Early years Manning was born Jack Wilson Marks in
Cincinnati,
Ohio. He developed an interest in acting while he was a student at the
University of Cincinnati, where he earned his
bachelor's degree in
economics in 1938. During his college years, Manning appeared in students musicals and plays, as well as on
WLW radio. He changed his professional name to Jack Manning early in his acting career, after he was advised that "Jack Marks" was too short to appear on a theater
marquee or sign. His other Broadway credits included
Man and Superman in 1947,
Billy Budd in 1951,
The Tender Trap in 1954,
Say Darling in 1958 and
Alice In Wonderland. Manning also appeared in the original Broadway cast of the musical,
Do I Hear a Waltz?, as Mr. McIlhenny in 1965.
Do I Hear a Waltz? was co-written
Arthur Laurents,
Richard Rodgers and
Stephen Sondheim. Moving to television in 1953, Manning performed a one-man show of
Hamlet on the
DuMont series
Monodrama Theater. His show took place over the course of two weeks in 15-minute-long segments. Before the airing of the first episode
Jack Gould, a
television critic for the
New York Times, wrote in his column, "Alas, poor Hamlet. Now he's a soap opera." After seeing the production, he changed his tune, calling it, "The acting feat of year" and he praised Manning's performance as Hamlet, calling him "inventive, versatile and, above all, natural." Gould also noted of Manning at the time that, "He knows his
Shakespeare and truly catches the meaning of the lines." Manning also appeared in a number of early television shows, including
Armstrong Circle Theatre,
Robert Montgomery Presents and
The Philco Television Playhouse. Manning became a
producer for the
Helen Hayes Repertory Company, a traveling theater
troupe founded in 1964 by his former Harriet co-star,
Helen Hayes. Manning would direct all of the company's traveling stage productions, which starred Helen Hayes, including a tour of
The Circle, which was written by
W. Somerset Maugham. Manning and his wife, Francie, who were married in 1967, moved to the
South Bay, Los Angeles region in 1970. The couple resided in both
Hermosa Beach and
Manhattan Beach before settling in
Rancho Palos Verdes in 1980. He continued to appear in Los Angeles television, film and
theater productions throughout the 1970s. He was cast in a recurring role as the character
Dean Rutherford on
The Paper Chase from 1978 to 1979. He was also cast in guest parts on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show,
Columbo, Kojak, ''
Here's Lucy, The Waltons and Studio One''. On stage, Manning appeared in productions in the
Ahmanson Theatre, the
Shubert Theater and the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Manning's film credits included
Walk East on Beacon in 1952, ''
Where's Poppa? in 1970, The Owl and the Pussycat in 1970, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid in 1972, and The Great Waldo Pepper'' in 1975. ==Later life and death==