John Ridgely

John Ridgely (born John Huntington Rea, September 6, 1909 – January 18, 1968 ) was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits. Early years Ridgely was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of John Ridgely Rea. Ridgely's elementary schooling was in Hinsdale, Illinois, and he attended Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri. He also attended Stanford University before his debut in movies. Film He appeared in the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film The Big Sleep as blackmailing gangster Eddie Mars and had a pivotal role as a suffering heart patient in the film noir Nora Prentiss (1947). His most prominent other roles were his top-billed part as the bomber captain in Howard Hawks's Air Force and as real-life fighter pilot Tex Hill in 1945's God is My Co-Pilot. The Chicago-born actor appeared in a large number of other films, particularly for Warner Bros., in the 1930s and 1940s.