[citation needed] The five-year marriage, which ended with his death, was stormy, with repeated separations, reconciliations and police calls for domestic disturbances.

[2] His career began in earnest in 1936 after being signed by a Universal Pictures talent scout while playing Duke Mantee in a summer-stock production of The Petrified Forest.

[7] He served 38 months in the United States Army during World War II, rising from private to the rank of captain, and seeing action in Belgium, France and Germany.

[2] Wilcox died of a heart attack on June 11, 1955, while riding a train from New York City to Rochester to visit his mother.

[4][9] A porter discovered his body in a Pullman berth when he tried to wake the actor at the Rochester train station stop.