Don Ameche

The Man Who Invented the Telephone

Dominic Felix Amici was born in Wisconsin in 1908 and spent half his life correcting people who couldn't pronounce his Italian surname. Before becoming Don Ameche, he was one of the most powerful voices in American radio. That medium gave him perfect diction and a confidence that Fox producers spotted right away.

In 1936, he signed his first major contract and became the studio's official leading man. He wasn't the most handsome or the toughest. But he projected a sincerity that worked just as well in light comedies as in big-budget biographical dramas.

The collective confusion came in 1939 with the release of The Story of Alexander Graham Bell. Ameche played the inventor with such conviction that for decades in the United States his name was used as slang for a telephone. It was such a massive box office hit that it shaped his public image, to the point of parody.

And then the phone stopped ringing.

The Golden Exile from the Stage

By the late 1940s his contract with Fox had ended, and the movie industry began to forget him. Ameche wasn't desperate, since he had theater and television to pay the bills. He moved to New York and worked on Broadway with a discipline few actors of his generation maintained.

For almost thirty years his presence on the big screen was nearly nonexistent. He hosted variety shows and toured the country with circus acts. Many critics considered him retired from the front line, but he kept refining his craft on stage night after night.

In 1970 he appeared in The Boatniks, a minor Disney production that did little to revive his career. It seemed his destiny was to be a footnote in the history books of classic Hollywood.

An Oscar Among Retirees and Con Artists

His luck changed in 1983 when John Landis was looking for two veterans for Trading Places. The director wanted Ray Milland but ended up hiring Ameche to play the mean-spirited Mortimer Duke. It was a masterstroke, because audiences discovered that this elegant gentleman could be a despicable villain.

That job opened the doors to Cocoon in 1985. In this film he played an elderly man who regained his vitality thanks to alien energy. At age 77 he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for a performance that included a breakdance scene performed by a stunt double but sold with his own charisma.

He won because nobody expected him to.

In 1988 he starred in Things Change by David Mamet, proving he could carry an entire feature with silences and glances. For this role he won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, sharing the honor with Joe Mantegna. It was his last major international recognition before entering the final decade of his life.

He died in Scottsdale on December 6, 1993 from aggressive prostate cancer. Just a few days earlier he had finished filming his scenes for Corrina, Corrina, and his voice was still heard in theaters thanks to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. His death certificate states that he died at his son's home.