Handsome actor William Wright's mid-film 1940s career was pushed with a
wave of Columbia Studio publicity promoting him as World War II's
answer to Clark Gable. The push ultimately
did not work and Wright's rather obscure career faded within a decade.
The Utah-born actor moved to California after his schooling and studied
at the Pasadena Playhouse. His film debut came about with the small
role of a pilot in
China Clipper (1936). Groomed in
uncredited and featured roles for both large (Paramount) and small
(Monogram) studios, his more visible work in
Rookies on Parade (1941),
Weltpremiere (1941),
The Devil Pays Off (1941) and
Glamour Boy (1941) eventually led to
a Columbia contract in 1942.
The handsome, dapper, mustachioed Wright proved reliable and lent a
smooth air to his "B" series mixed bag of heroes and villains.
Throughout the war-era he supported in such Columbia films as
Not a Ladies' Man (1942),
Night in New Orleans (1942),
Sweetheart of the Fleet (1942)
and Lucky Legs (1942) before earning
his first co-star role opposite
Marguerite Chapman in
Parachute Nurse (1942) and
A Man's World (1942).
Wright continued reliably in a variety of parts. He was a major suspect
in the two of the "Boston Blackie" series entitled
Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)
and
One Mysterious Night (1944),
and romanced Ann Miller in
Reveille with Beverly (1943)
and, despite she overshadowed him with her dance routines, reteamed
with her again in both
Eadie Was a Lady (1945) and
Eve Knew Her Apples (1945).
He also was fourth billed as a detective in
Murder in Times Square (1943)
which reunited him with
Marguerite Chapman, played a
slick-haired villain in the western
Saddles and Sagebrush (1943)
with Ann Savage and played alongside
her again in
Dancing in Manhattan (1944).
Appearing in
Escape in the Fog (1945)
opposite Nina Foch, he pursued
Martha O'Driscoll in the western
Down Missouri Way (1946).
Wright's leading man status would wane in the late 1940s with secondary
roles for "Poverty Row" studios in
Lover Come Back (1946) and
The Beginning or the End (1947).
What didn't help was a chronic problem with alcohol. Wright did manage
to play the lead supersleuth Philo Vance in the cheapjack production of
Philo Vance Returns (1947),
however, and co-starred in such cheapies as
King of the Gamblers (1948))
and Rose of the Yukon (1949).
His last release was for Columbia playing a second lead alongside
Marjorie Lord in
Air Hostess (1949).
Whether Wright could have progressed into unctuous character roles
would never be known as he died of cancer at age 38. Although
performing right up until the end, his death was generally overlooked.
