[Deathwatch] Joseph Wiseman, actor, 91

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Joseph Wiseman dies at 91; actor played villian in first Bond film
starring Sean Connery
The stage and screen star was cast as the sinister title character in
1962's 'Dr. No'.

By Dennis McLellan

October 21, 2009

Joseph Wiseman, a stage and screen actor who played the sinister title
character in "Dr. No," the 1962 film that introduced Sean Connery as
James Bond, has died. He was 91.

Wiseman, who had been in declining health in the last few years, died
Monday at his home in Manhattan, said his daughter, Martha Graham
Wiseman.

The Canadian-born Wiseman already had appeared on Broadway numerous
times and in films such as "Detective Story" and "Viva Zapata!" when he
was cast as the mysterious villain opposite Connery's 007.

The diabolical Dr. No was a formidable foe.

As Los Angeles Times movie critic Philip K. Scheuer put it: "Out
pfui-ing Fu Manchu, Dr. No reveals himself to be the head of a vast
underworld organization called SPECTER and dedicated to the destruction
and domination of mankind. And, by gad, he has the equipment to pull it
off."

Wiseman hadn't an inkling that he was participating in the launch of
what became one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

"I had no idea it would achieve the success it did," he told The Times
in 1992 with a laugh. "As far as I was concerned, I thought it might be
just another grade-B Charlie Chan mystery."

Although Wiseman was part of movie history, his daughter said he viewed
"Dr. No" with "great disdain."

"He was horrified in later life because that's what he was remembered
for," she said. "Stage acting was what he wanted to be remembered for."


Born in Montreal on May 15, 1918, Wiseman began acting in summer stock
as a teenager and made his Broadway debut in 1938 playing a bit part in
Robert E. Sherwood's "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

Over the years, he appeared in Broadway productions such as "Antony and
Cleopatra," "Detective Story," "The Lark," "Incident at Vichy," "In the
Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer" and a revival of "The Tenth Man."

Among his other film credits are "The Night They Raided Minsky's," "The
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" and "The Valachi Papers."

On television, Wiseman played the recurring role of crime boss Manny
Weisbord on the 1980s series "Crime Story." Over the years, he was a
guest star on series such as "The Untouchables," "The Twilight Zone,"
"The Streets of San Francisco" and "Law & Order."

In 2001, he was back on Broadway in the National Actors Theater
production of "Judgment at Nuremberg," playing opposite Maximilian
Schell.

"A life being enacted onstage is a thing of utter fascination for me,"
Wiseman told the New York Times. "And acting, it may begin out of
vanity, but you hope that it's taken over by something else."

With a laugh, he added; "I hope I've climbed over the vanity hurdle."

Wiseman's second wife, dancer and choreographer Pearl Lang, died in
February. In addition to his daughter from his first marriage to Nell
Kinard, he is survived by his sister, Ruth Wiseman.

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary