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Known for:	Wake Island, Kiss of Death, The Great McGinty
Birth name:	Waldo Brian Donlevy
Birthday:	9 February 1901, Portadown, County Armagh, Ireland. [now Portadown, Craigavon District, Northern Ire
Height:	5' 8" (1.73 m)

Sassy-talking, rugged-looking, square-shouldered supporting actor said, however, always to have gone through this necessary morning ritual before arriving on the movie set: 1) insert dentures; 2) don hairpiece; 3) strap on corset; 4) lace up "elevator" shoes. Played historical figure William Quantrill in two of his films: 'Kansas Raiders' (1950) and 'Woman They Almost Lynched' (1953) ; the second was not a sequel to the first. His character, Gil Warren, in 'In Old Chicago' (1937) died as a result of the Chicago fire and his character, Steely Edwards, in 'The Great Man's Lady' (1942) , died in the San Francisco fire. When he was working on 'I Wanted Wings' (1941) with Ray Milland they filmed on an actual military base and he played Capt. Mercer. Brian got so tired of soldiers thinking he was a real captain and saluting him that he wore a sign around his neck that said, "Actor." On January 11, 1950, he crashed the plane he was flying into a hillside near Solvang, California, but miraculously walked away. Crazy about gold mining and writing poetry. According to a statement in a 1944 movie magazine, Brian Donlevy did not smoke or play cards. The only smoking he did was "for the movies." It is widely believed that Ray Milland accidentally cut Donlevy's shoulder during the filming of 'Beau Geste' (1939) when he missed the protective padding with his bayonet. This legend was recently repeated on American Movie Classics (AMC) during an airing of the film. In actuality, Ray stabbed him in the lower left ribcage. The wound was deep enough to not only make him bleed but resulted in a scar that Donlevy bore for the rest of his life. In 'Birth of the Blues' (1941) , Donlevy's cornet actually played by 'Poky Carriere' . He was William Holden's best man at his wedding to Brenda Marshall in 1941. Father of Judy Donlevy. Step-father of Bela Lugosi Jr.. Besides television, he also portrayed government spy Steve Mitchell on NBC Radio's "Dangerous Assignment" (1949-1953). Although he is typically credited as having been with the Lafayette Escadrille, he was not. However he was a member of a group of young American men who went to France and received flight training there in WWI. As such, he was an honorary member of The Lafayette Flying Corps (also known as the Franco-American Flying Corps). The Corps was never officially a unit, it is a collective name for all American pilots -- including the Lafayette Escadrille pilots -- who flew for the French during World War I. The exact number of actual pilots who flew for the French is open to question and many different numbers exist depending on who is counting. The numbers range from as low as 180 to over 300. The most widely accepted number of men who were recognized as having successfully completed French flight training (received their "brevets") is 209. Of this 209, only 180 actually served at the Front in combat divided among 66 French pursuit escadrilles and 27 bomber/observer escadrilles.

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