Biography

Hans Conried was born in Baltimore and raised both there and in New York City. He studied acting at Columbia University, and played many major classical roles onstage. After having been a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre Company, he was heard as Prof. Kropotkin on the radio show "My Friend Irma" and had various roles on the "Edgar Bergen - Charlie McCarthy Show". He was in the original cast of Cole Porter's 1953 Broadway hit "Can-Can" and stayed with the show for more than a year. Known for his sharp wit, Conried was in demand as an actor, panelist and narrator, appearing frequently in television series and movies throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: A. Nonymous

Hans Georg Conried Jr. is best known for his voice work, providing the voices of Disney's Captain Hook and Snidely Whiplash in the Dudley Do-Right cartoons. However few know of his love for live theater.

He was drawn to acting early in his life, playing the part of Polonius at age 12 in a school production of "Hamlet." He continued dabbling in theater, and attending college at Columbia University, he played major roles in the classics, including the "Tempest."

After moving to California, his talent for doing accents quickly got him noticed, and soon he was doing radio work. In fact, sticking to the classics, in 1937 he worked on the "Streamlined Shakespeare" radio series with legendary John Barrymore, and quickly joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre troupe. In the forties and fifties, he appeared regularly on radio programs. He was George Burns' psychiatrist whom George often needed for help living with the ditzy Gracie. His voice became so well known that it's no wonder he'd wind up doing voice work for cartoons, such as Wally Walrus on the [error], and Professor Waldo P. Wigglesworth on Hoppity Hooper (1964).

His film career started just a year after his radio work had begun. In his first movie, Dramatic School (1938), he played a student. He started picking up bit parts in film, often uncredited, and quickly became the exception to the rule "there are no small parts, only small actors." His performances, no matter how small, always stood out with him oftentimes stealing the scene.

You might say his early career was blessed as he got to work with the greats, such as James Stewart and Claudette Colbert in It's a Wonderful World (1939), which was quickly followed by working with comedians Martha Raye, Bob Hope, and Andy Devine in Never Say Die (1939), as well as getting a chance to work with Charles Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940).

Thus having started out as a serious actor in Shakespearean roles, it was his early movie career that gave him his comedic training for which he is so well known today.

A high point in his career came in 1953 when, in addition to receiving screen credits in eight films, he made his Broadway debut as the sculptor Boris in Cole Porter's Can Can. While voicing Captain Hook in Disney's Peter Pan (1953), he played the title role of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953), a surreal movie written by Dr. Seuss.

In productions of Peter Pan, traditionally the person playing Captain Hook also played the father of Wendy, John, and Michael, Mr Darling. Thus Conried not only voiced both parts, he stood as the live action model for rotoscoping both characters. All in all, for Disney, Conried played over a dozen parts, most of them as a voice actor.

Baby boomers throughout the nation grew up watching Disneyland on Sundays, now known as The Magical World of Disney (1954). It was on this series that kids fell in love with Fess Parker as Davy Crockett. The entire film, originally shown in three parts and in black and white, can be found today on the Disney Channel in color. It was the third part, Davy Crockett at the Alamo (1955), in which we meet the cowardly riverboat gambler Thimblerig played by Conried. Kids across America had already fallen in love with Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen in the previous two episodes, and though they'd all heard the voice of Captain Hook, for many, this was their first introduction to Conried the live actor. It would be a bit hyperbole to say Conried stole the show, but his character was quickly loved, with his stage presence equal to the that of the two stars. Kids watched his character evolve into a hero at the Alamo. In the late fifties he began his rise in television, appearing on everything from the The Lucy Show (1962), to The Love Boat (1977) and Fantasy Island (1977). He'd often played a supercilious, pretentious character, who seemed, at times, to be poking fun at himself. For thirteen years he played, Danny Thomas' Uncle Tonoose, the Williams family patriarch. In that role, Conried set the bar for self-parody. His comedic timing was priceless, playing the lovable old curmudgeon.

Because of his quick wit, Conried was in demand on talk shows, such as the The Jack Paar Show (1953), and did a short stint as a panelist on To Tell the Truth (1956), all the while continuing his lucrative voice work and narrations. But he never forgot his love for the theater or Broadway.

In 1959 he played Professor Leon Solomon, in "Tall Story." In 1971 he played Harry in, "70, Girls, 70." Then in 1973, with both Debbie Reynolds, and later Jane Powell in the lead role of the play "Irene," Conried play Madame Lucy. His final stage appearance was in the Broadway comedy, "Something Old, Something New," and though the critics praised his endearing performance, it just wasn't enough to hold up the dismal play which closed the day it opened, January 1, 1977.

Conried had lived for a quite a while with heart problems, first suffering a stroke in 1974, and a mild heart attack in 1979. He stayed active and busy up until his death on January 5, 1982, the day after he'd suffered a major heart attack at the age of 64. His body was donated to science.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: David Bonello