Sky King
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2006
- Messages
- 522
- Real Name
- John
VINCE EDWARDS JULY 9,1934 - MARCH 11, 1996
View attachment 190429
Born Vincente Edwardo Zoino, July 9, 1928, in Brooklyn, NY son of Vincente and Julia Zoino. He and his twin brother, Anthony, were the youngest of seven children.
Edwards studied aviation mechanics while attending East New York Vocational High School. An excellent swimmer, he worked as a lifeguard at Coney Island and swam for the Flatbush Boys Club. He was a standout on his high school swim team and also played on the school's baseball and track teams. Edwards graduated high school in June of 1945 and attended Ohio State University on an athletic scholarship. He was part of the university's swim team that won the United States National Championships. After two years at Ohio State, he transferred to the University of Hawaii where he spent much time training as a swimmer for the Olympics. He later switched to acting after an appendectomy operation shifted his focus away from swimming.
He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and found work in stage productions. Edwards then signed on with Paramount Pictures making his film debut as Vincent Edwards in 1951's Mister Universe.
The following year he played the lead role in Hiawatha and had major roles in several films, including The Killing (1956) and Murder by Contract (1958)
His celebrity status rocketed when he was cast to appear in the title role of the 1960s television series Ben Casey. County General Hospital was the setting for the practice of its most prominent resident in neurosurgery, Ben Casey.
His portrayal as an idealistic surgeon who had no patience for bureaucratic red tape is said to have inspired depictions of similar doctors in shows like ER.
Ben Casey ran on ABC from October 1961 to May 1966. James Moser, who also created the Richard Boone series Medic created Ben Casey and Matthew Rapf produced the program for Bing Crosby Productions. The show was very successful for ABC and broke into the Top Twenty shows for its first two years.
As Ben Casey, Edwards was gruff, demanding, decisive and did not suffer fools lightly. He did however, have unqualified respect for the chief of neurosurgery, Dr. David Zorba (Sam Jaffe). The only other colleagues from whom he would seek counsel were anesthesiologist Dr. Maggie Graham (Bettye Ackerman) and Dr. Ted Hoffman (Harry Landers).
Racial tension, drug addiction, the plight of immigrants, child abuse, and euthanasia were a few of the issues covered in Ben Casey.
The series followed an episodic format for its first four years. But the final season saw Dr. Zorba replaced by Dr. Freeland (Franchot Tone) and a move to a more soap opera like story structure. Edwards directed several of the episodes during the last two seasons.
When the Ben Casey television series ended, Edwards returned to acting in motion pictures with a major role in the 1968 war drama The Devil's Brigade together with films such as Hammerhead (1968), The Desperados (1969), and The Mad Bomber (1973).
After appearing as Ben Casey, Edwards tried another television series in the 1970s called Matt Lincoln. The premise for this show had Matt Lincoln as a community psychiatrist who had founded a telephone hotline for troubled teenagers. Lincoln also operated a free walk-in clinic to help the needy with their mental health concerns. This show ran for only one season 1970-71 on ABC.
Vince Edwards also directed episodes of shows such as The Hardy Boys Mysteries, David Cassidy-Man Undercover, B. J. and the Bear, Battlestar Galactica, Police Story, and Fantasy Island. Edwards declined the part of "The Doctor" in Airplane!
A 1988 made-for TV movie, The Return of Ben Casey, enjoyed only moderate success and wasn’t picked up by any of the major networks.
Vince Edwards was also an accomplished singer. He recorded half a dozen albums for Decca records at the height of his popularity, the first of which, "Vincent Edwards Sings" spent several weeks on the top-20 Billboard LP charts in early 1962.
Sadly, Edwards was a compulsive gambler for many years, acknowledging the fact to a longtime friend, director William Friedkin, who said that Edwards had "sacrificed a good portion of his career to an addiction.”
In his last years, Edwards and his wife Janet Friedman attempted to educate others about the dangers of gambling.
Vince Edwards lost a month long struggle against pancreatic cancer on the night of March 11, 1996, at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
He was 67.
On a personal note, I always liked the episode titles to many of the Ben Casey episodes…
“But Linda Only Smiled”
“I Remember a Lemon Tree”
“Imagine a Long Bright Corridor”
“If There Were Dreams to Sell”
Sources…Wikipedia, IMDB, TV Guide.
View attachment 190429
Born Vincente Edwardo Zoino, July 9, 1928, in Brooklyn, NY son of Vincente and Julia Zoino. He and his twin brother, Anthony, were the youngest of seven children.
Edwards studied aviation mechanics while attending East New York Vocational High School. An excellent swimmer, he worked as a lifeguard at Coney Island and swam for the Flatbush Boys Club. He was a standout on his high school swim team and also played on the school's baseball and track teams. Edwards graduated high school in June of 1945 and attended Ohio State University on an athletic scholarship. He was part of the university's swim team that won the United States National Championships. After two years at Ohio State, he transferred to the University of Hawaii where he spent much time training as a swimmer for the Olympics. He later switched to acting after an appendectomy operation shifted his focus away from swimming.
He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and found work in stage productions. Edwards then signed on with Paramount Pictures making his film debut as Vincent Edwards in 1951's Mister Universe.
The following year he played the lead role in Hiawatha and had major roles in several films, including The Killing (1956) and Murder by Contract (1958)
His celebrity status rocketed when he was cast to appear in the title role of the 1960s television series Ben Casey. County General Hospital was the setting for the practice of its most prominent resident in neurosurgery, Ben Casey.
His portrayal as an idealistic surgeon who had no patience for bureaucratic red tape is said to have inspired depictions of similar doctors in shows like ER.
Ben Casey ran on ABC from October 1961 to May 1966. James Moser, who also created the Richard Boone series Medic created Ben Casey and Matthew Rapf produced the program for Bing Crosby Productions. The show was very successful for ABC and broke into the Top Twenty shows for its first two years.
As Ben Casey, Edwards was gruff, demanding, decisive and did not suffer fools lightly. He did however, have unqualified respect for the chief of neurosurgery, Dr. David Zorba (Sam Jaffe). The only other colleagues from whom he would seek counsel were anesthesiologist Dr. Maggie Graham (Bettye Ackerman) and Dr. Ted Hoffman (Harry Landers).
Racial tension, drug addiction, the plight of immigrants, child abuse, and euthanasia were a few of the issues covered in Ben Casey.
The series followed an episodic format for its first four years. But the final season saw Dr. Zorba replaced by Dr. Freeland (Franchot Tone) and a move to a more soap opera like story structure. Edwards directed several of the episodes during the last two seasons.
When the Ben Casey television series ended, Edwards returned to acting in motion pictures with a major role in the 1968 war drama The Devil's Brigade together with films such as Hammerhead (1968), The Desperados (1969), and The Mad Bomber (1973).
After appearing as Ben Casey, Edwards tried another television series in the 1970s called Matt Lincoln. The premise for this show had Matt Lincoln as a community psychiatrist who had founded a telephone hotline for troubled teenagers. Lincoln also operated a free walk-in clinic to help the needy with their mental health concerns. This show ran for only one season 1970-71 on ABC.
Vince Edwards also directed episodes of shows such as The Hardy Boys Mysteries, David Cassidy-Man Undercover, B. J. and the Bear, Battlestar Galactica, Police Story, and Fantasy Island. Edwards declined the part of "The Doctor" in Airplane!
A 1988 made-for TV movie, The Return of Ben Casey, enjoyed only moderate success and wasn’t picked up by any of the major networks.
Vince Edwards was also an accomplished singer. He recorded half a dozen albums for Decca records at the height of his popularity, the first of which, "Vincent Edwards Sings" spent several weeks on the top-20 Billboard LP charts in early 1962.
Sadly, Edwards was a compulsive gambler for many years, acknowledging the fact to a longtime friend, director William Friedkin, who said that Edwards had "sacrificed a good portion of his career to an addiction.”
In his last years, Edwards and his wife Janet Friedman attempted to educate others about the dangers of gambling.
Vince Edwards lost a month long struggle against pancreatic cancer on the night of March 11, 1996, at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
He was 67.
On a personal note, I always liked the episode titles to many of the Ben Casey episodes…
“But Linda Only Smiled”
“I Remember a Lemon Tree”
“Imagine a Long Bright Corridor”
“If There Were Dreams to Sell”
Sources…Wikipedia, IMDB, TV Guide.
