Actor. He is probably best remembered for his role as double-agent ‘Bill Dietrich’ in the 1945 film “The House of 92nd Street.” Born William John Joseph Eythe, he became interested in acting at an early age and often put on his own shows as an amateur producer/director. He attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he produced some of the school’s musicals and contributed some of his own songs. After graduating in 1941 he began writing plays, including “Lend an Ear” which had a successful run on Broadway. He then moved to New York City, New York and worked at various jobs in radio drama. When the US entered World War II in December 1941, he was exempted from military service due to poor hearing. In 1942 he landed a part in the Broadway play “The Eve of St. Mark” and two years later he appeared in the film version of the play. In 1943 he played the role of ‘Gerald Tetley’ in the film “The Ox-Bow Incident” that featured Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews. The same year, he appeared opposite Jennifer Jones in the Academy Award winning film “The Song of Bernadette.” His other film appearances include “Wing and a Prayer” (1944), “A Royal Scandal” (1945), “Colonel Effingham’s Raid” (1946), “Meet Me at Dawn” (1947), and “Mr. Reckless” (1948). By 1950 he had left films and focused his career on the theater. His life soon took a downward spiral as he suffered from depression and began to drink heavily, leading to a number of publicized brushes with the law and his health began to deteriorate. He was briefly married to actress Buff Cobb from 1947 to 1948 and was romantically linked to actor Lon McCallister up until his death from acute hepatitis at the age of 38. (bio by: William Bjornstad)  Family links:  Spouse:  Patrizia Cobb Chapman Martin (1927 – 2010)* *Calculated relationship