Born in New York City on December 14 1915 (note 1), he appeared in a minstrel show when very young, and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in Babes in Arms. In 1940, he was signed by MGM to make movies and, although his past career had been in musicals, he was initially cast as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm. However, the people at MGM realized their mistake quickly and cast him in a series of musical films.

He served in the United States Army during World War II, was commissioned as an Army Officer after graduation from Signal OCS at Ft Monmouth NJ (see note 2), after which he served with distinction until the war ended. Then returned to more musicals. Beginning with Mother Wore Tights (1947) Dailey became the frequent and favorite co-star of movie legend Betty Grable. His performance in their film When My Baby Smiles at Me in 1948 garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1950, he starred in A Ticket to Tomahawk, often noted as one of the first screen appearances of Marilyn Monroe, in a very small part as a dance-hall girl. One of his notable roles was in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, and Johnnie Ray.

As the musical genre began to wane in the mid-1950s, he moved on to various comedic and dramatic roles, including his television series, The Governor & J.J. and the NBC Mystery Movie series "Faraday & Company". His sister is Another World actress Irene Dailey.

Note 1: The 1920 census and Dailey's official enlistment record shows that he was born December 14 1915, not 1913 as is sometimes reported. His father's name was James J Dailey and his mother's name was Helen Dailey. Both were born in New York City. Note 2: Dailey enlisted in the Army shortly after Pearl Harbor. He was selected to attend Signal Corps Officer Candidate School at Ft Monmouth NJ and was assigned there in September of 1942. The beginning class had over 1500 candidates.. Only 754 of those graduated. Dailey was one of the 754. He was commissioned on Dec 12 1942 and served until late in 1946 when he was discharged as a Captain.

• The Mortal Storm (1940)
• Hullabaloo (1940)
• Keeping Company(1940)
• Lady Be Good(1941)
• Mother Wore Tights(1947)
• You Were Meant for Me (1948)
• When My Baby Smiles at Me(1948)
• When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)
• A Ticket to Tomahawk(1950)
• My Blue Heaven(1950)
• Call Me Mister(1951)
• I Can Get It for You Wholesale(1951)
• The Pride of St. Louis(1952)
• What Price Glory? (1952)
• The Kid from Left Field (1953)
• There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
• It's Always Fair Weather(1955)
• Meet Me in Las Vegas(1956)
• The Wings of Eagles(1957)
• The Wayward Bus (1957)
• Pepe(1960)
• Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man(1962)
• Las Cuatro noches de la luna (Four Nights of the Full Moon) (1963), co-starring Gene Tierney

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