John Howard Payne

Actor

About

Read More

Also Known As

John Payne

Birth Place

Roanoke, Virginia, USA

Born

May 23, 1912

Died

December 06, 1989

Cause of Death

Congestive Heart Failure

Biography

Read More

In 1930, John Payne left Salem, Virginia, where he had been studying at Roanoke College. He went to New York City to study drama at Columbia University and voice at Juilliard. To pay his way, he worked various jobs, among which was singing in vaudeville. In 1934, a talent scout from the Shubert theaters, which ran some of New York's most important theater venues, noticed him and offered ...

Filmography

Read More

They Ran for Their Lives (1968)

Betrayal of Trust (1994)

The Savage Wild (1970)

They Ran for Their Lives (1968)

The Risk (1961)

Photos & Videos

View All

Sun Valley Serenade (1941) -- (Movie Clip) That Must Be Her Chest Measurement

99 River Street (1953) -- (Movie Clip) -- Nothing But Television

Family & Companions

Read More

Anne Shirley

Wife

Actor. Married in 1937; divorced in 1943.

Gloria DeHaven

Wife

Actor. Married in 1944; divorced in 1950.

Sandy Crowell Curtis

Wife

Married from c. 1952 until Payne's death.

Biography

In 1930, John Payne left Salem, Virginia, where he had been studying at Roanoke College. He went to New York City to study drama at Columbia University and voice at Juilliard. To pay his way, he worked various jobs, among which was singing in vaudeville. In 1934, a talent scout from the Shubert theaters, which ran some of New York's most important theater venues, noticed him and offered him work as a stock player. He toured with some of their shows and occasionally sang on radio programs. With his star on the rise, Hollywood producer Samuel Goldwyn offered him a contract, and he relocated to the West Coast. After working for various studios, he signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. With Fox he became a star in movie musicals, often playing the love interest of actresses like Betty Grable and Alice Faye in films like "Tin Pan Alley" (1940) and "Hello Frisco, Hello" (1943). In 1947, he landed in his best known role, starring as Fred Gailey, an attorney trying to prove Santa Claus is real, in the perennial Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street." In the 1950s, Payne's gentle image gave way to one of the tough guy, and he started appearing in Westerns and noir movies like "Silver Lode" in 1954 and "Hell's Island" in 1955. He took on a regular role on television from 1957 to 1959, when he starred as Vint Bonner, a gun-fighting cowboy, in the Western "The Restless Gun."

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

They Ran for Their Lives (1968)

Cast (Feature Film)

Betrayal of Trust (1994)

The Savage Wild (1970)

They Ran for Their Lives (1968)

The Risk (1961)

Hidden Fear (1957)

Bailout at 43,000 (1957)

Maj. Paul Peterson

Hold Back the Night (1956)

[Capt. Sam] MacKenzie

Rebel in Town (1956)

John Willoughby

The Boss (1956)

Slightly Scarlet (1956)

Hell's Island (1955)

The Road to Denver (1955)

Bill Mayhew , also known as Steve Webster

Santa Fe Passage (1955)

Tennessee's Partner (1955)

Silver Lode (1954)

Rails into Laramie (1954)

Jefferson Harder

99 River Street (1953)

Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)

Barbarossa [also known as Redbeard]

The Vanquished (1953)

Rockwell Grayson

The Blazing Forest (1952)

Caribbean (1952)

Dick Lindsay, also known as Robert MacAllister

Kansas City Confidential (1952)

Passage West (1951)

Crosswinds (1951)

Steve Singleton

Captain China (1950)

Captain China [Charles S. Chinnough]

The Eagle and the Hawk (1950)

Lieutenant [Presley] O'Bannon

The Crooked Way (1949)

Eddie Rice, also known as Eddie Riccardi

The Saxon Charm (1948)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

The Razor's Edge (1946)

Sentimental Journey (1946)

William O. Weatherly

Wake Up and Dream (1946)

The Dolly Sisters (1945)

Hello Frisco, Hello (1943)

To the Shores of Tripoli (1942)

Remember the Day (1942)

Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

Footlight Serenade (1942)

Corp. James Murfin

The Great American Broadcast (1941)

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Week-End in Havana (1941)

Star Dust (1940)

Tear Gas Squad (1940)

[Sergeant] Bill Morrissey

King of the Lumberjacks (1940)

Maryland (1940)

Tin Pan Alley (1940)

Skeets Harrigan

The Great Profile (1940)

Richard Lansing

Bad Lands (1939)

Indianapolis Speedway (1939)

Kid Nightingale (1939)

Wings of the Navy (1939)

Jerry Harrington

Garden of the Moon (1938)

College Swing (1938)

Fair Warning (1937)

Love on Toast (1937)

Dodsworth (1936)

Hats Off (1936)

Cinematography (Feature Film)

High, Wild and Free (1968)

Director of Photography

Music (Feature Film)

The King and I (1956)

A Date with Judy (1948)

Anna and the King of Siam (1946)

Home Sweet Homicide (1946)

Let Freedom Ring (1939)

First Love (1939)

Sweethearts (1938)

Steamboat Round the Bend (1935)

The Prodigal (1931)

Special Thanks (Feature Film)

Special Thanks To

Cast (Special)

O'Connor's Ocean (1960)

The Restless Gun (1957)

The Philadelphia Story (1954)

Producer (Special)

O'Connor's Ocean (1960)

Cast (Short)

The Royal Rodeo (1939)

Life Events

Photo Collections

The Crooked Way - Movie Posters

The Crooked Way - Movie Posters

Sun Valley Serenade - Movie Posters

Sun Valley Serenade - Movie Posters

Miracle on 34th Street - Movie Posters

Here are a few movie posters from Miracle on 34th Street (1947), starring John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, Edmund Gwynn, and Natalie Wood.

Star Dust - Movie Posters

Here are a few original release movie posters for Fox's Star Dust (1940), starring Linda Darnell.

Videos

Sun Valley Serenade (1941) -- (Movie Clip) That Must Be Her Chest Measurement At Ellis Island on a publicity stunt, big band pianist Ted (John Payne), manager Nifty (Milton Berle) and bandleader Phil (Glenn Miller, the bandleader), arrive to pick up their kid war orphan, who turns out to be Sonja Henie, in Twentieth Century-Fox's It Happened In Sun Valley, 1941.

99 River Street (1953) -- (Movie Clip) -- Nothing But Television Ex-fighter New York cabbie Eddie (John Payne) with buddy Stan (Frank Faylen) discussing marriage, when actress pal Linda (Evelyn Keyes) arrives, early in Phil Karlson's 99 River Street, 1953.

99 River Street (1953) -- (Movie Clip) I Could Have Been The Champion Ex-fighter Ernie Driscoll (John Payne) watching himself on TV, then with ex-showgirl wife Pauline (Peggie Castle), opening director Phil Karlson's 99 River Street, 1953.

99 River Street (1953) -- (Movie Clip) I Killed A Man Big plot event as struggling actress Linda (Evelyn Keyes) asks Chuck the counter man (Gene Reynolds) where she can find our hero, ex-fighter turned cabbie Ernie (John Payne), who’s keeping cool after running into his wife on the town with another guy, because she had a problem at her audition, in Phil Karlson’s 99 River Street, 1953.

Razor's Edge, The (1946) -- (Movie Clip) She Asked For Her Husband Having left our hero Tyrone Power on his spiritual quest in India, back to Chicago where Gray (John Payne) is summoned to a hospital where, we learn, Sophie (Anne Baxter), injured in a car crash, doesn’t know her husband and child were killed, Isabel (Gene Tierney) appearing briefly, in The Razor’s Edge, 1946.

Kansas City Confidential -- (Movie Clip) You Are From Tijuana? Framed Joe (John Payne) arrives with new friend Helen (Coleen Gray, her first scene, whom we will learn is the daughter of the master criminal) at the resort where Kane (Neville Brand) and Romano (Lee Van Cleef) realize he's taken the identity of their fellow hood, Teresa (Dona Drake) greeting, in Phil Karlson's Kansas City Confidential, 1952.

Kansas City Confidential -- (Movie Clip) Lurid Chapters Opening scenes from director Phil Karlson with grim prologue then ex-cop Foster (Preston Foster) casing a bank job, observing delivery man Joe (John Payne) at work, in Kansas City Confidential, 1952.

Kansas City Confidential -- (Movie Clip) You Were Framed, Then? Not guilty of a bank job, delivery man Joe (John Payne) being grilled by investigator Martin (Carleton Young) and not backed by his boss (Phil Tead), early in Phil Karlson's Kansas City Confidential, 1952.

Springtime In The Rockies -- (Movie Clip) It's A War Cry! McTavish (Edward Everett Horton) re-introduces himself to song and dance man Dan (John Payne) after a big night, while his partner Vicky (Betty Grable) performs with rival Victor (Cesar Romero), in Springtime In The Rockies, 1942.

Springtime In The Rockies -- (Movie Clip) Run, Little Raindrop, Run Dan (John Payne) joins co-star and girlfriend Vicky (Betty Grable), with aide Phoebe (Charlotte Greenwood) backstage, then Run, Little Raindrop, Run, by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren, in Springtime In The Rockies, 1942.

Springtime In The Rockies -- (Movie Clip) Is That Harry James Solid? Harry James and his band, fine Helen Forrest vocal to I Had The Craziest Dream, and a nutty sign-off by Iron Eyes Cody and brother J.W., as the scene shifts west in 20th Century Fox's hit Springtime In The Rockies, 1942.

Wings Of The Navy -- (1939) -- (Movie Clip) We Dedicate This Monument Henry O’Neill is a Navy higher-up dedicating a monument to the apparently just-deceased admiral father of serving officers Cass (George Brent) and Jerry (John Payne), with acknowledgements and impressive aerial footage at the top, opening Warner Bros.’ Wings Of The Navy, 1939.

Tear Gas Squad - (Original Trailer) A nightclub entertainer (Dennis Morgan) joins the police force. First assignment: Tear Gas Squad (1940).

Rebel In Town - (Textless Trailer) A man hunts down the bank robber who accidentally killed his son in Rebel in Town (1956) starring John Payne and Ruth Roman.

Family

George Washington Payne

Father

Farmer.

Ida Hope Schaeffer

Mother

Singer.

Julie Anne Payne

Daughter

Actor. Born in 1940; mother, Anne Shirley.

Kathleen Stephenson

Daughter

Thomas Payne

Son

Companions

Anne Shirley

Wife

Actor. Married in 1937; divorced in 1943.

Gloria DeHaven

Wife

Actor. Married in 1944; divorced in 1950.

Sandy Crowell Curtis

Wife

Married from c. 1952 until Payne's death.

Bibliography

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use