James Daly (actor)
James Firman Daly was an American actor. Recognized for his work on stage and screen, he is perhaps best known for his role as Paul Lochner in the hospital drama series Medical Center, in which he played Chad Everett's superior.
Early life
Daly was born in Wisconsin Rapids in Wood County in central Wisconsin, to Dorothy Ethelbert Mullen, who later worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, and Percifer Charles Daly, a fuel merchant. During the 1930s, Daly studied drama and acted in shows before serving in three branches of the armed forces, including six months as an infantryman in the U.S. Army, two months as a cadet in the Army Air Corps, and more than four years in the Navy as an ensign during World War II.Daly attended the University of Wisconsin, State University of Iowa, and Carroll College before receiving a degree from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Cornell College later presented him with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
Career
Daly was an accomplished stage actor, starting out in 1946 as Gary Merrill's understudy in Born Yesterday. His starring roles on Broadway included Archibald MacLeish's Pulitzer Prize–winning J.B. and Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment.Between 1953 and 1954, Daly appeared in the third season of Foreign Intrigue as the main character Michael Powers.
He guest-starred on many television series, including Appointment with Adventure, Breaking Point, Mission: Impossible, DuPont Cavalcade Theater portraying Bill Wilson the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, The Twilight Zone, The Tenderfoot for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, The Road West, Custer, Gunsmoke, Combat!, The Fugitive, The Virginian, and Twelve O'Clock High. He portrayed Mr. Flint in the Star Trek episode "Requiem for Methuselah".
In 1968, he appeared in the movie Planet of the Apes. He was a series regular on Medical Center on CBS between 1969 and 1976 portraying Dr. Paul Lochner.
In 1958, Daly signed a contract with the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to do television commercials for Camel cigarettes. He served as the Camel representative for seven years, being flown by Reynolds throughout the United States to be filmed smoking a Camel cigarette at various locations.
In addition to his acting career, Daly was one of the hosts on NBC Radio's weekend Monitor program in 1963–1964.
Daly's last screen role was as Mr. Boyce in the mini-series Roots: The Next Generations.
Personal life
Two of Daly's children, Tyne Daly and Tim Daly, and his grandson, Sam Daly, are actors. Tyne appeared on Daly's TV series, Foreign Intrigue, as a child. She also played Jennifer Lochner, Paul Lochner's adult daughter, on Medical Center in the 1970 season one episode "Moment of Decision". The elder Daly and his daughter both guest-starred separately in the original Mission: Impossible TV series. Tim appeared as a child with his father in Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People. Daly had two other children: daughters Mary Glynn and Pegeen Michael.According to his son Tim Daly during an interview on CBS News Sunday Morning, James Daly came out to Tim as gay a decade after divorcing his wife Hope. His struggle to come to terms with his sexual orientation nearly put a rift between him and his family. As homosexuality was still considered a mental illness until the early 1970s, he and his wife tried and failed at "curing" him. After their divorce, Daly decided to limit his contact with his children out of fear that they would end up mentally ill themselves.