Phillip Terry (born Frederick Henry Kormann; March 7, 1909 – February 23, 1993) was an American actor.
Early years Terry was born Frederick Henry Kormann on March 7, 1909 in San Francisco, California to Frederick Andrew Kormann and his wife, Ida Ruth (Voll). He "had elementary education in various schools in the oil country around Texas and Oklahoma." He attended Iona High School in New York and Sacred Heart College in San Francisco.
Career After studying at the Royal Academy, he toured British provinces for four years performing in stock theater. He went to Hollywood and took a job with CBS Radio, where he performed in a number of plays on the air, specializing in Shakespearean roles. In 1937, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scout heard him in one of these broadcasts and arranged an interview. Terry made a screen test and was awarded a contract with the studio. One of his first film appearances was in a bit part in the movie Mannequin (1937) starring Joan Crawford.
Two years later he signed with Paramount, where he starred in The Parson of Panamint, The Monster and the Girl in 1941. He then did supporting roles in Wake Island (1942) and Bataan (1943), the work on the latter occurring when he was on "loan-out" to MGM. During World War II Terry was classified "4F" unfit for military service due to defective vision.Considine, Shaun Bette And Joan: The Divine Feud Hachette UK, January 29, 2015. When he left Paramount, he signed with RKO and was in Music in Manhattan, George White's Scandals, Pan-Americana, Born to Kill and the lead in Seven Keys to Baldpate (1947). Terry appeared in more than eighty movies over the span of his career. Many of the early roles were small and often uncredited. But in the 1940s, he received bigger and more numerous roles in some quality movies, such as The Lost Weekend (1945) starring Ray Milland, and To Each His Own (1946) starring Olivia de Havilland, who won an Oscar as Best Actress for her performance in the film.
Marriages On July 21, 1942, at the Hidden Valley Ranch in Ventura County, California, he married film star Joan Crawford. They were divorced in 1946. Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Sylvia Wallace wrote in their book, The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People:Despite her status as a single parent, in 1939 she [Crawford] began adoption proceedings for a baby girl, whom she named Joan Crawford, Jr. Months later, Joan changed the child's name to Christina...During [her marriage to Phillip Terry] she adopted a second child — a boy — and named him Phillip Terry, Jr. Following her 1946 divorce from Terry, she renamed the boy Christopher Crawford.
Later years Terry never completely abandoned acting. During the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, he took on occasional movie roles. Some of his better B movies from this period include The Leech Woman (1960), with Grant Williams, and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966), with Mamie Van Doren. Sometimes he would accept television roles and was in episodes of The Name of the Game and Police Woman. He also made five guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Robert Doniger in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Gallant Grafter", and he played murderer Lawrence Kent in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Resolute Reformer".
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1937 The Last Gangster Reporter Uncredited1937 Navy Blue and Gold Kelly 1937 You're Only Young Once Pilot Uncredited1937 Mannequin Man Outside Stage Door Uncredited1937 Rosalie West Point Cadet Uncredited1938 Love Is a Headache Club 44 Radio Man Uncredited1938 Of Human Hearts Army Intern Uncredited1938 Test Pilot Photographer Uncredited1938 Hold That Kiss Ted Evans 1938 Yellow Jack Ferguson 1938 Three Comrades Young Soldier Uncredited1938 Marie Antoinette Man in Gaming House Uncredited1938 Boys Town Newspaper Reporter Uncredited1938 Too Hot to Handle San Francisco Airport Official Uncredited1938 Vacation from Love Band Leader Uncredited1938 Young Dr. Kildare Dr. Vickery Uncredited1938 The Great Waltz Student Uncredited1938 Spring Madness Dartmouth College Student Uncredited1938 Four Girls in White Dr. Sidney 1939 Honolulu Nightclub Bandleader Uncredited1939 Calling Dr. Kildare Bates 1939 Tell No Tales Man on Stage Uncredited1939 It's a Wonderful World Chauffeur Uncredited1939 On Borrowed Time Bill Lowry 1939 Miracles for Sale Magic Show Master of Ceremonies Uncredited1939 Fast and Furious Master of Ceremonies Uncredited1939 Balalaika Lt. Smirnoff 1940 Those Were the Days! Ransom 1940 Junior G-Men Jim Bradford Serial1940 Fugitive from a Prison Camp Bill Harding 1940 North West Mounted Police Constable Judson Uncredited1940 Dancing on a Dime Brent Martin 1941 The Monster and the Girl Scot Webster 1941 I Wanted Wings Radio Operator Uncredited1941 The Parson of Panamint Reverend Philip Pharo 1941 Public Enemies Bill Raymond 1942 Torpedo Boat Tommy Whelan 1942 Are Husbands Necessary? Cory Cortwright 1942 Sweater Girl Prof. Martin Lawrence 1942 Wake Island Pvt. 'Cookie' Warren Uncredited1943 Bataan Matthew Hardy 1944 Ladies Courageous Tommy Harper 1944 Music in Manhattan Johnny Pearson 1944 Double Exposure Ben Scribner 1945 Pan-Americana Dan Jordan 1945 The Lost Weekend Wick Birnam 1945 George White's Scandals Tom McGrath 1946 To Each His Own Alex Piersen 1946 The Dark Horse George Kelly 1947 Beat the Band Damon Dillingham 1947 Born to Kill Fred 1947 Seven Keys to Baldpate Kenneth Magee 1952 Deadline – U.S.A. Lewis Schaefer Uncredited1958 Man from God's Country Sheriff 1958 Money, Women and Guns Damian Bard 1960 The Leech Woman Dr. Paul Talbot 1961 The Explosive Generation Mr. Carlyle 1966 The Navy vs. the Night Monsters Base Doctor 1972 Class of '74 Dave
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