Paul Douglas

albatros1 ( 2008-01-18 )

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Paul Douglas (April 11, 1907 - September 11, 1959) was an American movie actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 5'11" actor is best remembered by some for two baseball comedy movies, Angels in the Outfield (1951) and It Happens Every Spring (1949). He also played Richard Widmark's police partner in the thriller Panic in the Streets, Porter Hollingsway in A Letter to Three Wives, Sgt. Kowalski in The Big Lift, Josiah Walter Dudley in Executive Suite, Joe Brewster, and the con man turned monk in When in Rome. In 1950, Douglas was the host of the 22nd Annual Academy Awards. Douglas was cast in the 1959 episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Mighty Casey", a role written for him by Rod Serling, based on his character in Angels in the Outfield, but Douglas died the same week the episode was to be filmed. His role was taken over by Jack Warden. He was married five times, last to actress Jan Sterling from 1950 until his death, by whom he had a son, Adams Douglas (1955-2003). Paul Douglas died on September 11, 1959 of a heart attack in Hollywood, California at the age of 52. Director Billy Wilder had just offered him the role of Jeff Sheldrake in the movie The Apartment. Billy Wilder told about this: "I saw him and his wife, Jan Sterling, at a restaurant, and I realized he was perfect, and I asked him right there in the parking lot. About two days before we were to start, he had a heart attack and died.