Max Showalter
Max Gordon Showalter, sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One of Showalter's memorable roles was as the husband of Jean Peters' character in the 1953 film Niagara.
Early life
Showalter was born in Caldwell, Kansas, the son of Elma Roxanna Showalter, a music teacher, and Ira Edward Showalter, who worked in the oil industry and was also a banker and farmer. As a toddler, he developed a desire for acting while accompanying his mother to local theatres where she played piano for silent movies. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as an entertainer with the Special Services division.Stage
By the late 1930s, Showalter had multiple stage roles under his belt, including acting in productions of the Pasadena Playhouse. He soon made his Broadway debut in Knights of Song. Showalter also appeared in the traveling musical This Is the Army for two years and in other notable Broadway productions like Make Mine Manhattan and The Grass Harp. His most memorable stage role was as Horace Vandergelder in the Broadway hit show Hello Dolly!. Showalter performed the role more than 3,000 times opposite Carol Channing, Betty Grable, and Ethel Merman.Motion pictures and television
In the late 1940s, Showalter was signed to 20th Century Fox as a featured contract player. His name was changed by Fox's founder, Darryl F. Zanuck, to the more "bankable" Casey Adams.He made his feature film debut in Always Leave Them Laughing. He first appeared on live television in the short-lived musical variety series The Swift Show, also known as The Lanny Ross Show.
Showalter's second feature film was the biopic With a Song in My Heart, where he had a small role as a vaudeville performer. In the film, Showalter, along with David Wayne, sang the song "Hoe that Corn", which he also wrote. He appeared in Niagara alongside Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten. He made a cameo as a Life magazine photographer in another Monroe movie, Bus Stop, in 1956.
During the 1950s, Showalter appeared in television shows like The Loretta Young Show and Navy Log, in addition to films like Vicki, Down Three Dark Streets, Naked Alibi, Indestructible Man and Gunsmoke as "Barney Wales", the new husband of the title character "Mavis McCloud".
The following year, billed as Casey Adams, he appeared as Ward Cleaver in "It's a Small World", the original pilot for the 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver. The pilot was broadcast as an episode of the Studio 57 anthology series. He was replaced by Hugh Beaumont for the television series. Casey Adams also appeared in The Andy Griffith Show as antiques dealer Ralph Mason in the episode titled "The Horse Trader."
In the 1960s, Showalter reclaimed his original name and continued to land roles in such big-budget films as Elmer Gantry, The Music Man, and How to Murder Your Wife. He worked through the 1960s and 1970s. He made six appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Carl Reynolds in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Curious Bride," murder victim Burt Stokes in "The Case of the Wandering Widow" in 1960, and Talbot Sparr in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Ugly Duckling." He made appearances in other television series like The Twilight Zone, The Lucy Show, Gunsmoke, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The New Phil Silvers Show, Bewitched, Dr. Kildare, Surfside 6, The Doris Day Show, Kojak, Police Story, The Bob Newhart Show, as well as in cult films, Lord Love a Duck, The Anderson Tapes and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the 1979 film 10, he famously played a pastor whose hobby was writing songs. He was also a regular cast member in the short-lived 1980 TV series The Stockard Channing Show. Showalter made his last onscreen appearance in the John Hughes film Sixteen Candles.
Composing
Showalter composed the music for Little Boy Blue, which opened at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California, on September 11, 1950. He also wrote the musical Go for Your Gun, which premiered in Manchester, England, in 1963.Recording
In 1956, Showalter recorded an album of his own music, Casey Adams Plays and Sings Max Showalter Songs. He was one of the artists featured on The Secret Garden, a 1988 CBS Special Products album containing performances of music from the musical of that title that "has played the repertory circuit in England."In the 1979 film 10, he parodies himself by portraying a church minister who fancies himself a songwriter, singing and playing a mediocre song he wrote, with George as his amused audience.