Biography
Daniel James Dailey Jr. (born December 14, 1913; died October 16, 1978) was an American actor and dancer. Born in New York City, he appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in Babes in Arms. In 1940 he was signed by MGM to make movies and, although his past career had been in musicals, he was initially cast as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm.
The people at MGM realized their mistake immediately, however, and began casting him in a series of musical films. He served in the United States Army during World War II, then returned to more musicals. His performance in When My Baby Smiles at Me in 1948 garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. That film was one of several he made with Betty Grable, with whom he became great friends.
As the musical genre began to wane in the mid-1950s, he moved on to various comedic and dramatic roles, and television.
Other top-rank Dan Dailey musical performances can be seen in Universal's “Meet Me at the Fair” (1952) and MGM's “It's Always Fair Weather” (1953). The actor's athletic physique and remarkable dexterity won him leading roles in two baseball films, “Pride of St Louis” (1953) (in which he played Dizzy Dean) and “The Kid From Left Field” (1953). On television, Dailey starred in three series: ‘Four Just Men’ (1959), ‘The Governor and JJ’ (1970), ‘Farraday and Company’ (1974).
In 1977, he broke his hip while appearing in a touring production of The Odd Couple; he died of acute anaemia one year later.
Married and divorced three times, his only child, Dan Dailey III, committed suicide in 1975.
His sister is Another World actress Irene Dailey.
