John Dall (born John Dall Thompson; May 26, 1920 – January 15, 1971) was an American actor. Primarily a stage actor, he is best remembered today for two film roles: the cool-minded intellectual killer in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948), and the companion of trigger-happy femme fatale Peggy Cummins in the 1950 film noir Gun Crazy. He also had a substantial role in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960). He first came to fame as the young Welsh mining prodigy who comes alive under the tutelage of Bette Davis in The Corn Is Green (1945), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Early life John Dall Thompson (he used his middle name for his acting career) was born in New York City on May 26, 1920, the younger son of Charles Jenner Thompson and his wife Henry (née Worthington). (Sources which cite Dall's birth name as John Jenner Thompson and his birth year as 1918 appear to be in error.) His father was a civil engineer. His elder brother, Worthington Thompson, was later a decorated lieutenant in the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team. In the 1920s the Thompsons moved to Panama, where Charles worked on the construction of the airport there. While in Panama, Dall was in a theatre when a cast member fell ill and Dall stepped in; this inspired his desire to act. His father committed suicide in 1929, and his widow returned to New York City with John the following year. Dall attended Horace Mann School and briefly enrolled at Columbia University, where he intended to follow in his father's footsteps by studying engineering. Deciding that acting was his true vocation, he left Columbia and studied at the Theodora Irvine School of Theater and the Pasadena Playhouse. He also studied at the Petit Theatre in New Orleans. Career Theatre Dall spent six years acting in various stock companies, notably Clare Tree Major's Children's Theatre. He also worked in companies headed by Aline MacMahon, Arthur Byron, Ruth Weston and Edith Atwater. Dall had small roles on Broadway during the 1941–42 season in R.U.R. and Janie. In 1942–43 he played the lead of Quizz Martin in the touring company The Eve of St Mark. He was well received and replaced William Prince on Broadway so Prince could take a vacation. His performance was spotted by Jack Warner's wife and resulted in a Warners screen test for