Robert Shayne

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Robert Shayne October 4 1900 November 29 1992 born Robert Shaen Dawe was an American actor whose career lasted for over 60 years He was best known for portraying Inspector Bill Henderson in the American television series Adventures of Superman Shayne became an actor after having worked as a reporter at the Illustrated Daily Tab in Miami Florida His initial acting experience came with repertory companies in Alabama including the Birmingham Players Shaynes first Broadway appearance came by 1931 in The Rap His other Broadway shows include Yellow Jack 1934 The Cat and the Canary 1935 Whiteoaks 1938 with Ethel Barrymore and Without Love 1942 with Katharine Hepburn Shayne began his film career in 1934 appearing in two features In 1942 he became a contract actor with Warner Bros He played many character roles in movies and television including a film series of Warner Bros featurettes called the Santa Fe Trail series such as Wagon Wheels West and as a mad scientist in the 1953 horror film The Neanderthal Man He appears briefly in Alfred Hitchcocks North by Northwest seated at a booth in a hotel bar where his character meets Cary Grants character just as the latter is about to be kidnapped He also had a small but pivotal role in the 1953 scifi classic Invaders From Mars as a scientist He also enjoyed a brief rebirth in his career when he was cast as the blind newspaper vendor in The Flash television show He was by this time actually blind and learned his lines by having his wife read them to him and then rehearse until he memorized them Shayne portrayed Police Inspector William Bill Henderson on the 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman He appeared sporadically in the early episodes of the series in part because he came under HUAC scrutiny and was briefly blacklisted on unproven and unspecific charges of association with Communism As the program evolved especially in the color episodes he was brought into more and more of them to the point where he was a regular on the series