Background
Alan Coe Bunce was born on June 28, 1900 in Westfield, New Jersey.
Alan Coe Bunce was born on June 28, 1900 in Westfield, New Jersey.
He graduated from a high school in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1918.
Bunce was best remembered for playing the role of Albert Arbuckle alongside Peg Lynch on the sitcom Ethel and Albert from 1944-1950 on radio and from 1953-1956 on television Bunce was also remembered as the first actor to portray physician Jerry Malone on radio"s Young Doctor Malone in the early 1940s. His year of birth had been the subject of dispute, with varying sources citing 1902, 1903, and 1908.
However, according to the Bunce family papers which were published publicly in 2008 by Bunce"s grandson Andrew Bunce, the Bunce family has found evidence and have excepted Bunce"s birth date to be June 28, 1900.
Bunce"s year of birth is given as 1900 on his United States. World War I Draft Registration Card (1917-1918) Bunce"s age is given as 39 in the United States Census of 1940 (enumerated on April 27, 1940). Bunce was the only child born to Theodore Dwight Bunce, an inventor, and Alice Edwards Bunce.
His mother died when Bunce was a young boy. Bunce"s career began in the early 1930s with small roles in several films and guest appearances on several radio programs.
Bunce did get household recognition until 1939 when he began playing the role of Doctor Jerry Malone, the young physician who dispensed prescriptions and advice to the folks of Three Oaks on the medical drama Young Doctor Malone.
He left the program in 1944. The same year Bunce left Young Doctor Malone, he replaced film star Richard Widmark in the role of working-class man Albert Arbuckle, the male lead on Peg Lynch"s Ethel and Albert. Lynch played the female lead and Albert"s wife Ethel Arbuckle.
Bunce remained with the radio show for its entire six year run.
Bunce broke into television in 1950 with a guest star appearance of the American Broadcasting Company anthology series The Clock. Bunce"s "Albert Arbuckle" character also moved to television starting with appearances on The Kate Smith Hour beginning in 1952.
This led to the premiere of the televised version of Ethel and Albert on National Broadcasting Company April 25, 1953. The show stayed on National Broadcasting Company until Christmas Day, 1954.
lieutenant moved to Columbia Broadcasting System on June 20, 1955 and stayed there until September 26, 1955 serving as a summer replacement for December Bride and ended its television life on American Broadcasting Company where it aired from October 14, 1955 – July 6, 1956.
In his later career, Bunce appeared on episodes of Perry Mason, The United States Steel Hour, The Patty Duke Show and The Nurses. His last appearance on television was on a 1965 episode of The Defenders. Bunce married Ruth Elizabeth Nugent (ca 1902-1978), an actress, in 1924.
Nugent was born in Ohio and was the daughter of John Charles "J.C." Nugent and Grace Mary (née Fertig).
J.C. Nugent was the brother of actor Elliott Nugent (1896-1980). Her father was an actor, as well as a playwright and commentator for Variety.
The Bunces" only child, Alan Nugent Bunce (1933-2008), or Alan North. Bunce, was a writer and editor for the Christian Science Monitor. Alan North. Bunce was born in New York and died in Massachusetts.
Bunce died on April 27, 1965 from an undisclosed cause at age 64.
He is interred in Long Ridge Union Cemetery, Stamford, Connecticut.