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Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast member.
He first made his career starring in various B-movies of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s (with a few A-picture exceptions like Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt). He was known in many Hollywood circles as "King of the Bs", sharing the throne with his "queen", Lucille Ball.
/ref> He graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City with a bachelor's degree in 1935, after attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a year where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He became involved with the drama school at the University of Iowa and decided to become an actor.
Carey was on Broadway in Lady in the Dark (1941) opposite Gertrude Lawrence, Danny Kaye and Victor Mature. His performance led to him receiving a contract offer from Paramount. He later recalled, "1941 was probably the greatest year of my life. I got my first big hit with Lady in the Dark, I got married and I signed with Paramount Pictures. I only wish I could remember it all better." The reason was his alcoholism.
Carey's career received a boost when borrowed by Alfred Hitchcock at Universal to play the romantic lead in Shadow of a Doubt (1943) with Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright. However the momentum was halted when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He had two months before he left, which enabled him to star in a musical for Paramount, Salute for Three (1943). Carey received his commission in early 1944 and attended fighter director school at Camp Murphy in Orlando, Florida. After school he served with Air Warning Squadron 3 with stints on Espiritu Santo, Bougainville and Mindanao.
In 1947, Carey returned to Paramount. They put him back into leading roles: Suddenly, It's Spring (1947), directed by Leisen, co-starring Paulette Goddard; Hazard (1948), again with Goddard; and Dream Girl (1948), supporting Betty Hutton, directed by Leisen.
Carey played Cesare Borgia in Bride of Vengeance (1948) alongside Goddard, directed by Leisen, but it was a flop. More popular was a Western, Streets of Laredo (1949), but William Holden was the hero; Carey was the villain.
In 1949, he co-starred as "Nick Carraway" in Alan Ladd's version of The Great Gatsby. Carey followed this with Song of Surrender (1949), once again directed by Leisen.
Universal borrowed Carey for two films: a Western with Maureen O'Hara, Comanche Territory (1950), and South Sea Sinner (1950) with Shelley Winters.
Back at Paramount he was in a low budget film noir, The Lawless (1950) directed by Joseph Losey. Back at Paramount he was a villain to Ray Milland in Copper Canyon (1950), directed by John Farrow. At Paramount he was Jesse James in The Great Missouri Raid (1951) and was in Mystery Submarine (1950) at Universal.
Carey supported Red Skelton at MGM in Excuse My Dust (1951).
At 20th Century Fox Carey supported Betty Grable in Meet Me After the Show (1951) and Claudette Colbert in Let's Make It Legal (1951). He went back to Universal for Cave of Outlaws (1951)
He continued to appear in films like My Wife's Best Friend (1952), at Fox with Anne Baxter; Count the Hours (1953), with Teresa Wright at RKO; Hannah Lee (1953), a Western with John Ireland; It's Everybody's Business (1953), and Malaga (1954) with Maureen O'Hara.
Later films included Stranger at My Door (1956), a Western for Republic Pictures, and Odongo (1956) for Warwick Films.
Carey returned to Broadway in Anniversary Waltz (1954–55), directed by Moss Hart, which was a big hit and ran for two years.
He was also featured on General Electric Theater, Screen Directors Playhouse, The Alcoa Hour, and Climax!. Carey managed a single, starring turn as a young professor traveling cross-country in the fifth season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Coyote Moon") as well.
Carey guested on The Kaiser Aluminium Hour, The Joseph Cotten Show, Fireside Theatre, Zane Grey Theatre, Wagon Train, Studio One in Hollywood, Playhouse 90, The Frank Sinatra Show, Suspicion, Target, Pursuit, Schlitz Playhouse, DuPont Show of the Month, and Rawhide.
Carey was in the Western film Man or Gun (1958), for Republic. and The Redeemer (1959). He played patriot Patrick Henry in John Paul Jones (1959), directed by John Farrow who had worked with Carey at Paramount. He appeared in Blue Denim (1959).
Carey guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Moment of Fear, Thriller ("The Devil's Ticket"), The United States Steel Hour, Insight, Target, Checkmate and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Carey went to England to make the films The Devil's Agent (1962) and The Damned (known as These Are the Damned in the US) (1963), for director Joseph Losey. He was also in Stranglehold (1962),
In the first season of The Outer Limits, Carey starred in the episode titled "The Special One". He was also in The Dick Powell Theatre, Kraft Mystery Theatre, and Arrest and Trial,
Carey supported Sandra Dee in Tammy and the Doctor (1963). He guest starred in the 1964–1965 sitcom The Bing Crosby Show on ABC. He appeared as Mr. Edwards in the 1963 episode "Pay the Two Dollars" of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus. He could also be seen on Burke's Law, Branded, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Run for Your Life, Ben Casey, Lassie, and Bewitched.
During this time, Carey suffered from a drinking problem, and eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1982.
A longtime pipe smoker, he was seen in many films and early episodes of Days of Our Lives with it. He was ordered by his doctor to quit in September 1991 after having to take a leave of absence from Days in order to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his lungs. He returned to the show in November of that year.
He is most recognized today as the voice who recites the epigraph each day before the program begins: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives." From 1966 to 1994 he would also intone, "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the Days of Our Lives." (After Carey's death, the producers, out of respect for Carey's family, decided not to use the second part of the opening tagline.) At each intermission, his voice also says "We will return for the second half of Days of Our Lives in just a moment". Since the Horton family is still regarded as the core of Days of Our Lives, his memory has been allowed to remain imprinted on the show by leaving the voice-overs intact. He also served as voice-over for the very first PBS ident, in which he said "This is PBS ... the Public Broadcasting Service."
He later appeared in many all-star television miniseries, such as Roots, The Rebels, The Top of the Hill and Condominium.
He was in the films Foes (1977), End of the World (1977), and Summer of Fear (1978), and had a small part in American Gigolo (1980).
Carey was in the TV movie The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980) and the films Access Code (1984) and (1987). He guest starred on Finder of Lost Loves, and Murder, She Wrote. His last non- Days role was in A Message from Holly (1992).
Carey did the onstage introduction for the "Stars of the Days Of Our Lives" and musical artist/director Ricky Dee at the Greek Theatre (1992).
Carey was a Catholic Church, and a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.
In September 1991, Carey had a cancerous tumor surgically removed from his lung. He died on March 21, 1994, 6 days after his 81st birthday. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
| Under a Lucky Star |
| Suddenly, It's Spring |
| I Found Glenda Roberts |
| Bless This House |
| Dangerous Mission |
| A Bunch of Keys |
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