John Megna

About

John Anthony Megna (November 9, 1952 – September 5, 1995) was an American actor, director and teacher. His best-known role is that of Dill in the film To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).

John Anthony Megna was born in Ozone Park, Queens, New York, to Ralph W. Megna, a pharmacist, and Eleanor McGinley, a one-time nightclub singer. He was a half-brother of Connie Stevens through their mother, and an ex-brother-in-law of Eddie Fisher, both famous singers. He attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, New York.

At age 6, Megna made his acting debut in Frank Loesser’s Broadway musical Greenwillow. At 7, he starred in All the Way Home, an adaptation of James Agee’s novel about the effect of a father’s death on his family. This led to his being cast as Charles Baker “Dill” Harris in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. The character was based on writer Truman Capote, a childhood friend and later associate of Harper Lee, the author of the original novel.
Megna appeared in many television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s; he portrayed a near-blind child in the Naked City episode “A Horse Has a Big Head – Let Him Worry!”, one of the “Onlies” in the Star Trek:…