Another in the Superman (1950s) TV series gallery of villains, he was
a terrific character actor. With a hefty build, menacing sneer and a growly,
bass voice he was the perfect bad guy. He appeared in numerous westerns
as well as in gangster type roles. He was born on January 21, 1921 in
Brockton, Massachusetts and as a youngster his family moved to California.
He attended high school in Los Angeles and it was there he became attracted
to acting, appearing in many school plays including Shakespeare. He later
joined the Pasadena Playhouse stock company, the famed training ground
for many an excellent character actor. He made his film debut in 1943
in "Two Tickets to London." His career was interrupted by a stint in the
U.S. Air Corps during World War II. After the war he resumed his career
which spanned some 40 years. Although he appeared mostly in westerns,
he greatly enjoyed doing costume dramas and epic films. Among his other
film credits were: "Road to the Big House" (1947) as Danny; "Station West"
(1948) as Bartender; he appeared in the 1949 serial "Batman and Robin"
as a Henchman; "The Fighting O'Flynn" (1949) as Jack; "Winchester 73"
(1950) as Roan Daley; "The Breaking Point" (1950) as Gotch; "The Fuller
Brush Girl" (1950) as a Cop; "The Iroquois Trail" (1950) as Sam Girty;
"Love That Brute" (1950) as Gangster; "The Texas Rangers" (1951) as Butch
Cassidy; "Tales of Robin Hood" (1951) as Wilfred; "The Lemon Drop Kid"
(1951) as Muscleman; "Strangers on a Train" (1951) uncredited, as Hammond;
"The Pride of St. Louis" (1952) as Benny; "High Noon" (1952) with Gary
Cooper, uncredited as Trumbull; "Rancho Notorious" (1952) as Whitey; "Warpaint"
(1953) as Carnofsky; "Ambush at Tomahawk Gap" (1953) as Burt the Bartender;
"Julius Caesar" (1953) with Marlon Brando, as Carpenter, citizen of Rome;
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" (1954) as Campbell; "Seven Cities of Gold"
(1955) as Juan Coronel; "New York Confidential" (1955) as Shorty; "Dakota
Incident" (1956) as Rick Largo; "Sabu and the Magic Ring" (1957) as Kimal,
the Stablemaster; "Cleopatra" (1963) with Burton and Taylor, as Achillas;
"The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964) as Lucas; "The Sons of Katie Elder"
(1965) as Undertaker Henry Hyselman; "Nevada Smith" (1966) as Uncle Ben
McCanles; "Journey to Shiloh" (1968) as Gen. Braxton Bragg; "True Grit"
(1969) as Sheriff; "Patton" (1970) as Gen. Lucian K. Truscott; "Big Jake"
(1971) with John Wayne, as Buck Duggan; "One Little Indian" (1973) as
Sgt. Waller; "Fighting Mad" (1976) as Jeff Hunter and "Off the Mark" (1986)
his last film. He was a very familiar face on television appearing as
a regular on: "Big Town" (1954-55) as Lt. Tom Greggory; "Lockup" (1959-61)
as Lt. Jim Weston and "The Partners" (1971-72) as Capt. Andrews. He also
appeared in made for TV movies including: "Panache" (1976) and "Heart
of Steel" (1983) his last work. Besides his appearances on Superman he
guested on other TV series including: "Annie Oakley"; "Wagon Train"; "Gunsmoke";
"The Fugitive"; "Hogan's Heroes" and "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." He
died of cancer on August 16, 1994 in Banning, California at age 73.
