Brandon DeWilde - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Brandon deWilde's father, Frederic A. (Fritz) deWilde, was an actor and Broadway production stage manager, and his mother, Eugenia (Wilson) deWilde, was a part-time Broadway actress. The deWilde family moved from Brooklyn to Baldwin, Long Island after he was born. deWilde made his much-acclaimed Broadway debut at the age of 7 in The Member of the Wedding, was the first child actor to win the Donaldson Award and his talent was praised by John Gielgud in the following year. He also starred in the 1952 film version directed by Fred Zinnemann.

In 1952, deWilde acted in the film Shane as Joey Starrett and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. He had the lead role in his own television series, Jamie (1953–1954), which, although popular, was cancelled due to a contract dispute. In 1956 he was featured with Walter Brennan, Phil Harris, and Sidney Poitier in the coming-of-age Batjac movie production of Good-bye, My Lady, adapted from James Street's book. This movie showcased the then-rare dog breed Basenji, the African barkless dog, to American audiences.

Brooklyn-born, deWilde's soft-spoken manner of speech in his early roles was more akin to a Southern drawl. In 1956, at the age of 14, deWilde narrated classical music works Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten. He also, with his Good-bye, My Lady co-star Walter Brennan, did a Huckleberry Finn reading in the album The Stories of Mark Twain. All three have been released as MP3 downloads.

DeWilde shared an on-screen camaraderie with both James Stewart and Audie Murphy in the 1957 western Night Passage. In 1958 deWilde continued his career starring in The Missouri Traveler sharing lead billing with Lee Marvin in another coming-of-age film, this one set in the early 1900s. He made a mark onscreen at age 17 as an adolescent father in the 1959 drama Blue Denim, co-starring Carol Lynley, with the then mature theme of abortion, even though the word is never used in the film.

In 1961, Brandon deWilde filmed an episode for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" had deWilde playing escaped retarded youth Hugo, who cannot separate fact from fantasy, receiving the aid of kindly magician Victor Sadini at a carnival playing in Toledo, Ohio. The episode never aired on the NBC network because the finale, by 1960s standards, was deemed "too gruesome", but it was included in Alfred Hitchcock Presents syndication and thrives in public-domain VHS, DVD and video on demand releases.

He appeared in All Fall Down (1962), opposite Warren Beatty and Eva Marie Saint, and in Martin Ritt's Hud (1963) co-starring with Paul Newman, Patricia Neal and Melvyn Douglas. Although the only lead actor not to be Oscar-nominated for Hud, deWilde accepted the Best Supporting Actor trophy on behalf of co-star Melvyn Douglas (who was in Israel at the time). That same year, he appeared on Jack Palance's ABC circus drama, The Greatest Show on Earth.

DeWilde did a 2-picture deal with Disney in 1964-1965. He first starred in The Tenderfoot, a 3-part comedy Western for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV show with Brian Keith. The following year he and Keith did Those Calloways for theatrical release, reuniting deWilde with his Good-bye, My Lady star Walter Brennan. Also in 1965, deWilde filmed a performance as Jere Torry, the screen son of John Wayne in In Harm's Way (1965).

After that point, much of his roles were limited to television guest appearances. "Being small for his age and a bit too pretty...in his favour as a child...worked against him as an adult", wrote author Linda Ashcroft after talking with deWilde at a party. "He spoke of giving up movies until he could come back as a forty-year-old character actor".

DeWilde's final western role was in Dino De Laurentiis' 1971 spaghetti western The Deserter, one year before his death. He played adjutant Lieutenant Ferguson who meets with an untimely end. Brandon deWilde made his last screen appearance in Wild In The Sky (1972).

On July 7, 1972, the day after his death, The New York Times wrote, "The professionals he worked with praised him for an unpretentiousness that many found a surprising quality in one so celebrated from his earliest years".