Howard Da Silva (May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was a versatile American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in more than two dozen television programs, and acted in more than fifty feature films. Adept at both drama and musicals on the stage, he appeared in the original 1943 run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!, and also portrayed the prosecuting attorney in the 1957 stage production of Compulsion. Da Silva was nominated for a 1960 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in Fiorello!, a musical about New York City mayor LaGuardia. In 1961, Da Silva directed Purlie Victorious, by Ossie Davis.

Many of his early feature films were of the noir genre and he often played the nemesis in the plot, such as two 1946 roles: that of Eddie Harwood in The Blue Dahlia, and the sadistic Captain Francis Thompson in Two Years Before the Mast. Da Silva's characterization of historic figures are among some of his most notable work: Benjamin Franklin in the 1969–1972 stage musical 1776 and a reprisal of the role for the 1972 film version of the production; Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in The Missiles of October in 1974; Franklin D. Roosevelt in The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover in 1977; and Louis B. Mayer in Mommie Dearest in 1981.

His American television character work included the defense attorney representing the robot in 1965 The Outer Limits 1964 episode "I, Robot", and district attorney Anthony Cleese in For the People. His 1978 performance as Eddie in the Great Performances production of Verna: USO Girl garnered the actor a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special.

In the 1970s, Da Silva recorded 26 episodes for CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Biography

Dans les années 1950, il fut une des cibles du maccarthysme et inscrit sur la liste noire du cinéma.

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