John Megna
John Megna | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | John Albert Flynn Ingolia November 9, 1952 Queens, New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | September 4, 1995 (aged 42) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Cause of death | AIDS-related complications |
| Occupation | Actor, director, teacher |
| Years active | 1959–1984 |
| Known for | To Kill a Mockingbird |
| Relatives | Connie Stevens (half-sister) |
John F. Megna (November 9, 1952 – September 4, 1995) was an American actor, director and teacher. His best known role is that of "Dill" in the film To Kill a Mockingbird.
Early life[edit]
John Anthony Megna was born in Ozone Park, Queens, New York, to Ralph W. Megna, a pharmacist[citation needed], and Eleanor McGinley, a one-time nightclub singer. He was a half-brother of Connie Stevens and an ex-brother-in-law of Eddie Fisher. He attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, New York.[1]
Career[edit]
At age 6, Megna made his acting debut in Frank Loesser's Broadway musical Greenwillow.[2] At 7, he starred in All the Way Home,[2] an adaptation of James Agee's novel about the effect of a father's death on his family.[3] This led to his being cast as Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, the toothy young summer visitor in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. The character was based on writer Truman Capote, a childhood friend and later associate of Harper Lee, the author of the original novel.[1]
Megna appeared in many television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s; he portrayed a near-blind child in the Naked City episode "A Horse Has a Big Head - Let Him Worry!", one of the onlies" in the "Miri" episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, Stephan in I Spy (1967), and Little Adam in the NASA-produced animated shorts The Big World of Little Adam.
His other film appearances include Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) with John Travolta, and Go Tell the Spartans (1978) with Burt Lancaster. He also acted in two car-chase films starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Hal Needham – Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and The Cannonball Run (1981).
Later career[edit]
Megna graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, as a performing arts major.
As an adult, he turned to directing plays. He was the founding director of L.A. Arts, a nonprofit theater group in Los Angeles.[1] He later became a high school English teacher, and last taught at James Monroe High School in North Hills, California.[4] He also taught Honors English at Hollenbeck Jr High in East Los Angeles.
Death[edit]
John Megna died from AIDS-related complications on September 4, 1995, at Midway Hospital in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 42.[3]
Television[edit]
- Naked City (1962) - Harold Denton
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour - The Magic Shop (1964) (TV) - Anthony 'Tony' Grainger
- Star Trek, episode "Miri" (1966) (TV) - Little Boy
- Skag (1980) (TV)
- The Mogul (1984)
Filmography[edit]
- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Dill Harris
- Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) - New Boy
- Blindfold (1966) - Mario Vincenti
- The Godfather Part II (1974) - Young Hyman Roth (uncredited)
- The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) (TV Movie) - Smith
- I Want to Keep My Baby (1976) (TV Movie) - Andy
- Another Man, Another Chance (1977) - Loser in Saloon (uncredited)
- Go Tell the Spartans (1978) - Cpl. Ackley
- Sunnyside (1979) - B.B.
- Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979) - Outlaw
- Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) - P.T.
- The Cannonball Run (1981) - Arthur Rose
- The Ratings Game (1984) - Al (final film role)
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "John Megna". Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Jump up to: a b John Megna at IBDB
- ^ Jump up to: a b "John Megna, 42, 'Mockingbird' Star". The New York Times. September 7, 1995.
- ^ Jones, Brittney (October 15, 2012). "John Megna–Famous Actor Lost to HIV/AIDS". AIDS Response Effort, Inc. Winchester, Virginia. Archived from the original on January 22, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2016. Cite uses deprecated parameter
|deadurl=(help)
External links[edit]
- John Megna on IMDb
- John Megna at the Internet Broadway Database
- John Megna at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
- 1952 births
- 1995 deaths
- Cornell University alumni
- American male child actors
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American theatre directors
- Male actors from New York City
- Educators from California
- People from Queens, New York
- AIDS-related deaths in California
- 20th-century American male actors
- American people of Italian descent
- Educators from New York City
- Holy Cross High School (Flushing) alumni
'TV영화관' 카테고리의 다른 글
| Ben Gazzara (0) | 2019.09.22 |
|---|---|
| Road House (1989 film) (0) | 2019.09.22 |
| 알라바마 이야기 (0) | 2019.09.22 |
| To Kill a Mockingbird (film) (0) | 2019.09.22 |
| 앵무새 죽이기 (0) | 2019.09.22 |