Myron McCormick

Walter Myron McCormick was born on February 8, 1908, in Albany, Indiana, the middle of three children born to Walter P. and Bessie M. McCormick. His father, recorded in the 1920 federal census as an Illinois native, worked as a manufacturer of tinware. McCormick pursued his education at New Mexico Military Institute before enrolling at Princeton University, where he earned membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Society, accumulated experience in musical theater, and graduated magna cum laude.

McCormick built a career spanning stage, radio, and film, with his Broadway work running from 1932 to 1955. His earliest credited stage appearance came with Carry Nation in 1932, and subsequent productions through the 1930s included Hell Freezes Over, How Beautiful with Shoes, Substitute for Murder, and Paths of Glory, all in 1935, followed by The Wingless Victory in 1936, In Clover in 1937, and Thunder Rock in 1939. The early 1940s brought further credits: Lily of the Valley in 1941, The Damask Cheek in 1942, and the drama Storm Operation in 1943. He continued with Soldier's Wife in 1944, Joy to the World in 1947, and 27 Wagons Full of Cotton in 1954.

The defining achievement of McCormick's stage career was his role as sailor Luther Billis in South Pacific, the Broadway production that ran for 1,925 performances over nearly five years. He was one of only three cast members to remain with the show for its entire run. The performance earned him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1950, as well as the Donaldson Award for best supporting performance by an actor for the 1948–1949 season.

McCormick's final major Broadway credit was No Time for Sergeants, a military comedy in which he played the beleaguered Sergeant King. The production ran from 1955 to 1957, and McCormick reprised the role in the 1958 film adaptation starring Andy Griffith.

His screen career began with the 1936 film Winterset, though film appearances remained infrequent through the 1940s. A notable exception was the commercially successful Jolson Sings Again in 1949, in which he portrayed the figure responsible for reviving Al Jolson's show business career. He also appeared in Jigsaw that same year and in The Man Who Understood Women in 1959. Among his most recognized film roles was Charlie, the partner of pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson, played by Paul Newman, in The Hustler in 1961.

Beyond the stage and screen, McCormick was a featured performer in the radio soap opera Buck Private and His Girl and participated in numerous popular radio dramas during the 1940s. His television work included guest appearances on The Untouchables, Naked City, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Donna Reed Show, and Way Out. In 1960 he appeared in a television production of The Iceman Cometh, and in 1959 he played Joe Saul in an adaptation of John Steinbeck's Burning Bright on The Play of the Week series.

McCormick was married twice, to actress Martha Hodge and to Barbara MacKenzie. He died on July 30, 1962, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City from cancer at the age of 54, survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter.