Brian Donlevy  Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, noted for playing dangerous tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best-known films are "Beau Geste" (1939), "The Great McGinty" (1940) and "Wake Island" (1942), in which he played the lead. For his role as Sergeant Markoff in "Beau Geste", he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Donlevy starred as US special agent Steve Mitchell in the radio/TV series "Dangerous Assignment". Mitchell received assignments to exotic locales involving international intrigue from the Commissioner played by Herbert Butterfield. Donlevy's obituary in "The Times" newspaper in the United Kingdom stated that "any consideration of the American 'film noir' of the 1940s would be incomplete without him". Donlevy was born in 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Irish parents Rebecca (née Parks) and Thomas Donlevy, who were originally from Portadown, County Armagh. Sometime between 1910 and 1912, the family moved to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, where Donlevy's father worked as a supervisor at the Brickner Woolen Mills. Donlevy began his career in New York City in the early 1920s, appearing in many theater productions and also winning an increasing number of silent film parts. Previously, he had modeled for the illustrator J. C. Leyendecker, who produced illustrations for the famous Arrow Collar advertisements. Donlevy had small roles in the silent films "Jamestown" (1923), "Damaged Hearts" (1924), "Monsieur Beaucaire" (1924), "The Eve of the Revolution" (1924), and "School for Wives" (1925). He had a small role on Broadway's "What Price Glory" (1925), which was a big hit and ran for two years, establishing him as an actor. He was in the film "A Man of Quality" (1926). On Broadway he was in the popular musical "Hit the Deck" (1927–28), which ran for a year, then "Ringside" (1928), "Rainbow" (1928), and "Queen Bee" (1929). He had roles in the films "Gentlemen of the Press" (1929) and "Mother's Boy" (1929).