Editing William Bendix (section)

===Film===
[[File:The-Glass-Key-1942-Poster.jpg|thumb|right|Poster for ''[[The Glass Key (1942 film)|The Glass Key]]'' (1942)]]
Bendix began his acting career at age 30 in the New Jersey [[Federal Theatre Project]]. He made his film debut in 1942.{{Citation needed |date=July 2024}} He played in supporting roles in dozens of Hollywood films, usually as a warm-hearted gangster, detective or serviceman. He began with appearances in [[films noir]], including a supporting role in ''[[The Glass Key (1942 film)|The Glass Key]]'' (1942), which featured [[Brian Donlevy]], [[Alan Ladd]] and [[Veronica Lake]] in the leads. He soon gained attention after appearing in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Lifeboat (1944 film)|Lifeboat]]'' (1944) as Gus, a wounded and dying American sailor. He was the [[Billing (performing arts)|top-billed]] lead in ''[[The Hairy Ape (film)|The Hairy Ape]]'' (1944) based upon the [[Eugene O'Neill]] play, also starring [[Susan Hayward]] and [[Dorothy Comingore]].

Bendix's other film roles include his portrayal of Babe Ruth in ''[[The Babe Ruth Story]]'' (1948)&nbsp;– a film roundly considered one of the worst sports biopics in film history<ref>{{cite web|title=Worst Movie Biopics: Real-Life Catastrophes|work=[[Moviefone]]|date=November 5, 2009|url=http://news.moviefone.com/2009/11/05/worst-movie-biopics/|access-date=November 30, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203031806/http://news.moviefone.com/2009/11/05/worst-movie-biopics/|archive-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Babe Ruth Story (1948)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/3535/The-Babe-Ruth-Story/overview |access-date=November 30, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018024531/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/3535/The-Babe-Ruth-Story/overview|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Hal Erickson|author-link=Hal Erickson (author)|year=2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Duke as Williams? A Prince of an Idea |author-link=Dan Shaughnessy|first=Dan|last=Shaughnessy|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XscSAAAAIBAJ&pg=7230,788739&dq=babe+ruth+story+worst+film&hl=en |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|via=[[Spokane Chronicle]] |date=April 3, 1986 |access-date=November 30, 2013}}</ref>&nbsp;– and [[Sagramore|Sir Sagramore]] opposite [[Bing Crosby]] in ''[[A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949 film)|A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court]]'' (1949), in which he took part in the trio, "Busy Doing Nothing".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/b/busydoingnothing.shtml|website=International Lyrics Playground|title=Busy Doing Nothing&nbsp;– From the film "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" (1949)|quote=Bing Crosby, William Bendix, Cedric Hardwicke (Film Soundtrack)- 1949}}</ref> He played Nick the bartender in the film version of [[William Saroyan]]'s ''[[The Time of Your Life (film)|The Time of Your Life]]'' (1948) starring [[James Cagney]]. Bendix had appeared in the stage version, but in the role of Officer Krupp (a role played on film by [[Broderick Crawford]]). He was cast in ''[[The Blue Dahlia]]'' (1946), appearing for the second time alongside Ladd and Lake. He also starred in a film adaptation of his radio program ''[[The Life of Riley (1949 film)|The Life of Riley]]'' (1949).