Jory was born in
Dawson City,
Yukon, to American parents. He was the boxing and wrestling champion of the
U.S. Coast Guard during his military service, and he kept his burly physique. He graduated from the Martha Oatman School of the Theater in Los Angeles. Jory toured with theatre troupes, including a July 1929 appearance at
Elitch Theatre in
The Racket, by Bartlett Cormack. He appeared as a “guest star” in the role of the Assistant District Attorney. He went on to appear on
Broadway, before making his
Hollywood debut in 1930. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast as the villain, probably due to his distinctive, seemingly coal-black eyes that might be perceived as 'threatening'. He made over 150 films and dozens of TV episodes, as well as writing two plays. His long career in radio included starring in the series
Dangerously Yours. '' (1935) He is remembered for his roles as malevolent Injun Joe in
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), Jonas Wilkerson, the opportunistic overseer of the slaves at Tara in
Gone with the Wind, He also portrayed
Oberon in
Max Reinhardt's film adaptation of
Shakespeare's play ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1935) In 1946, he narrated "Tubby the Tuba" for children, which was inducted in 2005 in the
National Recording Registry and also introduces the orchestra to young listeners. The disc sold over one million copies. The story tells of a tuba who does not fit in. He also narrated "Bumpo the Ballerina", whose title character is an elephant. From 1959 to 1961, he appeared with
Patrick McVey in the 78-episode
syndicated television police drama
Manhunt. Jory played the lead role of Detective Lieutenant Howard Finucane. McVey was cast as police reporter Ben Andrews. In 1957, Jory was cast in the role of the
Southern Baptist pastor
George Washington Truett of the First Baptist Church of
Dallas, in the episode "Lone Star Preacher" of the syndicated religion
anthology series Crossroads. In 1960 he portrayed the aging, malevolent husband of
Anna Magnani’s character in
The Fugitive Kind, adapted from a play by
Tennessee Williams. In 1962, he was cast as Deacon Lee in the two-part episode "Policemen Die Alone" of
Leslie Nielsen's
ABC crime drama
The New Breed. That same year, Jory guest-starred as Mike Dahlback in the episode "Ride to a Fall" in the
NBC modern Western series
Empire, which featured
Richard Egan as rancher Jim Redigo. He also played Helen Keller's father in
The Miracle Worker, Jory was on the faculty of the
University of Utah, teaching acting in the Department of Theater. He endowed a scholarship for junior/senior students in the department known as the Victor Jory Scholarship, which continues to the current day.
The High Chaparral television episode "The Peacemaker" in 1968 featured Jory as a peace envoy attempting to negotiate a treaty with Apache Native American chief
Cochise. In the private-eye series
Mannix, which starred
Mike Connors as the title character, Jory played the
Armenian-American detective's widowed father, Stefan Mannix—a grape farmer in "Summer Grove", a fictitious town in California's Central Valley near
Fresno (which continues to have a large Armenian population). He appeared in two episodes,"Return to Summer Grove" (1969) and "Wine from These Grapes" (1971). In 1978, near the end of his career, Jory guest starred as an aging
Federal Bureau of Investigation agent in
James Garner's
The Rockford Files episode "The Attractive Nuisance". Jory died on February 12, 1982, at the age of 79, from a
heart attack in
Santa Monica, California. ==Family==