Film Career
In 1942, while still an active player, Dickey appeared as himself in the film The Pride of the Yankees, which starred Gary Cooper as the late Yankee captain and first baseman Lou Gehrig. Late in the movie, when Gehrig was fading due to the disease that would eventually take his life, a younger Yankee grumbled, in the locker room, "the old man on first needs crutches to get around!"—and Dickey, following the script, belted the younger player, after which he said the kid "talked out of turn."
Dickey also appeared as himself in the film The Stratton Story in 1949. In the film, Dickey was scripted to take a called third strike from Jimmy Stewart's character. Dickey objected, stating "I never took a third strike. I always swung", and asking the director, Sam Wood, to allow him to swing through the third strike; Wood insisted that Dickey take the third strike. After many takes, Dickey commented: "I've struck out more times this morning than I did throughout my entire baseball career."
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