January 20 - Leon Ames

On this day, in 1902, Harry Wycoff was born in Portland, Indiana. A fairly typical Midwestern boy, Harry attended Indian University at Bloomington, served in World War I in the Army as a field artillery gunner (later transferring to the flying corps) and always dreamed of becoming an actor. He began pursuing that dream as a stage manager for playwright Charles K. Champlin's theatre company. He eventually drifted on stage in progressively larger roles until he played the lead in Tomorrow and Tomorrow in Los Angeles.

That performance led to a name change to Leon Waycoff and, in 1931, to his big screen debut in a pre-code Spencer Tracy/George Raft film called Quick Millions. Leon spent the Thirties playing dozens of bit parts in film. By 1935 he'd changed his name again to Leon Ames. Fame still eluded him until he became an "overnight" success after playing Mr. Smith, Judy Garland's father, in Meet Me in St. Louis in 1944. Leon worked steadily for the rest of the decade and into the Fifties, working alongside Red Skelton, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day.

Image copyright Disney

Leon was also a regular player on the stages of Broadway. He made his debut in 1933 in It Pays to Sin (which apparently didn't pay all that well, it closed after three performances). Over the next three decades, he appeared in a dozen shows on the Great White Way including 1942's The Russian People and 1958's Winesburg, Ohio.

Leon joined the Disney family in 1961 as the President of Medfield College, Rufus Daggett, in the Fred MacMurray classic The Absent-Minded Professor. He reprised the overly stuffy Rufus for the 1963 sequel, Son of Flubber. In 1964, he appeared with Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello in The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, as an overly stuffy judge (who also happens to write crime novels on the side). Leon would again reprise his role in that movie's sequel, The Monkey's Uncle, the following year.

Image copyright TriStar Pictures

Leon spent much of the rest of his career as a staple on television and in movies. For the small screen, he had recurring roles in Mr. Ed, Father of the Bride (a one season series based on the Spencer Tracy film) and Bewitched. On the big screen, his appearances include Tora! Tora! Tora! and Timber Tramps. His final film was Peggy Sue Got Married in 1986 as Kathleen Turner's grandfather.

There are two other aspects to Leon's life worth mentioning. First, he was one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933. In 1957, he would serve a term as its president. Second, on February 12, 1964, an armed intruder broke into his home and held Leon and his wife hostage in demand for $50,000. Leon called his business partner for the money, the business partner alerted the police on the way over and the intruder was captured shortly after leaving the house (with Mrs. Ames and the business partner in the trunk of the car).

Leon would enjoy his twilight years until he suffered a stroke on October 12, 1993. He passed away in his home in Laguna Beach, California from complications brought on by that stroke and was buried in the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Cemetery. He was 91.