Don Ameche
Don Ameche (born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor and radio entertainer whose career spanned over six decades. Known for his charming, dapper presence and signature mustache, Ameche became one of 20th Century Fox's premier leading men throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to an Italian immigrant father and a mother of European descent, he adapted his family's surname from "Amici" to "Ameche" to preserve its original Italian pron
As film roles slowed in the 1950s, Ameche worked extensively in live theatre and television. His screen career experienced a celebrated renaissance in the 1980s, beginning with his role as the scheming commodities broker Mortimer Duke in Trading Places (1983). Two years later, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a revitalized retiree in Ron Howard’s Cocoon (1985). In his final years, Ameche introduced himself to a new generation of filmgoers providing the warm, patriarchal voice of Shadow the Golden Retriever in Disney's Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), before completing his final screen appearance in Corrina, Corrina (1994).
Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986; the couple had six children. Ameche died of prostate cancer in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1993 at the age of 85.
Born
May 31, 1908
Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Died
Dec 06, 1993
Known For
Acting
Movies
68 acting
0 crew
Popularity
1.3
Known For
Trading Places
1983
as Mortimer Duke
Coming to America
1988
as Mortimer Duke / Homeless Man #2 (uncredited)
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
1993
as Shadow (voice)
Harry and the Hendersons
1987
as Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
Cocoon
1985
as Arthur Selwyn
Oscar
1991
as Father Clemente
Corrina, Corrina
1994
as Grandpa Harry
Cocoon: The Return
1988
as Art Selwyn
Heaven Can Wait
1943
as Henry Van Cleve
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