.jpg)
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Dick Foran
John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor and singer, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. He appeared in dozens of movies of every type during his lengthy career, often with top stars leading the cast.
Foran was born in Flemington, New Jersey, the first of five sons to Arthur F. Foran and Elizabeth Foran. His father was a Republican member of the New Jersey Senate, as was Dick Foran's younger brother, Walter E. Foran.
He attended Mercersburg Academy, where he competed on the track team under Scots-American athletics coach Jimmy Curran. After graduation he attended the Hun School, a college preparatory school in nearby Princeton, and then enrolled at Princeton University, pursuing a degree in geology. He played on the football team while taking courses in the arts, where he developed an interest in the theater.
Foran studied music at the Leibling Studio in New York before singing on radio. As Nick Foran, he went on to become a lead singer with a band and later formed his own orchestra.
Foran was still billed as Nick Foran when he signed a contract with Fox in 1934. In 1935, Foran, who stood 6-foot-2 and had red hair, could also sing when called upon in films such as Change of Heart (1934) with Janet Gaynor. His handsome appearance and good-natured personality made him a natural choice for the supporting cast.
Fox didn't pick up Foran's contract option, and he was released after one year. He was soon signed by Warner Bros., which changed his name to Dick Foran and cast him as a singing cowboy, to compete with the successful Gene Autry musical westerns. His first starring role was in Moonlight on the Prairie (1935). His other singing-cowboy features included Song of the Saddle (1936), Guns of the Pecos (1937), and Empty Holsters (1937); some of these were remakes of earlier Warner westerns starring John Wayne.
Foran also appeared as a character actor in Warners' important films, like The Petrified Forest (1936) with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, The Sisters (1938) with Errol Flynn and Bette Davis, and Boy Meets Girl (1938) and The Fighting 69th (1940), both with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.
In 1940, Foran moved to Universal Studios, where he acted in many different genres of film from horror to comedy, such as My Little Chickadee (1940) with Mae West and W.C. Fields; Keep 'Em Flying (1941) and Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942), both with Abbott and Costello; Private Buckaroo with Harry James, the Andrews Sisters, and Shemp Howard; and The Mummy's Hand (1940) with Tom Tyler as the Mummy. Foran reprised the same role in the sequel The Mummy's Tomb (1942), this time with Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy. He also starred in the studio's western serials Winners of the West (1940) and Riders of Death Valley (1941).
Hub AI
Dick Foran AI simulator
(@Dick Foran_simulator)
Dick Foran
John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor and singer, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. He appeared in dozens of movies of every type during his lengthy career, often with top stars leading the cast.
Foran was born in Flemington, New Jersey, the first of five sons to Arthur F. Foran and Elizabeth Foran. His father was a Republican member of the New Jersey Senate, as was Dick Foran's younger brother, Walter E. Foran.
He attended Mercersburg Academy, where he competed on the track team under Scots-American athletics coach Jimmy Curran. After graduation he attended the Hun School, a college preparatory school in nearby Princeton, and then enrolled at Princeton University, pursuing a degree in geology. He played on the football team while taking courses in the arts, where he developed an interest in the theater.
Foran studied music at the Leibling Studio in New York before singing on radio. As Nick Foran, he went on to become a lead singer with a band and later formed his own orchestra.
Foran was still billed as Nick Foran when he signed a contract with Fox in 1934. In 1935, Foran, who stood 6-foot-2 and had red hair, could also sing when called upon in films such as Change of Heart (1934) with Janet Gaynor. His handsome appearance and good-natured personality made him a natural choice for the supporting cast.
Fox didn't pick up Foran's contract option, and he was released after one year. He was soon signed by Warner Bros., which changed his name to Dick Foran and cast him as a singing cowboy, to compete with the successful Gene Autry musical westerns. His first starring role was in Moonlight on the Prairie (1935). His other singing-cowboy features included Song of the Saddle (1936), Guns of the Pecos (1937), and Empty Holsters (1937); some of these were remakes of earlier Warner westerns starring John Wayne.
Foran also appeared as a character actor in Warners' important films, like The Petrified Forest (1936) with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, The Sisters (1938) with Errol Flynn and Bette Davis, and Boy Meets Girl (1938) and The Fighting 69th (1940), both with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.
In 1940, Foran moved to Universal Studios, where he acted in many different genres of film from horror to comedy, such as My Little Chickadee (1940) with Mae West and W.C. Fields; Keep 'Em Flying (1941) and Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942), both with Abbott and Costello; Private Buckaroo with Harry James, the Andrews Sisters, and Shemp Howard; and The Mummy's Hand (1940) with Tom Tyler as the Mummy. Foran reprised the same role in the sequel The Mummy's Tomb (1942), this time with Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy. He also starred in the studio's western serials Winners of the West (1940) and Riders of Death Valley (1941).