Jeff Corey

Jeff Corey (born Arthur Zwerling; August 10, 1914 – August 16, 2002) was an American stage and screen actor who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.

Life and career

Corey was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Mary (née Peskin), a Russian Jewish immigrant, and Nathan Zwerling, an Austrian Jewish immigrant. He attended New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn and was active in the school's Dramatic Society.

He attended the Feagin School of Dramatic Art and took part in the New York Federal Theatre Project. In the mid-1930s, he acted with the Clare Tree Major Children's Theater of New York. When Corey began making films, his agent suggested that he change his name from Arthur Zwerling, and he did so.

He worked with Jules Dassin, Elia Kazan, John Randolph and other politically liberal theatrical personalities. Although he attended some meetings of the Communist Party, Corey never joined. A World War II veteran, Corey served in the United States Navy. His memoir, Improvising Out Loud: My Life Teaching Hollywood How To Act, which he wrote with his daughter, Emily Corey, is published by the University Press of Kentucky. His longtime friend and former student Leonard Nimoy wrote the foreword for the book.

Hollywood

Corey moved to Hollywood in 1940 and became a highly respected character actor. One of his film roles was in Superman and the Mole Men (1951), which was later edited to a two-part episode of the television series The Adventures of Superman, retitled "The Unknown People". His portrayal of a xenophobic vigilante coincidentally reflected what was about to happen to him. Prior to that, Corey appeared in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. (1943), as one of the men who discover the body of the vagrant Freddy Jolly.

Blacklisted

Corey's career was halted in the early 1950s, when he was summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Corey refused to give names of alleged Communists and subversives in the entertainment industry and went so far as to ridicule the panel by offering critiques of the testimony of the previous witnesses. This behavior led to his being blacklisted for 12 years.

During his blacklisting, Corey drew upon his experience in various actors' workshops (including the Actors' Lab, which he helped establish) by seeking work as an acting teacher. He soon became one of the most influential teachers in Hollywood.

Back to work in the 1960s

In 1962, Corey began working in films again, and remained active into the 1990s. He played Hoban in The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Tom Chaney, the principal villain in True Grit (1969), and Sheriff Bledsoe in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (also 1969), who says to the co-stars, "I never met a soul more affable than you, Butch, or faster than the Kid, but you're still nothing but two-bit outlaws on the dodge. It's over, don't you get that? Your times is over and you're gonna die bloody, and all you can do is choose where." In Seconds (1966), a science-fiction drama film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Rock Hudson, Corey with Will Geer and John Randolph played wealthy executives who opt to restart their lives with new identities.

Corey played a police detective in the psychological thriller The Premonition (1976) and he reprised the role of Sheriff Bledsoe in the prequel Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979). He also played Wild Bill Hickok in Little Big Man (1970). Corey directed some of the screen tests for Superman (1978), which can be seen in the DVD extras, and played Lex Luthor in several try-outs.

Personal life

Corey and his wife Hope had been married for 64 years at the time of his death at the age of 88 on August 16, 2002.