Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actors found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

PETER BROCCO (1903-1992) was an American film, television, and stage actor. He has over 300 credits during his sixty-year career. Typically uncredited in his pre-television roles, it was in this medium that he became a frequent actor in Westerns, dramas, and comedies. 

Brocco kept busy from the late 1930s through the 1980s with various ethnic and supporting roles as a clerk, a shop owner, a bartender, a doctor, or a villain. There was always a spot in films where he could fill a scripted character. His supporting role in Spartacus (1960) is of note, as is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) as the wheelchair-bound patient.

But Brocco was most visible on the more intimate small screen, like displaying a comedic talent portraying Peter the Waiter for eight episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1955–1956). He was cast in criminal roles for The Adventures of Superman, as an Organian council member in a Star Trek episode. He appeared three times in the police drama, Adam-12, and three times in The Rockford Files. For the television miniseries, The Winds of War (1983), he played the father of Ali MacGraw's character. He kept working until 1991, a little over a year before his death.

Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actors found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

BARTLETT ROBINSON (1912-1986) 

Robinson was an American actor who performed on radio, stage, film, and television for five decades. The mustachioed Robinson and his recognizable voice were often cast in mostly serious roles of authority, such as military officers, wealthy ranchers, sheriffs, corporate executives, doctors, and judges, whether in Westerns, dramas, or playing the straight man in comedies.

Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actors found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

BEN COOPER (1933-2020) 

Though not a household name, Ben Cooper always provided a convincing performance with intensity and pathos. The American actor can be found in numerous supporting roles in films and the occasional lead in lower-budget projects. His modern-day dramas are probably lesser known. Cooper was most associated with the Western film, yet never strayed far from the television path, however. Her was a natural in Westerns, partly due to his horseman skills that began during his childhood. 

Discover more about Cooper's career at IMDB.

Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actors found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

MYRON HEALEY (1923-2005) 

Healey's characters may be despised more than others in film or television during the 1950s, thanks to his condescending delivery as a villain. When Healey was "bad," he could be despicable. He somewhat carried the torch from actor Harry Lauter, nine years his elder. He appeared in some 140 films, including more than 80 westerns, frequently for Monogram Pictures. But it was television that brought him intimate exposure. Healey served in World War II as an Air Corps navigator and bombardier, flying in B-26 Martin Marauders in the European Theatre. After the war, he continued military duties, retiring in the early 1960s as a captain in the United States Air Force Reserve.

Discover more about Healey's career at IMDB.

Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actresses found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

RANDY STUART (1924-1996)

Ask any of your like-minded friends and they will readily confess they never heard of Randy Stuart (Elizabeth Shaubell). Blessed with a commanding alto voice and spunky, girl-next-door attractiveness, Stuart got her acting career started with a Twentieth Century Fox contract. Typically buried in the credits, her small roles in, Sitting Pretty (1948), I Was a Male War Bride (1949) and "the girl" in All About Eve (1950) gave her some exposure and provided significant training. In what may have been her breakout role, she played the on-screen sister to Susan Hayward in the forgettable drama, I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951). No stranger to television, she made the rounds in such anthology series as Chevron Theatre and two long-running series, The Ford Television Theatre and the Schiltz Playhouse during the early Fifties. She played the wife opposite Alan Hale, Jr. in, Biff Baker, U.S.A. (1952-54). The likable, energetic couple got caught up in trouble on their international business travels during the Cold War. It was back to the big screen for her “larger” and most famous role as the wife of Grant Williams in the 1957 Universal International’s science-fiction classic, The Incredible Shrinking Man her next to last film.

Stuart appeared for several years in television westerns, most produced by Warner Bros. for the ABC network. She had a recurring role in eighteen episodes of, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brien, as his romantic interest. She guest-starred four times on Clint Walker's groundbreaking western, Cheyenne, in strong-willed characters during the show’s late years. Stuart was back into the spy business for a Cold War-themed episode of 77 Sunset Strip, followed by roles on Lawman, Bourbon Street Beat, The Roaring 20s, and two appearances on Hawaiian Eye before taking a five-year hiatus. Just as Stuart’s career was winding down, she returned in 1967-68 to play the wife of Harry Morgan's character, Officer Bill Gannon, on NBC's Dragnet. 1975 marked her final role in ABC's, Marcus Welby, M.D., starring a classic example of an actor transitioning from film to television, Robert Young.

Find out more about Stuart's career at IMBD.

That's Either Roy or Ray

At left is Roy Roberts (1906-1975) beside Ray Teal (1902-1976). Each actor might cross over because of the character roles, anything from a crooked judge to kindly banker. They started their careers one year apart and died one year apart. Both did many Westerns on film and television. Roberts became one of the most recognized actors in television in a number of comedy series as a banker, railroad president, or governor in such popular series as The Lucy Show, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres. Teal, on the other hand, rarely ventured into comedic roles, staying primarily in Westerns, whether in film or television. Over a dozen times he played a sheriff. His most visible role is Sheriff Roy (not Ray) Coffee on Bonanza.

Visual Morphings

Consider the perceived likeness of Jack Nicholson (1937-) and James Garner (1928-2014) in their later years. That's not all. The Chinatown film and The Rockford Files television series first appeared in 1974. To top it off, Jake Gittes and Jim Rockford were in harm's way on a regular basis and were both licensed California private investigators. 

Over time, Jan Smithers (July 1949-) and Lindsay Wagner (June 1949-) appear to have become at least related. Reality does not make them sisters or twins, however, being born about a month apart. Both actresses are deceivingly tall, with Smithers at 5' 7" and Wagner towering in at 5' 9".

A Natural Talent

Frank Overton (1918-1967) was an American actor of stage, film and television. He had the ability to project an air of authority into his diverse roles with a countenance and pointed vocal delivery. He is well known for the roles as Sheriff Heck Tate in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and General Bogan in Fail Safe (1964).

But Overton is best known for his many television roles from the early 1950s through the 1960s, from Westerns to contemporary dramas. In a standout episode, he appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone with Gig Young, called "Walking Distance" in 1959 (pictured above with Gig Young). His sensitive and compassionate portrayal anchored his character in reality. Other work included The Fugitive, 1963, and two guest appearances on the drama series Perry Mason playing a priest and a deputy. Overton appeared six times on The United States Steel Hour and in four episodes of Route 66. In ideal casting, he played Major Harvey Stovall in the series Twelve O'Clock High. One of his last television roles was on a Star Trek episode in 1967. The entertainment world lost a great talent much too soon.

At First Glance

The Twilight Zone Matter

Depending on their roles, Patricia Barry (Patricia Allen White 1921-2016) and Elizabeth Allen (Elizabeth Ellen Gillease 1929-2006) shared similar facial features, height, and figure. But not voice nor persona. Both actresses had numerous stage credits, but each was more visible in film and television. Barry spent over fifty years on television and had a few lightweight films to her credit. Similarly, Allen was a cast member on five television series and starred in a few large-budget, notable films. Both appeared in The Twilight Zone series.

The Taylor-Medina Matter

Joan Taylor (1929-2012) at left, and Patricia Medina (1919-2012) had confusingly similar facial appearances depending on their roles. Born ten years apart but died the same year. Both actresses did some modeling, in between their film work and television transition on a few Westerns. Arguably, Medina's large-budget film projects overshadowed that of Taylor. Taylor was married to television producer, Leonard Freeman, from 1953 until his death in 1974. Similarly, Medina's second marriage to actor Joseph Cotton was from 1960 until his death in 1994.

Never Pigeonholed

Madlyn Rhue (Madeline Roche 1935-2003) was an American film and television actress. She created her stage name by adapting the title of the film 13 Rue Madeleine (1947). Though well known for her television work, from the 1950s to the 1980s, she appeared in some twenty films, including Operation Petticoat, The Ladies Man, A Majority of One, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Stand Up and Be Counted. She was never pigeonholed. On the contrary, she was somewhat of a chameleon in front of the camera depending on the role, costume, or studio wig.

Rhue guest-starred in dozens of television series, including the westerns Cheyenne, Bonanza, Have Gun–Will Travel, and The Rebel. Her modern-day appearances brought her notoriety in such classics as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Route 66, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Fugitive. Rhue had regular roles in Bracken's World (1969–70) and Executive Suite (1976–77). It was at this time she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, though she continued her role on Days of Our Lives. But by 1985, she was unable to move about without a wheelchair. She was offered intermittent roles that did not require her to walk or stand, sometimes incorporating the wheelchair as part of the character. Angela Lansbury created a recurring role for her on her hit show, Murder, She Wrote, considered her last television appearance.

A Prolific Independent

Edward Small (1891-1977) was an enormously prolific independent film producer for over 50 years, holding his own against the likes of David O. Selznick or Samuel Goldwyn in spite of his low profile. 

A former actor and talent agent, Small began producing films in 1924. He formed Reliance Pictures in 1932 and Edward Small Productions in 1938. Working with moderate budgets and talent borrowed from other studios, he oversaw a number of commercially successful films, including I Cover the Waterfront (1933), The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), The Man in the Iron Mask" (1939), Raw Deal (1948), and Kansas City Confidential (1952). He reached a peak of prestige with Witness for the Prosecution (1957), which was nominated for seven Oscars, only to lose it to the expensive box office dud, Solomon and Sheba (1959). Until his retirement in the early  1970's he was active mainly in television projects. 

Summers Like No Other

Hope Summers (1902-1979) was an American character actress known for her countless television roles, none more visible than on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show. But the central Illinois native gained certain local fame well before becoming a television regular. In 1926 she became the head of the Speech Department at Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. While there, Summers started giving private acting lessons and became involved as a volunteer, and soon a director, in local theatre. As a regional actress, she often performed in one-woman shows starting in the 1930s.

It was nearly a two-decade wait until Summers made her first Hollywood film in 1957, with a small credited role in Zero Hour!. She continued with uncredited roles in many other films. That drew some attention, thrusting her into character roles in nearly every popular series from the 1950s through the 1970s, from The Rifleman to Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to Adam-12. Most will remember her thirty-six appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, playing Aunt Bee's best friend, Clara Edwards, during the 1960s, and making five appearances on the Griffith spinoff, Mayberry R.F.D. 

Note: For nearly twenty years, from 1961 until her death, Summers was the voice of Mrs. Butterworth in Mrs. Butterworth's syrup commercials.

Know Your Ians

These famous, multi-talented actors all have the first name of Ian. From top left to right, Ian Wolfe, of countless films and television roles, is the lone American. Next is Ian Hunter, from The Adventures of Robin Hood fame; Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond character; Ian Holm, an established star of the Royal Shakespeare Company and many films; Ian McKellen, famously ending his stupendous career in the Hobbit film franchise, and Ian Ogilvy, author and actor who played The Saint after Roger Moore. 

The Aubuchon Way

Jacques Aubuchon (1924-1991) was an American character actor who kept busy from the 1950s through the 1980s. He is primarily known for his roles in a wide variety of television series.

Though Aubuchon spent most of his career on the small screen, he was in a handful of films, including Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), The Silver Chalice (1954), and Thunder Road (1958) to name three. His roles varied from Westerns to modern-day dramas to comedies. His first television appearance was on the comedy Mr. Peepers (1953). He could play an informant, an outlaw, or a criminal. He somewhat specialized in untrustworthy individuals, even in comedies. His mastery of dialects made him a popular casting choice. Aubuchon perhaps is best known for his seven appearances on the wacky comedy McHale's Navy (1962-64) as the hilarious Chief Urulu.

Above, left is Jacques Aubuchon with actor J.D. Cannon 

Sensitive and Quirky

Sian Barbara Allen (1946-) is a former American actress whose television work was her claim to fame. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as New Star of the Year for her performance in the film, You'll Like My Mother. Still, it was in television where she was a readily available guest star throughout the 1970s, including roles in made-for-television movies, including Scream, and Pretty Peggy, opposite Bette Davis. She was perhaps best known for her sometimes quirky or emotionally sensitive roles with sad, downturned eyebrows.

Allen appeared in two episodes of the popular TV series The Waltons, 1973 as Jenny Pendleton, an early love interest of John-Boy Walton. A short list of her television appearances was The Incredible Hulk, Ironside, a particularly humorous role on The Rockford Files (above), Alias Smith and Jones, Bonanza, Kojak, Columbo: Lovely but Lethal, Adam-12, and Hawaii Five-O. After her appearance on L.A. Law in 1990, she retired from acting.

Man With A Niche

Peter Whitney (Peter King Engle 1916-1972) was an American actor in many Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s. His career started at the beginning of the Forties with a supporting role in Action in The North Atlantic, opposite Humphrey Bogart, and Destination Tokyo, starring Cary Grant, both films released in 1943. He kept busy throughout the Forties but the television medium beckoned. 

Whitney may be most visible on the small screen as the tall and increasingly heavier brute from more than twenty years of playing narrow-minded villains or slow-witted characters on countless television series. In general, if one could name a popular series during the Fifties and Sixties, Whitney was probably cast in them to one extent or the other. From his many westerns to crime dramas and comedies, he always made an impact on a wide variety of ethnic characters. His final role was for Rod Serling's Night Gallery in 1972. 

Reel Character Series

 

DORO MERANDE (1892-1975)

Whether a dowdy small-town snoop, a maid, gossip, a terse secretary, or a sour neighbor, Merande's dry wit, high nasal warble, half‐opened eyelids, a smile of childish innocence, or a bewildered look, made her one of the most endearing characters of stage, film, and television. It might have been overkill to have her in lengthy roles, but she pops up delightfully in small doses. I offer a couple of her performances in film and television plus a film of considerably less obscurity.

Prior to television's rising popularity, she could be captured in all her comedic glory in 1949's, Cover Up. Merande's character, Hildy—the maid to end all maids—with her casual asides suggests she is completely out of touch with reality. Far from it. She is a walking encyclopedia of everything that goes on in town, delivering astute, cutting opinions as if they were compliments. It is absurd to Hildy that the prime suspect in an assumed murder is her trusted and kind employer. She takes it upon herself to deliberately set fire to his old college coat—a key piece of evidence—in the backyard. She nonchalantly confesses to him in passing, "I had a little accident with your beaver coat. I was cleaning it and it caught fire—burned up completely."

One of Merande's memorable television performances was in a 1958 black comedy episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled, "Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore." Merande is a poor widow who has devised a fool-proof plan to kill her crotchety live-in uncle, Russell Collins, for the inheritance money. Merande is delighted when a struggling actress, Mary Astor, becomes her new tenant. Through feigned empathy, Astor elevates Merande to a new level of sophistication and they agree to work together on Collin's demise. But the gullible Merande is unaware she has been duped. Her dumbfounded big-eyed stare at the end seals the episode.

There are many other roles of varying length for Merande, but she was never quite so visually funny in her sporadic appearances in the Cold War paranoia spoof, The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966). Merande is one of the few things that has remained timeless about the film. Dressed in pajamas and robe, she is the ever-vigilant beacon during the assumed invasion. In a burst-out-laughing scene, we see Merande—about four feet off the floor still seated in a chair—placed upon the wall by the Russians to keep her away from the telephone. Her stone-deaf husband, Parker Fennelly, not only cannot hear her screams behind her knitted muzzle, he is completely unaware that she is on the kitchen wall. The Russians were thoughtful enough to include her knitting needle, though not an easy reach. When a friend arrives to rescue her, he finally turns around to ask what she is doing hanging up on the wall. It is a hilarious cartoon moment.

Note: Merande's final role was in the remake of The Front Page (1974). The actress was attending a "Honeymooners" anniversary special in Miami when she suffered a stroke and died at a local hospital. 

Reel Character Series

 

Walter Burke (1908-1984) is a New York native character actor of stage, film, and television whose career spanned over a half-century. Burke's 5' 5" stature, distinctive stone-grinding voice, and craggy face made him easily recognizable to television audiences no matter the size of the role. Burke's Irish ancestry often arose when being cast as an Irishman or Englishman. He could play anything from a jockey, a thief, a gangster, or a leprechaun.

Burke kept busy in film from the late 1940s to the 1970s in uncredited and minor roles. He debuted in the film, The Naked City, and the following year had a memorable role as Sugar Boy in All the King's Men, 1949. Burke would appear in twenty-two more films and numerous Broadway productions before transitioning to the diminutive screen with more than 103 different chameleon roles in the 1950s and 1960s. As a representative of his multiple television appearances, his versatility cast him on 77 Sunset Strip, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and The F.B.I. as well as comedies like Bewitched, The Munsters, or Hogan's Heroes. Burke could not be pigeonholed.

Reel Character Series

 

Ian Wolfe (1896-1992) was an American character actor with nearly 400 film and television credits spanning fifty-six years, beginning in 1934. His last screen credit was as the Forger in 1990's Dick Tracy. He appeared in countless films, often uncredited, including  Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Prince and The Pauper (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Saboteur (1942), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and THX 1138 (1971) among many other lesser-known films. The face of "what's his name" could be either sad, kindly or menacing and he could easily slip into the role of a minister, a clerk, a store owner, a doctor, or a professor. 

His television credits were equally impressive. One could find him on Perry Mason, or the Rev. Leighton on The Andy Griffith Show. He also appeared in two episodes of the original Star Trek series. Wolfe would show up in sitcoms of the day including Barney Miller, Soap, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He gained newfound fame as Mama Carlson's doddering, sarcastic butler "Hirsch" in several episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati. His dramatic television credits on popular shows spanned the Fifties through the Eighties, as well. 

A Television Transition

The new television medium offered a career shift for some movie character actors. Many were kept busy, becoming a household face if not a name.

Richard Erdman (1925-2019) was an American character actor appearing in more than 160 films and television productions, mostly in supporting roles. Known for his expressive face, he was adept at drama or comedy. He kept busy as a voice artist for a number of animated shows later in his career. Starting out with Warner Bros in the mid-Forties in uncredited roles, the Enid, Oklahoma native later made an early impact opposite Dick Powell in Cry Danger (1951), tapping into his talent for delivering dry quips. This led to a few minor military roles, most notably in Stalag 17 (1953). That same year, he was a co-pilot in, The Steel Lady which concerns a crew that crash lands in the Sahara desert.

Though appearing in a few films through the Sixties, his mainstay became the small screen, often as humorous or quirky individuals. Erdman played a garage mechanic in sync with a corrupt administration's small town, in a 1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode, The Crooked Road. In a 1963 The Twilight Zone episode, A Kind of a Stopwatch, (above) he famously played an obnoxious blow-hard who is given a timepiece that can halt time. He guest-starred in a wide variety of popular shows, among them were six appearances on Perry Mason, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, The Beverly Hillbillies, That Girl, The Six Million Dollar Man, One Day at a Time, Lou Grant, Quincy, M.E., Cheers, and Murder, She Wrote. Near the end of his career, Erdman gained renewed fame with his fifty-three appearances as Leonard in the comedy series Community (2009–2015).