Darryl Gerard Hickman (born July 28, 1931) is an American film and
television actor, voice artist, screenwriter, television executive,
and acting coach. He is the older brother of actor Dwayne Hickman. He
started his career as a child actor in films and as an adult has
appeared in numerous TV series.Hickman was born in Hollywood,
California, to Milton and Katherine Hickman. His father sold insurance
and his mother was a housewife. In the mid-1930s, Darryl was
discovered by a dance school director and subsequently became a
student there. The following year, the famed Hollywood studio
Paramount signed a contract with the child actor. His first film role
was as Ronald Colman's son in The Prisoner of Zenda in 1937. He
attended Paramount's school in California and had classmates like Gene
Nelson and Jackie Cooper.In preparation for the 1939 Bing Crosby movie
The Star Maker, Paramount casting agents, led by Leroy Prinz,
interviewed over 1000 children. Hickman won one of the parts in the
film. Pleased with Hickman's performance, Crosby notified his older
brother and talent agent Everett Crosby of the young actor. After
this, he went on to appear in multiple motion pictures throughout the
1930s and 1940s in a wide array of genres. A busy performer, he would
sometimes work at different films simultaneously.In 1939, he was cast
in 20th Century Fox's film adaption of John Steinbeck's best-selling
novel from 1939 The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda and directed
by John Ford. He portrayed the role of "Winfield Joad", the youngest
member of a family trying to cope with the hardships of the Great
Depression. The film was a critical and commercial success, with Ford
winning an Academy Award for Best Director, while actress Jane Darwell
won for Best Supporting Actress. Another notable role during this time
included the war-time melodrama The Human Comedy, where he played a
mentally slow child. Hickman made a featured appearance as well as
"Frank" in the 1942 Our Gang comedy short Going to Press.
television actor, voice artist, screenwriter, television executive,
and acting coach. He is the older brother of actor Dwayne Hickman. He
started his career as a child actor in films and as an adult has
appeared in numerous TV series.Hickman was born in Hollywood,
California, to Milton and Katherine Hickman. His father sold insurance
and his mother was a housewife. In the mid-1930s, Darryl was
discovered by a dance school director and subsequently became a
student there. The following year, the famed Hollywood studio
Paramount signed a contract with the child actor. His first film role
was as Ronald Colman's son in The Prisoner of Zenda in 1937. He
attended Paramount's school in California and had classmates like Gene
Nelson and Jackie Cooper.In preparation for the 1939 Bing Crosby movie
The Star Maker, Paramount casting agents, led by Leroy Prinz,
interviewed over 1000 children. Hickman won one of the parts in the
film. Pleased with Hickman's performance, Crosby notified his older
brother and talent agent Everett Crosby of the young actor. After
this, he went on to appear in multiple motion pictures throughout the
1930s and 1940s in a wide array of genres. A busy performer, he would
sometimes work at different films simultaneously.In 1939, he was cast
in 20th Century Fox's film adaption of John Steinbeck's best-selling
novel from 1939 The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda and directed
by John Ford. He portrayed the role of "Winfield Joad", the youngest
member of a family trying to cope with the hardships of the Great
Depression. The film was a critical and commercial success, with Ford
winning an Academy Award for Best Director, while actress Jane Darwell
won for Best Supporting Actress. Another notable role during this time
included the war-time melodrama The Human Comedy, where he played a
mentally slow child. Hickman made a featured appearance as well as
"Frank" in the 1942 Our Gang comedy short Going to Press.
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