Biography for
Don Ameche More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

31 May 1908, Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA

Date of Death

6 December 1993, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA (prostate cancer)

Birth Name

Dominic Felix Amici

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Ameche was a versatile and popular film actor in the 1930s and '40s, usually as the dapper, mustached leading man. He was also popular as a radio master of ceremonies during this time. As his film popularity waned in the 1950s, he continued working in theater and some TV. His film career surged in a comeback in the 1980s with fine work as an aging millionaire in Trading Places (1983) and a rejuvenated oldster in Cocoon (1985).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ray Hamel

Spouse

Honore Prendergast

(6 December 1932 - September 1986) (her death) 6 children

Trivia

Brother of actor Jim Ameche.

Interred at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery (formerly St. Philomina's), Dubuque, Iowa. (Grave unmarked).

Father of six children: Ronald, Dominic, Thomas, Lonnie, Bonnie and Connie.

Portrayed Alexander Graham Bell in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) in 1939. In 1957, his brother, Jim Ameche, portrayed Bell in The Story of Mankind (1957).

Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1992.

He became a major star on radio. His teaming with Frances Langford as "The Bickersons" is regarded as classic comedy on radio. "The Bickersons" were revived for a series or record albums.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald S. Smith, pg. 51-53 (article titled "The Bickersons"). New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Master of ceremonies for the NBC-Red network radio program "The Chase and Sanborn Hour" (later "The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show") from 1937 to 1940.

Attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa

Calling the telephone the "Don Ameche" became popular American Slang in the 1930s and '40s due to his role as Alexander Graham Bell

Father of Don Ameche Jr..

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 11-13. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.

American people pronounce his last name in a way was not correct in Italian language. So he changed his name from Amici into Ameche, in order to keep the original Italian pronunciation.

He was awarded two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard and for Radio at 6313 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Personal Quotes

[on Darryl F. Zanuck] Zanuck never did anything but be nice to me. Oh yeah, maybe he chased Alice Faye around, but a lot of people chased Alice Faye around.

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