William Prince

Prince was a forthright stage actor with a fine string of Broadway credits who never found a niche in 1940s Hollywood but worked in TV for decades and in his senior years had kept busy in features. He made it to Broadway in the 30s and soon joined actor-impresario Maurice Evans' company for well-received versions of "Henry IV," "Richard II" and an unabridged "Hamlet." Tall and hearty-looking, he made it to leading roles in the early 40s with "Guest in the House" and Maxwell Anderson's "The Eve of St. Mark." Prince's success in the latter led to a Hollywood contract at Warner Bros., where he debuted in the war adventure "Destination Tokyo" (1943). He then played romantic leads in films toplining established names, as with the comedy "Pillow to Post" (1945), starring Ida Lupino. Prince soon found himself in a modest featured role in the noir "Dead Reckoning" (1947), though, but was part of the memorable crew of the superior war film, "Objective Burma" (1945).