Royal Dano's deep, croaky voice and gaunt face made him particularly useful when a film needed unease. We rate his ability to make supporting parts register, though the repeated demand for sinister men could leave him with little else to do.
Fi1m perspective
The voice is deep and croaky; the face is gaunt, the figure tall and lean. Royal Dano gives a casting director several reasons to think of trouble before he has been given a line. His cowboys, villains and gloomy supporting characters were often narrow assignments, but he could make them distinguishable in an ensemble. We value that skill, while wishing the casting had more often asked something beyond looking and sounding ominous.
His 1950s work offers the clearest introduction, from the Tattered Soldier in The Red Badge of Courage (1951) to westerns with Anthony Mann and James Stewart, including Bend of the River (1952) and The Far Country (1954). Then there is Corey in Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar (1954), a fierce, theatrical film carried by Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge. We were unsettled by the hatred between them, because their performances make it credible even when the dialogue becomes too emphatic. We would start here, with the warning that the arguments sometimes run longer than they need to.
In Man of the West (1958), Mann casts him as Trout, within another western whose solemnity can become oppressive. Gary Cooper's quiet performance is the chief reason we recommend it; Lee J. Cobb sometimes presses too hard, and the film gives violence its proper weight. The severity is a natural setting for Dano's voice and appearance, though those same qualities encouraged filmmakers to keep asking for variations on the sinister figure. Mann remains the director to follow through this part of his work.
The later work took him into horror and comedy, with Farmer Gene Green in Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) and Digger Holt in The Dark Half (1993), his final film. That move makes sense for an actor whose voice could make authority sound ominous. Typecasting gave him a recognisable place, but it also narrowed what was asked of him. For more, follow his work with Mann back to Bend of the River.
Biography
Royal Dano was an American character actor whose career in film and television spanned 46 years. Born in New York City on 16 November 1922, he began in the theatre and made his Broadway debut in the musical Finian's Rainbow. His film debut came in Undercover Girl (1950).
Dano appeared frequently in westerns and was often cast as cowboys, villains or eccentrics. Notable roles include Corey in Johnny Guitar (1954), the Tattered Soldier in The Red Badge of Courage (1951), Elijah in Moby Dick (1956), Ten Spot in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Farmer Gene Green in Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988). He also provided the voice of Abraham Lincoln for Walt Disney's Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Hall of Presidents attractions. He died in Santa Monica, California, on 15 May 1994.
