Career
Dano is remembered for his supporting roles in a number of 1950s western and mystery films. In "Mr. Lincoln", a five-part TV episode appearing in 1952-53 on Omnibus, Royal Dano very convincingly portrayed Lincoln.
He often worked with Anthony Mann and James Stewart. He played Elijah in John Huston's film version of Moby Dick, memorably intoning to Richard Basehart as Ishmael, "At sea one day, you'll smell land where there'll be no land, and on that day, Ahab will go to his grave, but he'll rise again within the hour. He will rise and beckon! Then all - all save one - shall follow!"
In The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), he portrayed Carey.
In the black comedy The Trouble With Harry, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, he had a small but pivotal role as the officious Deputy Sheriff. Over the years, Dano made many television appearances, often in bizarre, macabre roles such as Richard Boone's Have Gun Will Travel and the NBC legal drama Justice starring Dane Clark and Gary Merrill.
On December 2, 1957, Dano appeared as Wilbur English, a fearful man who kills a fellow gang member to collect the reward in the episode "Cheyenne Express" of John Payne's The Restless Gun, which aired on NBC. Ultimately, his cowardice causes Wilbur's own accidental death. In the MGM Technicolor widescreen religious epic King of Kings (1961), Dano played the role of Simon Peter.
In 1960, Dano portrayed Lucas Frome in the episode "Black Harvest" on Don Durant's CBS western, Johnny Ringo. In 1962, he guest starred on the CBS anthology series The Lloyd Bridges Show. In the 1965-1966 season, he guest starred on ABC's western series The Legend of Jesse James. Dano also played an ex-con who became Northfork's pastor, and "Honest Abe" in 1961 episodes of The Rifleman, an ABC Western series. He appeared on the series five times. Dano was also a frequent guest star on Gunsmoke, with a total of 13 appearances.
Dano was the voice of Abraham Lincoln for Walt Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" program, first presented at the 1964 World's Fair. Disney personally selected Dano, because he felt the actor came closest to the historical descriptions of Lincoln's voice. The "Great Moments" program was moved to Disneyland in 1965, and Dano's vocals continued to be a part of the program until 2001. In 1971, Dano's voice was also used for a revised Lincoln speech in the new "Hall Of Presidents" program at Walt Disney World in Florida, which ran to 1993. In 2009, Dano's vocals were returned to "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at Disneyland in a revised version of the show.
He had a memorable (if short) role as the coroner in Electra Glide in Blue (1973), who gets into a loud shouting match with Robert Blake's character. With no spoken dialogue (but sings the airman's version of the Navy Hymn), Dano was memorable as the saddened, unnamed preacher in The Right Stuff (1983). Dano is remembered for his comedic performance as the undead gold prospector, Gramps, in the horror/suspense/comedy/Aztec adventure House II: The Second Story. His final roles include Wrenchmuller in 1993's Spaced Invaders and Judge Clinton Sternwood in the TV series Twin Peaks.
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