Jack Weston

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of a shoe repairman. Brother of actor, and adult film director/producer Anthony Spinelli. Jack Weston began acting at the age of ten. Encouraged by his father and a perceptive teacher in his public school, he was brought to the Cleveland Playhouse, where he joined their children's theater. He stayed with the company until he was drafted into the army at the age of 19. During World War II, he spent two years in Italy, as an infantry company machine-gunner. After his stint in the military he moved to New York, where he appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing with Judy Holliday. He spent 18 weeks on the road in James Leo Herlihy's Crazy October with Tallulah Bankhead and Joan Blondell. He later won rave reviews as Gaetsno Proclo in Terrence McNally's The Ritz, a role he later recreated in the film version (The Ritz (1976)). He starred in the national company of Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, followed by the Broadway production of Simon's California Suite. Next came Cheaters and Break a Leg with Julie Harris. Weston received a Tony nomination for his role in Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb. Weston made his big-screen debut in Stage Struck (1958), starring Henry Fonda, and has had an active career spanning more than 30 years and at least 25 films. His first major film role was in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) starring Doris Day and David Niven. His film career became firmly established as he appeared with Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and The Honeymoon Machine (1961). He worked with Don Knotts in The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964). Ingrid Bergman, Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower (1969), Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark (1967) Sean Connery in Cuba (1979) and Burt Reynolds in several films including Fuzz (1972) and Gator (1976). He appeared in A New Leaf (1971) Elaine May's directorial debut--and worked for her again in Ishtar (1987). Weston has said that his favorite movie was The Four Seasons (1981), written and directed by Alan Alda. he reprised his role to star in a television series spinoff on CBS. He was in the camp classic Can't Stop the Music (1980), High Road to China (1983) with Tom Selleck, The Longshot (1986) with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman and the 80's classic Dirty Dancing (1987) with Patrick Swayze. His last film was Short Circuit 2 (1988). He did his first TV series, Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers (1953), during "The Golden Age of Television" when the shows were shot live. He worked on The United States Steel Hour (1953), Playhouse 90 (1956), Perry Mason (1957), The Twilight Zone (1960, 1963), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963), Gunsmoke (1955) and The Untouchables (1959) as well as a comedy-drama special with Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. He also played the brother of Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched (1965). He starred in the short-lived sitcom The Hathaways (ABC), in which Peggy Cass and he adopted three chimpanzees (the Marquis Chimps) He later performed in the BBC-TV production of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected and the TV miniseries Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977). He was also a guest on The Carol Burnett Show (1972) and All in the Family (1973). He studied at the American Theater Wing with Lee Strasberg. He didn't advance far professionally, and returned to Cleveland where he met Marge Redmond, another local actress, and the pair relocated to New York and were married there in 1950. Redmond was later noted for her role in the ABC sitcom The Flying Nun. They occasionally appeared together, an example being a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone titled "The Bard". Redmond and Weston divorced in the 1980s.The couple had no children. Weston's second marriage was to Laurie Gilkes. and they had one child together. They were married until his death from lymphoma on May 3, 1996, after a six-year struggle. He was 71 years old.