CORNEL WILDE

October 13, 1912 

Cornel Louis Wilde was born Kornél Lajos Weisz in Privigye, Kingdom of Hungary (now Prievidza, Slovakia) on October 13, 1912. When his family immigrated to the United States in 1920, his name was Anglicized to Cornelius Wilde. Wilde attended the City College of New York as a pre-med student, then winning a scholarship to Columbia University. He qualified for the United States fencing team for the 1936 Summer Olympics, but quit the team to take a role in the theater. 

Wilde’s acting career began in 1933, when he made his debut on Broadway in They All Come To Moscow. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited appearances in films. 

In 1937, he married Patricia Wright and had a daughter, Wendy. The Wildes frequently shaved years off of their ages. Wilde also hid his foreign birth by claiming to have been born in New York City. 

The couple divorced in 1951 and Wilde quickly remarried to Jean Wallace with whom he had a son, Cornel Wallace Wilde. The marriage lasted 30 years before they divorced. 

By the 1940s he had signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and his first credited role was in High Sierra (1941) starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. 

In the 1940s he became a major leading man and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in 1945’s A Song to Remember. 

In late April 1948, Lucille Ball and Cornel Wilde appeared on “Lux Radio Theatre” in “It Had To Be You” based on the 1947 film. Lucy took the role originally played by her friend Ginger Rogers and Wilde recreated his role from the film. 

In the 1950s his star dimmed a little, and aside from an occasional blockbuster like The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), which was supposed to be his first big screen encounter with Lucille Ball, but she withdrew from the film due to her pregnancy. 

In 1955, Wilde did his first television show, “The Star Upstairs” (ILL S4;E25) in a script originally written for Van Johnson. Johnson’s participation was delayed due to his being a spokesman for Lucky Strike, a competitor of “I Love Lucy’s” sponsor Philip Morris. He eventually did “The Dancing Star” (ILL S4;E27). 

The story has Lucy Ricardo desperate to meet her 100th celebrity in Hollywood – and Cornel Wilde is conveniently in the suite right above theirs. 

Despite Ricky’s disapproval, Lucy sneaks into his room – then can’t get out again! 

In the episode, Ricky manages to get in a plug for Wilde’s new movie The Big Combo, which had opened in February, two weeks before the episode was filmed. 

His final screen role was an episode of “Murder She Wrote” in 1987. Wilde played a doctor who is found dead in his hot tub! 

Wilde died of leukemia in 1989, three days after his 77th birthday and just six months after the death of Lucille Ball.  

“I realized long ago that I could not depend on luck to bring me success. I worked hard, extra hard to improve my chance by increasing my abilities and my experience. It was my goal to accomplish, in my life, something of value and to do it with self-respect and integrity.” ~ Cornel Wilde