John Dall (May 26, 1920) was primarily a stage actor, who had a great beginning, but did not enjoy a sustained career.
Dall is best remembered today for three film roles. He first came to fame as the young prodigy who comes alive under the tutelage of Bette Davis in The Corn Is Green (1945), for which he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, at the age of 25.
The second memorable role was that of the cool-minded intellectual killer in Hitchcock’s Rope, in 1950.
Dall made a strong impression as the trigger-happy lead in the classic 1950 film noir, Gun Crazy.
He also had a substantial role in Kubrick’s Spartacus, in 1960.
His career output was very small, due to all kinds of reasons, but he made his mark quickly, and since his death, two of his features became cult classics, Rope and Gun Crazy.
He died on January 15, 1971, age 50.