Andy Devine, 65, Looks Back on 44 Years as an Actor (1970) 🇺🇸

And the celebration of his 65th birthday October 7th, 1970 saw no dimming of either of those characteristics. His cackly-gravel laugh was as winning as ever and his memory snapped back, crystal clear, to his Hollywood start in 1926.

by Bill Newkirk

"A fellow saw me in my varsity letter sweater and told me they were looking for ball players over at Universal,” Andy recalled. "I got a small part in the Collegians series, then they signed me. I had a stock contract with Universal for 19 years.

"The picture that gave me the biggest kick, I guess, was 'The Spirit of Notre Dame'. That was the first 'Spirit,' when Knute Rockne crashed in that plane, and it was my first big part."

Andy's preparation for the Gipper part was authentic. He starred at Arizona Normal in Flagstaff, his birthplace, then played a year of pro ball for the Los Angeles Angels. "I got $45 a game," Andy cackles.

About Andy's versatility: People are apt to forget, maybe because Andy appeared in some 400 motion pictures, that he has a background of 12 years on the stage; and let's not forget his radio and TV triumphs... those appearances with Jack Benny, the "Melody Roundup", and "Lum 'n Abner", and his syndicated TV show, "Andy's Gang", a kid's favorite, ran for three years. Well, "Wild Bill Hickock", where Andy played Jingles, ran for 7 years and it is still running outside the U.S.

But I think it's Andy's stage successes that thrill him most. "I love live audiences," he says, "where you get that immediate reaction."

Immediate reaction is what Andy got this past summer as he racked-up his 500th appearance in Showboat and it was tremendous. In an Ohio tour with Ann Blyth, Captain Andy rang up a record-shattering string of SRO's.

"I think I'll do Anything Goes next year," muses Andy. "I like that Reverend Moon part. He's such a scallawag."

What else is Andy doing? Well, he's just finished a second "Over the Hill Gang", which ABC-TV, looking at a 42% share on the first "Gang", is simply delighted with.

Not content with his TV work plus radio and TV commercials and a number of personal appearance, Andy unveils his first Captain Andy restaurant soon in Charlottesville, Va. They will be on the old showboat theme with the added attraction of silent films.

That's where Andy got his start, silent films, and his career was over when the talkies came in until some brainy exec saw the appeal in Andy's breaking voice and put him back on the track.

Many of Andy's thanks go to Will Rogers, who introduced him to Dorothy House in June of 1933. In fact, Andy and Dorothy were in the same Fox film with Will, "Dr. Bull", when the introduction took place in June, 1933. They were wed four months later. They have two grown sons, both successful in real estate, and two grand-daughters. The sons, Dennis and Tad, appeared in some films, including "Canyon Passage", with Andy but got out of film work when they saw what was happening in California real estate.

Andy and his wife have lived on the water at Newport Beach for the past 14 years. One of Andy's neighbors is John Wayne, with whom Andy appeared in the RKO classic Stagecoach, the film that made the Duke.

Andy's versatility runs to the pictures he's done, too. Let's not forget his part with John Barrymore and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet. Or in Jimmy Stewart's first picture for Metro, "Small Town Girl". Or "Way Down East" with Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda.

"Those are the old ones," says Andy with a wide grin, "What about my part in 'Myra Breckenridge'? Well, maybe we better forget that."

One of Andy's prime regrets is never having been on Broadway in a play.

"I've toured in Never Too Late," Andy remembers. "I got good reviews with Joan Bennett and Irene Hervey. I've done On Borrowed Time, and My Three Angels, too."

Looking over the reviews of Andy's stage successes one is quick to realize that Andy Devine is a formidable dramatic actor — a complete pro.

Andy still loves to hunt and fish. He makes regular trips back to his home state of Arizona. He was there just recently, helping Kingman, Arizona, where he was raised, celebrate its annual Pioneer Days, and now, in addition to the Andy Devine Boulevard in Kingman, they have an Andy Devine Room in the Western Museum where Andy's memorabilia is on display.

But the biggest star, up-staging star at that, in the entire Devine menage, is "Auntie Mamie", an aging Beagle who simply stole the show once when Andy and Dorothy took the woebegone looking pooch on a Truth or Consequences show.

Andy Devine in Romeo and Juliet? Right on, man. And will you look at the handsome Reginald Denny with the inimitable Edna May Oliver. Yes, that's Andy. Missing in this photo are John Barrymore and Norma Shearer, the stars.

Is that a turkey Andy's holding? Well, the picture wasn't — not in those days. Andy is presenting the bird to Ellen Drew while Jack "Buck" Benny stands ready for his next gag-line. A Paramount picture, "Buck Benny Rides Again."

Andy Devine with his pal Guy Madison, er, Wild Bill Hickok, lassoing an award for the 1956-57 season. The TV series in which Andy played Jingles, ran for seven years and is still going strong in several foreign countries.

Andy Devine has done his share of straight dramatic roles though he hammed it up in this one with Henry Fonda. It's a Fox Film Production but can you guess the year?

Avast you Island nimrods! Andy goes a-hunting on Catalina Island with the late Preston Foster and Phil Harris. It's called, "Getting Your Goat on Catalina," but what did Preston use the pistol for?

Andy Devine grooves with Bob Hope and Martha Raye while Director Elliott makes the Billy Club routine. A Paramount picture called "Never Say Die."

Collection: Hollywood Studio Magazine, November 1970