---
name: "David Wayne"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-wayne"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "30 January 1914"
died: "9 February 1995"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-19T21:47:51.626707+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David Wayne

Actor. Born 30 January 1914 in Traverse City - Michigan - USA. Died 9 February 1995.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 30 January 1914, Traverse City - Michigan - USA
- **Died:** 9 February 1995
- **Active:** 1974–1985
- **Also known as:** Wayne James McMeekan
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 60 (1), 1980s 88 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wayne, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1177111, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915536/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14831

## Biography

David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan) was an American actor and singer whose career in theatre, film and television spanned nearly five decades. He was born on 30 January 1914 in Traverse City, Michigan, and died on 9 February 1995.

Wayne began on Broadway, where he originated roles including Ensign Pulver in *Mister Roberts* and won two Tony Awards: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for *Finian's Rainbow* (1947) and Best Actor in a Play for *The Teahouse of the August Moon* (1953). He appeared in films such as *Adam's Rib* (1949), *The Andromeda Strain* (1971) and *The Front Page* (1974) as Roy Bensinger. On television he played the Mad Hatter in *Batman* (1966), Digger Barnes in *Dallas* (1978) and roles in series including *The Twilight Zone*, *Murder, She Wrote* and *The Golden Girls*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Golden Girls* (1985), Fi1m 88, as Big Daddy — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-golden-girls.md)
- *The Front Page* (1974), Fi1m 60, as Roy Bensinger — [page](https://film.one/film/the-front-page.md)

## Complete filmography (107)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards* (2005), as Grandpère Bonnard (segment "The Happy Time") (archive footage)
- *Poker Alice* (1987), as Amos
- *The Survivalist* (1987), as Dub Daniels
- *Masters of Photography - Edward Steichen* (1986), as Narrator (voice)
- *The Golden Girls* (1985), series, as Big Daddy — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-golden-girls.md)
- *Crazy like a Fox* (1984), series, as Jennings Hyde
- *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Cyrus Leffingwell
- *Finder of Lost Loves* (1984), series, as Professor Wheeler
- *Finders Keepers* (1984), as Stapleton
- *St. Elsewhere* (1982), series, as George Wyler — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/st-elsewhere.md)
- *Newhart* (1982), series, as Mr. Pittman
- *Matt Houston* (1982), series, as Bill Houston
- *House Calls* (1979), series, as Amos Weatherby
- *An American Christmas Carol* (1979), as Merrivale
- *The Prize Fighter* (1979), as Pop Morgan
- *The Girls in the Office* (1979), as Ben Nayfack
- *The Gift of Love* (1978), as O'Henry and Narrator
- *Lassie: The New Beginning* (1978), as Amos
- *Murder at the Mardi Gras* (1978), as Mickey Mills
- *Dallas* (1978), series, as Digger Barnes, Willard 'Digger' Barnes
- *Big Hawaii* (1977), series, Actor
- *Eight Is Enough* (1977), series, Actor
- *In the Glitter Palace* (1977), as Nate Redstone
- *Hunter* (1977), series, Actor
- *The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries* (1977), series, Actor
- *Once an Eagle* (1976), series, as Col. Terwilliger
- *Delvecchio* (1976), series, as Jack Henderson
- *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), as (archive footage)
- *Ellery Queen* (1975), series, as Inspector Richard Queen
- *Switch* (1975), series, as Dancer
- *The Apple Dumpling Gang* (1975), as T.R. Clydesdale
- *Tubby the Tuba* (1975), as Pee-Wee the Piccolo (voice)
- *Ellery Queen: Too Many Suspects* (1975), as Insp. Richard Queen
- *It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!* (1975), as Dr. Abner Sedgwick
- *Barney Miller* (1975), series, as E.J. Heiss
- *The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One* (1974), as Maynard Richards
- *The Front Page* (1974), as Roy Bensinger — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-front-page.md)
- *Return of the Big Cat* (1974), as Grandpa Jubal
- *Huckleberry Finn* (1974), as The Duke
- *Faraday and Company* (1973), series, as Branigan
- *Barnaby Jones* (1973), series, as Raymond Lennox / 'Steele'
- *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, as Wally Sensibaugh
- *The Brian Keith Show* (1972), series, Actor
- *Banacek* (1972), series, as Walter Tyson
- *The Catcher* (1972), as Armand Faber
- *Mooch Goes to Hollywood* (1971), as David Wayne (uncredited)
- *The African Elephant* (1971), as Narrator
- *The Good Life* (1971), series, as Charles Dutton
- *The Andromeda Strain* (1971), as Dr. Charles Dutton
- *Night Gallery* (1970), series, as Dr. Mill
- *The Boy Who Stole the Elephant* (1970), as Colonel Rufus Ryder
- *With These Hands* (1970), as Narrator
- *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), series, as Monsieur Bordeaux
- *Arsenic and Old Lace* (1969), as Teddy Brewster
- *The Name of the Game* (1968), series, as Emory Ward
- *Mannix* (1967), series, Actor
- *Ironside* (1967), series, as Dr. Ian Rice
- *CBS Playhouse* (1966), series, as George Spears
- *Batman* (1966), series, as The Mad Hatter
- *Burke's Law* (1963), series, as Al 'The Bomber' Devlin
- *Channing* (1963), series, as Dr. James Crown
- *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962), series, as Andrew Anderson
- *The Virginian* (1962), series, as Martin Reese
- *Sam Benedict* (1962), series, Actor
- *The Big Gamble* (1961), as Samuel Brennan
- *Anatomy of an Accident* (1961), as John Avery
- *Route 66* (1960), series, Actor
- *Outlaws* (1960), series, Actor
- *The Last Angry Man* (1959), as Woodrow Thrasher
- *The Twilight Zone* (1959), series, as Walter Bedeker — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-twilight-zone.md)
- *NBC Sunday Showcase* (1959), series, as The Devil
- *Sunday Showcase* (1959), Actor
- *Naked City* (1958), series, as Herbert Konish
- *The Three Faces of Eve* (1957), as Ralph White
- *The Sad Sack* (1957), as Corporal Larry Dolan
- *The Jet-Propelled Couch* (1957), as Dr. Kirk Allen
- *Suspicion* (1957), series, as James Mennick
- *DuPont Show of the Month* (1957), series, as Willis Reynolds
- *The Naked Hills* (1956), as Tracy Powell
- *The Tender Trap* (1955), as Joe McCall
- *The Alcoa Hour* (1955), series, as Homer Bolton
- *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, as Sam Jacoby
- *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Judge Warfield, Rev. Arthur Byrne
- *Norby* (1955), series, as Preston Norby
- *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, as Grandpa Jubal, Colonel Rufus Ryder
- *Hell and High Water* (1954), as Tugboat Walker
- *How to Marry a Millionaire* (1953), as Freddie Denmark
- *Down Among the Sheltering Palms* (1953), as Lt. Carl G. Schmidt
- *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as David Vincent, Arthur Martin
- *Tonight We Sing* (1953), as Sol Hurok
- *The I Don't Care Girl* (1953), as Ed McCoy
- *O. Henry's Full House* (1952), as Horace (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
- *We're Not Married!* (1952), as Jeff Norris
- *Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie* (1952), as Ben Halper
- *With a Song in My Heart* (1952), as Don Ross
- *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Sakini, Father Firenzuola
- *As Young as You Feel* (1951), as Joe Elliott
- *Up Front* (1951), as Joe
- *M* (1951), as Martin W. Harrow
- *My Blue Heaven* (1950), as Walter Pringle
- *Stella* (1950), as Carl Granger
- *The Reformer and the Redhead* (1950), as Arthur Maxwell
- *Adam's Rib* (1949), as Kip Lurie
- *Portrait of Jennie* (1948), as Gus O'Toole
- *Studio One* (1948), series, as Jasper Hornby
- *Ditch and Live* (1944), as Pilot of Ditching B-17
- *Stranger on the Third Floor* (1940), as Cab Driver (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![David Wayne](https://film.one/media/person/469652/gallery-fcd8f06a64bd.jpg) David Wayne — Trailer screenshot Licencing information :https://web.archive.org/web/20080321033709/http://www.sabucat.com/?pg=copyright and http://www.creativeclearance.com/guidelines.html#D2, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/David_Wayne_in_Adams_Rib_trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Promotion photo from Stella (1950) featuring Ann Sheridan and David Wayne](https://film.one/media/person/469652/gallery-8e0cce30014f.jpg) Promotion photo from Stella (1950) featuring Ann Sheridan and David Wayne — not credited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Ann_Sheridan_and_David_Wayne.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![David Wayne](https://film.one/media/person/469652/gallery-080e7beca253.jpg) David Wayne — Image via TMDB
- ![David Wayne](https://film.one/media/person/469652/gallery-e8ee4c0a3fa0.jpg) David Wayne — Image via TMDB
- ![David Wayne](https://film.one/media/person/469652/gallery-b4c681ef7b46.jpg) David Wayne — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 4 won, 1 nominated

- Grammy Hall of Fame 1997: Grammy Hall of Fame (won)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical 1968: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (nominated)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play 1954: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (won)
- Theatre World Award 1947: Theatre World Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical 1947: Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-wayne