Tom Ewell, of the United States Navy between 1942 and 1945, interrupted a successful career as a stage actor in order to protect the merchant shipping vital to the country’s war effort as part of the US Navy Armed Guard. Born Samuel Yewell Tompkins in Kentucky during the year 1909, he was expected to join the family professions (either law or tobacco and whiskey dealing) but instead pursued acting. In 1928, he began acting in summer stock while attending the University of Wisconsin. Determined to defy the Depression and make a success of himself, in 1931, at the age of 22, he moved to New York and enrolled in the Actors Studio. Making ends meet while waiting for his break was rough going. He washed dishes, sold cigars and magazines and operated elevators while looking for work on the stage. He eventually made his Broadway debut in 1934 with the production They Shall Not Die, and began accumulating more credits from there. Tom Ewell’s Military Career Ewell had built momentum as a...
