Tom Conway

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Tom Conway : biography

15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967

Tom Conway (15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film and radio actor.

Later life and death

In 1961, Conway provided his voice for Disney’s 101 Dalmatians as a Collie who offers the dalmatians shelter in a barn, later guiding them home. His wife at the time, Queenie Leonard, voiced a cow in the barn.

Despite having made millions in his twenty-four-year film career, Conway later struggled to make ends meet. Failing eyesight and prolonged bouts with alcohol took their toll on him in his last years. His second wife (Leonard) divorced him in 1963, owing to his drinking problem, and his brother Sanders broke off all contact with him because of it.

Conway underwent cataract surgery during the winter of 1964–65. In September 1965, he briefly returned to the headlines, having been discovered living in a $2-a-day room in a Venice, California flophouse. Gifts, contributions and offers of aid poured in for a time.

His last years were marked with hospitalizations. It was there that former sister-in-law Zsa Zsa Gabor paid Conway a visit and gave him $200. "Tip the nurses a little bit so they’ll be good to you," she told him. The following day, the hospital called her to say that Conway had left with the $200, gone to his girlfriend’s house, and became gravely sick in her bed. It was 22 April 1967, and he died from cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 62 due to alcoholism. His funeral was held in London.

Filmography

  • The Great Meddler (1940)
  • Waterloo Bridge (1940) – voice only
  • Sky Murder (1940)
  • The Wild Man of Borneo (1941)
  • The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941)
  • Free and Easy (1941)
  • The Bad Man (1941)
  • The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941)
  • Lady Be Good (1941)
  • Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941)
  • Mr. and Mrs. North (1942)
  • Rio Rita (1942)
  • Grand Central Murder (1942)
  • Mrs. Miniver (1942)
  • The Falcon’s Brother (1942)
  • Cat People (1942)
  • The Falcon Strikes Back (1943)
  • I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
  • The Falcon in Danger (1943)
  • The Seventh Victim (1943)
  • The Falcon and the Co-eds (1943)
  • The Falcon Out West (1944)
  • A Night of Adventure (1944)
  • The Falcon in Mexico (1944)
  • The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
  • Two O’Clock Courage (1945)
  • The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)
  • Whistle Stop (1946)
  • The Falcon’s Alibi (1946)
  • Criminal Court (1946)
  • The Falcon’s Adventure (1946)
  • Lost Honeymoon (1947)
  • Fun on a Weekend (1947)
  • Repeat Performance (1947)
  • The Challenge (1948)
  • 13 Lead Soldiers (1948)
  • The Checkered Coat (1948)
  • One Touch of Venus (1948)
  • Bungalow 13 (1948)
  • I Cheated the Law (1949)
  • The Great Plane Robbery (1950)
  • Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951)
  • Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
  • Confidence Girl (1952)
  • Peter Pan (1953) – voice only
  • Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)
  • Park Plaza 605(1953)
  • Blood Orange (1953)
  • Paris Model (1953)
  • Prince Valiant (1954)
  • Breakaway (1955)
  • Barbados Quest (1955)
  • The She-Creature (1956)
  • Death of a Scoundrel (1956)
  • The Last Man to Hang? (1956)
  • Operation Murder (1957)
  • Voodoo Woman (1957)
  • The Atomic Submarine (1959)
  • 12 to the Moon(1960)
  • One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) – voice only
  • What a Way to Go! (1964)