Trivia

Chosen for the 1936 Olympic fencing team in Berlin, he turned down the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actively pursue acting.

His role as Tybalt in the 1940 Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh led to a Warner Brothers contract.

Spoke Hungarian, French, German, English, Italian and Russian.

Although most records indicate Wilde was born in New York City, the 1930 U.S. Census and the California Death Records database both state that he was born in Hungary.

Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).

At his death he was editing his autobiography, "My Very Wilde Life, " and working on a sequel to his acclaimed film The Naked Prey (1965).

He graduated from Townsend Harris High School for gifted students in New York at the age of 14. Townsend Harris was affiliated with CCNY, the college he entered upon graduation.

Enrolled as a pre-med student at the City College of New York (CCNY) and completed the four-year course in three years (CCNY at that time was tuition-free and admitted only the best scholars). He was a member of CCNY's fencing team.

Prior to his film career, Wilde had various jobs--commercial artist, toy salesman at Macy's, newspaper advertising and Boys' Club counselor.

Cecil B. DeMille insisted that Cornel truly learn to perform being a trapeze artist in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) but he was seriously afraid of heights.

Daughter with first wife: Wendy Wilde, born Feb. 22, 1943. Wendy is NOT the 1950s actress of the same name. Son with second wife Jean Wallace: Cornel Wallace Wilde, born Dec. 19, 1967.

A vintage year for "beefcake bondage" in his film career was 1952. In At Sword's Point (1952), he appeared bound and stripped to the waist in a torture chamber where his torso was burned with a hot iron. In California Conquest (1952), he appeared stripped to the waist and bound to a tree where he was lashed across the chest with a whip. Perhaps in a nod to these situations (but without the bondage), three years later, in his appearance on television in The Star Upstairs (1955) he strips to the waist before going 'offstage' to take a bath.

Interred at Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, CA.

He and Ida Lupino became good friends while filming Road House (1948). They found common ground in their liberal political beliefs.

In this last two roles, he played a character with the last name Barnett: George Barnett on an episode of The New Mike Hammer, and Duncan Barnett on Murder, She Wrote.

Within 18 months of trying in Hollywood he was an established star.

Was a good friend of Exotic animal trainer Ralph Helfer.

In December, 1935, Wilde tested for a juvenile role in The Good Earth, but was not cast.

He studied art in New York and Budapest.

Worked as an American correspondent on a French paper.