About John Payne: Net Worth, Ethnicity, Relationship, Parents

Known for movies

Short Info

Died	December 6, 1989, Malibu, California, United States
Spouse	Alexandra Crowell Curtis, Gloria DeHaven, Anne Shirley
Fact	Has stated that his favorite of all the films he has made is Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

John Payne (born December 6, 1912 – December 6, 1989) was an American actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Bad Seed (1956), and The Long, Hot Summer (1958).

Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia, the son of Ida Hope (née Scott) and George Henry Payne. His father was a railroad engineer. Payne was educated at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, and Washington and Lee University in Lexington. He worked as a journalist for a Roanoke newspaper before moving to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Payne made his Broadway debut in 1935 in the play Elmer the Great. He went on to appear in several Broadway productions, including the musicals High Button Shoes (1947) and Mr. Wonderful (1956). He made his film debut in 1937 in the film version of the play The Last Mile.

Payne’s most famous role was as Kris Kringle in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street. He also starred in the films The Bad Seed (1956), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).

Payne was married three times. His first wife was actress Gloria DeHaven, whom he married in 1940. They had two children together: Christopher and Christina. Payne and DeHaven divorced in 1950. Payne’s second wife was actress Anne Francis, whom he married in 1951. They had one child together: a son, John Jr. Payne and Francis divorced in 1957. Payne’s third wife was actress Julie Adams, whom he married in 1959. They had one child together: a daughter, Amy. Payne and Adams divorced in 1966.

Payne’s net worth at the time of his death was $5 million.

General Info

Full Name	John Payne
Died	December 6, 1989, Malibu, California, United States
Height	1.93 m
Profession	Actor, Singer, Film producer, Screenwriter, Television producer
Nationality	American

Family

Spouse	Alexandra Crowell Curtis, Gloria DeHaven, Anne Shirley
Children	Julie Payne, Kathleen Hope Payne, Thomas John Payne
Parents	Ida Hope Payne, George Washington Payne

Accomplishments

Nominations	Writers Guild of America Award for Television Best Western
Movies	Miracle on 34th Street, Kansas City Confidential, Sun Valley Serenade, The Razor's Edge, Tin Pan Alley, The Dolly Sisters, Silver Lode, 99 River Street, To the Shores of Tripoli, Springtime in the Rockies, Week-End in Havana, Slightly Scarlet, Hello, Frisco, Hello, Tennessee's Partner, The Crooked W...
TV Shows	Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, Spider-Man Unlimited, Exosquad, The Restless Gun, Hot Wheels Highway 35

Social profile links

IMDB	http://imdb.com/name/nm0668361

Quotes

#	Quote
1	Back in 1937 while I was under contract to Paramount, I sang on a five-minute radio program with another contract player from Paramount. A girl who's done rather well since -- Betty Grable. Betty and I didn't do so well then, though. We couldn't find a sponsor and finally gave up the program. I sang low tenor -- or, should I say, high baritone.

Facts

#	Fact
1	A science fiction fan, he wanted to produce and star in an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Puppet Masters, but a lawsuit Heinlein brought forth against the makers of The Brain Eaters (1958) killed those ambitions.
2	He was cremated and his ashes are scattered into sea.
3	In the 1930s, before entering show business, he earned a living at one point as a professional wrestler known various as "Alexei Petroff, the Savage of the Steppes" and "Tiger Jack Payne".
4	He made nearly 80 pictures but said in a 1974 interview, in connection with his return to the stage in "Good News," that "I never could quite take it seriously".
5	He and actress Lynn Bari both attended a private school, run by a Mrs. Vaughn, in their hometown of Roanoke, VA.
6	He was an understudy in the 1935 Broadway musical "At Home Abroad," which co-starred Reginald Gardiner and Beatrice Lillie. When Gardiner became ill, the 22-year-old Payne went on, replacing him until Gardiner's health improved enough to return to the role. In the best Hollywood tradition, the studio talent scout who placed him under contract to Samuel Goldwyn Pictures was Samuel Goldwyn's wife Frances Howard, who often traveled to Broadway from Hollywood looking for new talent for her husband's film projects (on a 1941 trip to Broadway to see Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin-Moss Hart musical "Lady in The Dark" she discovered Danny Kaye).
7	He moved to Paramount and made a series of melodramas and musicals, and then signed with Warner Bros. When Dick Powell turned down the Busby Berkeley musical Garden of the Moon (1938), Payne was given the role and thereafter appeared as singer and actor in some "memorable moving pictures".
8	Owned Window Glen Productions, the company that produced his series The Restless Gun (1957).
9	He appeared with Alice Faye in four films: Tin Pan Alley (1940), The Great American Broadcast (1941), Week-End in Havana (1941) and Hello Frisco, Hello (1943).
10	Had appeared with Rhonda Fleming in five films: The Eagle and the Hawk (1950), Crosswinds (1951), Caribbean (1952), Tennessee's Partner (1955) and Slightly Scarlet (1956).
11	Had appeared with Betty Grable in five films: College Swing (1938), Tin Pan Alley (1940), Footlight Serenade (1942), Springtime in the Rockies (1942) and The Dolly Sisters (1945).
12	He was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6687 Hollywood Boulevard.
13	Daughter Julie Payne has stated that there is no validity to the story that her father pressured his studio (20th Century-Fox) into filming Miracle on 34th Street (1947) while putting up his own money. She said that the movie was a small black-and-white film with low expectations, and that had John indeed put money into it he would not have received any profit participation because that option did not even exist until 1950, three years after the film was made. Moreover, at the time of filming John did not have the money to put into any film because he was strapped not only paying child support but had a wife with a third child on the way.
14	John's daughter Julie Payne (aka Julie Anne Payne) is a legal researcher for book writers of both film and the City of Los Angeles.
15	Daughter Julie Payne has stated that John's mother, Ida Hope Schaeffer, was never an opera singer, for the Metropolitan Opera or anywhere else. However, his father was heavily involved with the building of the city of Roanoke, Virginia.
16	According to his daughter Julie Payne, John was actually born on May 28, 1912, and not May 23. Somewhere along the line, she said, the "8" in "28" was accidentally transformed into a "3".
17	Julie Payne states that while her father John carries the man's name, her family is not related to the Long Island-born, "Home, Sweet Home" songwriter John Howard Payne (1791-1852). That was a studio-generated myth.
18	As early as 1953 he planned to produce a film of "The Puppet Masters, finally striking a deal with author Robert A. Heinlein in 1959. However, the story was plagiarized and spoiled by Roger Corman's The Brain Eaters (1958).
19	Was a Boy Scout.
20	Writer France Ingram, in her article on John for "Classic Images", March 2011, states that his first acting break was while he was working as a radio singer in the mid-1930s. The Shubert Organization discovered him and offered him a part touring with one of their road companies at $40 a week.
21	He was a shrewd investor in real estate and owned many parcels in Southern California as well as a ranch near Billings, Montana.
22	He was a lifelong Republican and conservative.
23	He was one of many actors considered for the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939).
24	Attended Mercersburg Academy (preparatory school) in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1932.
25	Graduated from Roanoke College. Studied singing at the Juilliard School of Music and acting at Columbia University. Supplemented his studies by making money as a professional wrestler, before landing his first acting job as understudy to Beatrice Lillie in the 1935 revue "At Home Abroad".
26	Initially signed to a short-term contract to appear in Dodsworth (1936) for United Artists, he later worked under contract for 20th Century0Fox (1940-42; 1945-47) and RKO (1954-56).
27	Served as a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II.
28	Has stated that his favorite of all the films he has made is Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
29	Was romantically involved with Coleen Gray (his co-star in Kansas City Confidential (1952)) in the early 1950s.
30	Was very good friends with his co-star Maureen O'Hara, with whom he starred in four films, To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), Sentimental Journey (1946), Tripoli (1950), and their most famous one, the classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
31	Following the style of the times, and in order to emphasize his boyish, clean-cut image, Payne's chest was shaved to smoothness in his "beefcake" scenes of the 1940s. However, in the 1950s, styles changed, Payne's image darkened, and his "beefcake" scenes now showed a chest with dark hair.
32	In 1942, after separating from Anne Shirley, he had an affair with Jane Russell. The affair is detailed in her 1986 autobiography, "My Path and My Detours". The affair ended when she realized that she was still in love with her high school sweetheart, football player Bob Waterfield, whom she married in April 1943 (they divorced in 1967).
33	Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).
34	Ex-father-in-law of writer-director Robert Towne.
35	Grandfather of Katharine Towne and Holly Payne.
36	The gap in his career from 1962-68 was the result of a major automobile wreck in which he suffered extensive, life-threatening injuries. In his later roles facial scars can be detected in close-ups.
37	Direct descendant of John Howard Payne (1791-1852), composer of the classic song "Home, Sweet Home" ("Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.").
38	Was the first person in Hollywood interested in making the James Bond novels into a film series. In 1955 he paid a $1,000-a-month option for nine months on the Bond novel "Moonraker" (he eventually gave up the option when he learned he could not retain the rights for the entire 007 series).
39	Singer, mostly in 20th Century-Fox musicals.

Pictures

All pictures

Movies

Actor

Title	Year	Status	Character
Columbo	1975	TV Series	Ned Diamond
Cade's County	1971	TV Series	Clement Stark
Gunsmoke	1970	TV Series	Amos Gentry
The Name of the Game	1968	TV Series	Russ (FBI Agent)
They Ran for Their Lives	1968		Bob Martin
The Dick Powell Theatre	1962	TV Series	James J. Fitts
General Electric Theater	1955-1962	TV Series	Father Gerringer / Jingles
O'Conner's Ocean	1960	TV Movie	Tom O'Conner
The Restless Gun	1957-1959	TV Series	Vint Bonner / Gene Baroda / Jebediah Bonner / ...
Hidden Fear	1957		Mike Brent
Bailout at 43,000	1957		Major Paul Peterson
Schlitz Playhouse	1951-1957	TV Series	Britt Ponset / Robert Holmi
Zane Grey Theater	1957	TV Series	Clint Belmet
The Boss	1956		Matt Brady
Rebel in Town	1956		John Willoughby
Hold Back the Night	1956		Capt. Sam McKenzie
Studio 57	1956	TV Series	Mike Conner
Slightly Scarlet	1956		Ben Grace
Tennessee's Partner	1955		Tennessee
The Road to Denver	1955		Bill Mayhew
Santa Fe Passage	1955		Kirby Randolph
Hell's Island	1955		Mike Cormack
The Best of Broadway	1954	TV Series	C.K. Dexter Haven
Silver Lode	1954		Dan Ballard
Rails Into Laramie	1954		Jefferson Harder
Robert Montgomery Presents	1953	TV Series	Lt. Alec Austen
99 River Street	1953		Ernie Driscoll
The Vanquished	1953		Rockwell Grayson
Raiders of the Seven Seas	1953		Barbarossa
The Blazing Forest	1952		Kelly Hansen
Kansas City Confidential	1952		Joe Rolfe
Caribbean	1952		Dick Lindsay / Robert MacAllister
All Star Revue	1952	TV Series	Guest Actor
Crosswinds	1951		Steve Singleton
Passage West	1951		Pete Black
Tripoli	1950		Lt. O'Bannion
Nash Airflyte Theatre	1950	TV Series	Thacker
The Eagle and the Hawk	1950		Capt. Todd Croyden
Captain China	1950		Charles S. Chinnough aka Captain China
The Silver Theatre	1949	TV Series
The Crooked Way	1949		Eddie Rice Eddie Riccardi
El Paso	1949		Clay Fletcher
The Saxon Charm	1948		Eric Busch
Larceny	1948		Rick Mason
Miracle on 34th Street	1947		Fred Gailey
Wake Up and Dream	1946		Jeff Cairn
The Razor's Edge	1946		Gray Maturin
Sentimental Journey	1946		William O. Weatherly
The Dolly Sisters	1945		Harry Fox
Hello Frisco, Hello	1943		Johnny Cornell
Springtime in the Rockies	1942		Dan Christy
Iceland	1942/I		Capt. James Murfin
Footlight Serenade	1942		William J. 'Bill' Smith
To the Shores of Tripoli	1942		Chris Winters
Remember the Day	1941		Dan Hopkins
Week-End in Havana	1941		Jay Williams
Sun Valley Serenade	1941		Ted Scott
The Great American Broadcast	1941		Rix Martin
Tin Pan Alley	1940		Skeets Harrigan
The Great Profile	1940		Richard Lansing
Maryland	1940		Lee Danfield
Tear Gas Squad	1940		Bill Morrissey
King of the Lumberjacks	1940		James 'Jim' 'Slim' Abbott
Star Dust	1940		Ambrose Fillmore / Bud Borden
The Royal Rodeo	1939	Short	Bill Stevens
Kid Nightingale	1939		Steve Nelson
Indianapolis Speedway	1939		Eddie Greer
Wings of the Navy	1939		Jerry Harrington
Garden of the Moon	1938		Don Vincente
College Swing	1938		Martin Bates
Love on Toast	1937		Bill Adams
Fair Warning	1937		Jim Preston (as John Howard Payne)
Hats Off	1936		Jimmy Maxwell
Dodsworth	1936		Harry McKee (as John Howard Payne)

Producer

Title	Year	Status
O'Conner's Ocean	1960	TV Movie producer
The Restless Gun	1957-1959	TV Series executive producer - 77 episodes
The Boss	1956	producer - uncredited

Soundtrack

Title	Year	Status
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults	1997	TV Movie documentary performer: "I Can't Begin to Tell You" - uncredited
Columbo	1975	TV Series performer - 1 episode
The 28th Annual Tony Awards	1974	TV Special performer: "You're the Cream in My Coffee"
Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall	1959	TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Restless Gun	1957-1958	TV Series performer - 2 episodes
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show	1957	TV Series performer - 1 episode
Wake Up and Dream	1946	performer: "Give Me the Simple Life"
Movieland Magic	1946	Short performer: "The Good Old American Way" - uncredited
The Dolly Sisters	1945	performer: "I Can't Begin to Tell You" uncredited, "Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl" uncredited, "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", "Arrah Go on, I'm Gonna Go Back to Oregon" uncredited
Hello Frisco, Hello	1943	performer: "Hello, Frisco!", "By the Watermelon Vine Lindy Lou" - uncredited
Springtime in the Rockies	1942	performer: "Run, Little Raindrop, Run", "Pan American Jubilee"
Iceland	1942/I	performer: "There Will Never Be Another You" - uncredited
Footlight Serenade	1942	performer: "I'm Still Crazy for You", "I'll Be Marching to a Love Song" - uncredited
Remember the Day	1941	performer: "Pretty Baby" - uncredited
Week-End in Havana	1941	"Tropical Magic", uncredited / performer: "The Ñango Nyango" - uncredited
Sun Valley Serenade	1941	performer: "I Know Why and So Do You" 1941 - uncredited
The Great American Broadcast	1941	performer: "I Take to You", "Where You Are"
Tin Pan Alley	1940	"You Say The Sweetest Things Baby" 1940 / performer: "You Say The Sweetest Things Baby" 1940, "America, I Love You" 1915
Star Dust	1940	performer: "Secrets in the Moonlight"
The Royal Rodeo	1939	Short performer: "Sons of the Plains Are We", "That's the Way to Be a Buckaroo", "The Good Old American Way" - uncredited
Kid Nightingale	1939	performer: "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" 1930, "Hark, Hark, the Meadowlark" 1939, "Who Told You I Cared?" 1939, "Mother Machree" 1910, "Listen to the Mockingbird" 1855 - uncredited
Garden of the Moon	1938	performer: "Garden of the Moon" 1938, "Love Is Where You Find It" 1938, "The Lady on the Two Cent Stamp" 1938, "Confidentially" 1938, "The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish" 1938 - uncredited
College Swing	1938	performer: "I Fall In Love With You Every Day", "What Did Romeo Say To Juliet?"
Love on Toast	1937	performer: "I'd Love to Play a Love Scene" - uncredited
Hats Off	1936	performer: "Where Have You Been All My Life", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

Writer

Title	Year	Status
The Restless Gun		TV Series teleplay - 2 episodes, 1957 - 1958 story - 2 episodes, 1957 - 1958
Hell's Island	1955	uncredited
99 River Street	1953	uncredited
Kansas City Confidential	1952	uncredited

Director

Title	Year	Status	Character
They Ran for Their Lives	1968

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan	1985	TV Special	Himself
The 28th Annual Tony Awards	1974	TV Special	Himself - Performer
The Match Game	1964	TV Series	Himself - Team Captain
The Mike Douglas Show	1963	TV Series	Himself - Co-Host
What's My Line?	1951-1961	TV Series	Himself - Panelist / Himself - Mystery Guest
I've Got a Secret	1960	TV Series	Himself - Guest
The Garry Moore Show	1960	TV Series	Himself
Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall	1959	TV Series	Himself
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show	1957	TV Series	Himself - Actor / Singer
The Steve Allen Plymouth Show	1957	TV Series	Himself - Guest
The Steve Allen Show	1957	TV Series	Himself
Texaco Star Theatre	1953	TV Series	Himself - Actor
Death Valley Days	1952	TV Series	Himself / Host (1972; 'Call of the West' version)
TV Club	1951	TV Series documentary	Himself
The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter	1951	TV Series	Himself
Screen Snapshots Series 23, No. 1: Hollywood in Uniform	1943	Documentary short	Himself
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 1	1938	Documentary short	Himself

Archive Footage

Title	Year	Status	Character
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults	1997	TV Movie documentary	Himself
Biography	1997	TV Series documentary	Himself
20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years	1997	TV Movie documentary	Himself (uncredited)
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies	1995	TV Movie documentary	Dan Ballard, 'Silver Lode' (uncredited)
Fred Astaire Salutes the Fox Musicals	1974	TV Movie	Himself
Frontier Justice	1959-1961	TV Series	Clint Belmet
Screen Snapshots: Memories in Uniform	1954	Documentary short	Himself
Movieland Magic	1946	Short
Take It or Leave It	1944		Himself: Clip from 'Tin Pan Alley' (uncredited)

Awards

Won Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
1960	Star on the Walk of Fame	Walk of Fame	Motion Picture	On 8 February 1960. At 6125 Hollywood Blvd.
1960	Star on the Walk of Fame	Walk of Fame	Television	On 8 February 1960. At 6687 Hollywood Blvd.