987 |
0% |
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Return to Horror High | Richard Birnbaum (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | FBI Agent Frank Walker (Character) | - | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sno-Line | Steve King (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fix | Frank Lane (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
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Space Raiders | Hawk (Character) | - | 1983 |
10% |
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Deal of the Century | Frank Stryker (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet |
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The Seduction | Maxwell (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Knight Rider | Fred Wilson (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet |
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Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack | Director | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Evening in Byzantium | Bret Easton (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Narc | Walt Abrams (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Chance to Live | Walt Abrams (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Courage and the Passion | Col. Joe Agajanian (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Living Legend | Director | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cover Girls | Bradner (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Death Stalk | Jack Trahey (Character) | - | 1975 |
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Firehouse | Spike Ryerson (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Maneater | Director | - | 1973 |
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The Mad Bomber | Lieutenant Geronimo Minneli (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate | Mal Weston (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Remember | Unknown (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Cliff | Matt Lincoln (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dial Hot Line | David Leopold (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet |
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The Desperados | David Galt (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sole Survivor | Maj. Michael Devlin (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hammerhead | Charles Hood (Character) | - | 1968 |
57% |
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The Devil's Brigade | Maj. Cliff Bricker (Character) | - | 1968 |
20% |
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The Victors | Unknown (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Scavengers | Stuart Allison (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet |
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City of Fear | Vince Ryker (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Island Women | Mike (Character) | - | 1958 |
100% |
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Murder by Contract | Claude (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ride Out for Revenge | Chief Little Wolf (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet |
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Hit and Run | Frank (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Hired Gun | Kell Beldon (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet |
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Serenade | Marco Roselli (Character) | - | 1956 |
96% |
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The Killing | Val Cannon (Character) | - | 1956 |
No Score Yet |
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The Night Holds Terror | Victor Gosset (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
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Rogue Cop | Joey Langley (Character) | - | 1954 |
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Sailor Beware | Blayden (Character) | - | 1952 |
TV
Credit | ||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Nurses | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | In the Heat of the Night | Director | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | 1st & Ten | Carlyle Trent (Guest Star) | 1989 |
No Score Yet | 89% | Murder, She Wrote | Harry Dial (Guest Star) | 1989 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fall Guy | Director | 1982 |
No Score Yet | 80% | Knight Rider | Fred Wilson (Guest Star) | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fantasy Island | Director | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | B.J. and the Bear | Director | 1979 |
43% | 83% | Battlestar Galactica | Director | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | Director | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Police Story | Walt Abrams (Character) | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Carol Burnett Show | Guest | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ben Casey | Dr. Ben Casey (Character) | 1961-1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Deputy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Laramie | Gil Craig (Guest Star) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Untouchables | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | 87% | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Tex (Character) | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | G.E. Theater | Sgt. Lawrence Hancock (Character) | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The 20th Century-Fox Hour | Unknown (Character) | 1956 |