TOM NEAL

Thomas Neal (1914-72), who graduated from college with a law degree and a a boxing background (which ultimately served him badly), debuted on the Broadway stage in 1935. He hit the silver screen in 1938 in OUT WEST WITH THE HARDYS, and in the '40s and '50s appeared in a numbr of B's, his most famous in the classic film noir DETOUR. He and co-star Ann Savage went on to make five movies together. Neal's life took a noir turn in 1951 when he got into a fight with actor Franchot Tone over their mutual girlfriend, actress Barbara Payton. Neal inflicted upon Tone a smashed cheekbone, broken nose and brain concussion. Tone and Payton married, but after seven weeks of marriage, Payton left Tone and returned to badboyNeal, who by then was having difficulty finding work. Their relationship lasted four years. Neal married in 1957 fathered a son, but the following year his wife died of cancer. A few years later Neal married Gale Bennett. Four years later he ended the marriage - and her life - by shooting her in the back of the head. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years, of which he served six. He was released on parole in 1971 and died of heart failure one year later at 58.