John F. Megna (November 9, 1952 â€" September 4, 1995) was an American
actor, director and teacher. His best known role is that of "Dill" in
the film To Kill a Mockingbird.John Anthony Megna was born in Ozone
Park, Queens, New York, to Ralph W. Megna, a pharmacist[citation
needed], and Eleanor McGinley, a one-time nightclub singer. He was a
half-brother of Connie Stevens and an ex-brother-in-law of Eddie
Fisher. He attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, New York.At
age 6, Megna made his acting debut in Frank Loesser's Broadway musical
Greenwillow. At 7, he starred in All the Way Home, an adaptation of
James Agee's novel about the effect of a father's death on his family.
This led to his being cast as Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, the toothy
young summer visitor in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. The
character was based on writer Truman Capote, a childhood friend and
later associate of Harper Lee, the author of the original novel.Megna
appeared in many television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s;
he portrayed a near-blind child in the Naked City episode "A Horse Has
a Big Head - Let Him Worry!", one of the "Onlies" in the "Miri"
episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, Stephan in I Spy (1967),
and Little Adam in the NASA-produced animated shorts The Big World of
Little Adam.
actor, director and teacher. His best known role is that of "Dill" in
the film To Kill a Mockingbird.John Anthony Megna was born in Ozone
Park, Queens, New York, to Ralph W. Megna, a pharmacist[citation
needed], and Eleanor McGinley, a one-time nightclub singer. He was a
half-brother of Connie Stevens and an ex-brother-in-law of Eddie
Fisher. He attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, New York.At
age 6, Megna made his acting debut in Frank Loesser's Broadway musical
Greenwillow. At 7, he starred in All the Way Home, an adaptation of
James Agee's novel about the effect of a father's death on his family.
This led to his being cast as Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, the toothy
young summer visitor in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. The
character was based on writer Truman Capote, a childhood friend and
later associate of Harper Lee, the author of the original novel.Megna
appeared in many television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s;
he portrayed a near-blind child in the Naked City episode "A Horse Has
a Big Head - Let Him Worry!", one of the "Onlies" in the "Miri"
episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, Stephan in I Spy (1967),
and Little Adam in the NASA-produced animated shorts The Big World of
Little Adam.
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