Lloyd Nolan

Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor.Born in San Francisco, California, he began his career on stage and was subsequently lured to Hollywood, where he played mainly doctors, detectives, and police officers in many movie roles.Although many critics hailed his acting ability and it was generally acknowledged that he never gave a bad performance, Nolan was relegated to "B" movies -- programmers -- for the most part. Yet even so, he costarred with such actresses as Mae West, Dorothy McGuire, and the former Metropolitan Opera soprano, Gladys Swarthout. Under contract to Paramount and 20th Century Fox studios, he assayed starring roles in the late 30s and early-to-mid 40s and appeared as the lead character of the "Michael Shayne" detective series.The majority of his films comprised light entertainment with an emphasis on action. However, his conscientious, nuanced, and sober acting was appreciated by those who deigned not only to seek out his movies but also to discern his talent.His most famous films in which he starred or was prominently featured include the following: "Atlantic Adventure," costarring Nancy Carroll; "Ebb Tide"; "Wells Fargo"; "Every Day's A Holiday," starring Mae West; "Bataan"; and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," with Dorothy McGuire and James Dunn.He subsequently contributed many solid and key character parts in numerous other films.Later in his career, he performed on stage and TV to great acclaim in "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial," as well as in the pioneering TV series, Julia, starring Diahann Carroll.He died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California, aged 83.