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.

Actor for The Masses

 

Dennis Patrick (1918-2002) was an American character actor in television with more than 1,800 guest and recurring roles. It would have been difficult to not spot him in the sixties and seventies. But his name remained "uncredited" to most viewers. During his forty-five-year career, he was cast in recurring roles on several series, among the more notable were sixty-five appearances on Dark Shadows: The Vampire Curse (1967-70), Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1977), and Dallas (1979-84). With leading man looks, his versatility was unmatched, though he had frequent turns as an unscrupulous businessman. Patrick appeared in a handful of films, his last being The Air Up There as Father O'Hara (1994).

A comprehensive list of his acting credits can be found HERE 

Reel Character Series

 

Frank Lovejoy (1912-1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television, best known for his supporting roles as the “everyman” caught up in challenging circumstances. He was one actor not needing to change his last name just to stand out from the Hollywood crowd. Whether in military uniform, as a detective, or common laborer, he handled a variety of roles with near-flawless performances, from tough cop to sensitive husband. Lovejoy had the voice of someone who spent the day in the stands yelling for his NFL playoff team and has not yet recovered. A smokey, nasal sound like few others, it lent intrigue to his radio characters or the narrator for his radio crime show, Night Beat. Somewhat surprisingly, the 1950s was his only full decade of work, starting out that decade with a strong leading role in the chilling, Try and Get Me! aka The Sound of Fury, as a struggling out-of-work family man spiraling into a life of crime with an arrogant instigator, Lloyd Bridges. In 1951, he had the title role and narrator for I Was a Communist for the FBI, going undercover to expose Communism. He was notable as a supporting player in The Hitch-hiker, the classic film noir of 1953. He crammed down a lot of scripts in 1955, his busiest year, with seven films and seven television appearances. Oddly or not, the nearest I can figure he had a total of fifty-five acting roles as well. Though he completed three more films in the late Fifties, he spent the balance of his career in television. Had he lived longer, he might have provided some interesting characters well into his seventies. 

A Television Transition

Wisely changing his name from Gustav William Tweer Jr. to Walter Brooke, he became a staple of television audiences for his supporting roles. He always was in command of those characters, whether playing the straight man in comedies, an unscrupulous businessman, a doctor, or any number of authority characters. After a string of uncredited film roles as a reporter or clerk in the Forties—opposite Flynn and Bogart and the like—Brooke quickly got on board the television express. He spent almost his entire career on the small screen. There were a few exceptions: the low-budget science fiction, Conquest of Space (1955), two infamous roles in, The Party Crashers (1958), and Bloodlust! (1961), then his small role with a big impact in the major hit, The Graduate (1967).

Born in New York City in 1914, Brooke landed roles in many popular series of the Fifties including five appearances on The Big Story (1952-59). But I will start with his two episodes of The Twilight Zone, four episodes of McHale's Navy, and three episodes of The Fugitive. He landed a regular role on The Green Hornet series as D. A. Frank Scanlon followed by several appearances in Judd For The Defense and Death Valley Days. He made the rounds on many popular series of the Seventies, including Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971-74), and then hit the cop shows from Mannix to Barnaby Jones, The Rookies, and notable roles on The Rockford Files before landing another recurring role on The Waltons as Clarence Johnson. He finished out his prolific television career through the end of the Eighties until his death in 1986.

Note: above is a capture from his first appearance on The Rockford Files, 1974.

One of The Three Kings

I can readily think of only three classic Hollywood notables using the first name of King: director King Vidor, B-movie and television actor, King Caulder, and the subject of this overview, King Donovan. After a long string of uncredited film roles, typically as a reporter, a buddy, salesman, clerk, or manager, Francis King Donovan (1918-1987) was primarily seen on television screens across America in a variety of occupational roles or as a neighbor. Even blindfolded, he was instantly recognizable by his distinctive, upper-register voice that seemed fitting for an animated character or perhaps better described by a somewhat raspy tone as if he needed to clear his throat for a more clear projection. Whether drama or comedy he each role with self-confidence. With a few years of television roles already in the can midst of the budding new medium, he had a leading role in the sleeper hit film, The Invasion of The Body Snatchers, 1956 (above). Always a slot for him in any film, he continued working on the occasional film throughout his career, usually uncredited, for such 1963 classics as The Thrill of It All, as a television executive, and for the blockbuster, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as an airport official.

Notable recurring television roles include the deadbeat relative, Jake Clampett, on two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, as Roger Baker for eight episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and as Harvey Helm in a seventeen-episode run on The Bob Cummings Show. He then played the inquisitive neighbor on Please Don't Eat the Daisies. His singular roles are too numerous to mention but Donovan was visible on several notable series like Richard Diamond, Private Detective, as Joe Baker on the western Cheyenne, a petty thief on Shotgun Slade, a western detective series with an unusual jazz score theme. He played Mark Dawson on Maverick and as a gun dealer, Sheridan Appleby, on Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Rod Serling's, Night Gallery.

Note: Donovan married comedienne Imogene Coca in 1960 and they remained together until his death.

Transition to Television

There were solid performances by numerous B-movie actors but they never became major film stars. The new medium of television offered a career shift and kept them busy. Some became a household face if not a name. 

PAUL RICHARDS (1924-1974) 

Richards may be best known to television viewers for his roles as a criminal or using his distinctive voice and monotone delivery as a psychologically disturbed individual. The versatile actor may be most familiar in the saddle, however. Throughout the Fifties and Sixties, he appeared on nearly every Western series in the likes of The Rifleman, Have Gun–Will Travel, Bonanza, and The Virginian. Richards performed four times on Gunsmoke. In the very first episode, he is cast as a near-sighted, unemotional gunfighter who outdraws Matt Dillon, nearly ending the series.

His transition to television seemed to be an easy one give his dynamic and realistic performances on the small screen. Between three or four stealthy film roles, he had a minor role as a prisoner in the high-profile film, Demetrius and the Gladiators. He played an unsuccessful mugger to Ralph Meeker's character in Kiss Me Deadly, then a competing oil industry driller framed by Gene Barry in, The Houston Story. Beneath the Planet of The Apes (1970) is probably the worst of the original franchise but Richards, as the skinless mutant leader, makes a creepy impression. Only his voice can be identified.

It was not all Westerns, of course. He starred as Dr. McKinley Thompson in the medical drama Breaking Point (1963) then an appearance on The Fugitive. He later appeared as a villainous lawyer in a 1968 episode of Hawaii Five-O. The early Seventies provided gigs on Burke's Law, I Spy, Mannix, Banacek, McMillan, and Wife, with three appearances on The Mod Squad.

Notes: A native of Hollywood, Richards earned a psychology degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master's degree in drama, also from UCLA. He gained additional acting experience at the Theatre Wing in New York. For several years, Richards served as the commercial pitchman for General Motors' Pontiac Division. He was also the spokesman for Braniff Airways. In 1967 he was the narrator for a documentary on the building of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis called, Monument to the Dream. American Express hired him in the early 1970s as their commercial spokesman. Richard's single twenty-one-year marriage ended with his death in 1974.

My TV TRANSITION series has moved to Thursdays. Check out these earlier Monday posts from the previous site:

Merry Anders          Steve Brodie        Beverly Garland       
Jack Hogan         Peggie Castle       John Bromfield      
Dane Clark

Transition to Television

There were solid performances by numerous B-movie actors but they never became major film stars. The new medium of television offered a career shift and kept them busy. Some became a household face if not a name.

Stacy (Stanley) Harris (1918-1973) 

Harris was a Canadian-born actor with hundreds of television appearances. Prior to his acting career, he was a newspaper reporter, boxer, sailor, and a staff cartoonist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Before television, Harris was best known for his role as an FBI agent on ABC Radio's This is Your FBI. His reserved vocal interpretation gave the special agent a calm authority. The radio series Dragnet also benefited from his vocal work. It is speculated that he met Jack Webb during those radio days. The two would become close personal friends.

He hit the ground running in his first film, Appointment with Danger (1950) with fellow co-stars, Harry Morgan, Paul Stewart, and Jack Webb. Alan Ladd headlined the film. In between numerous television appearances, he starred in The Mountain (1956) with Spencer Tracy. However hard he tried, his acting ability could not save the sleazy, low-budget New Orleans After Dark (1958). 

Television kept him busy with roles from westerns to crime dramas with appearances on Have Gun - Will Travel, Zane Grey Theatre, and a mayor on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp for twenty-three episodes. Away from the Old West were The Untouchables, 77 Sunset Strip with multiple roles on Dragnet 1967 to name a few. His life was cut short by an apparent heart attack at age 54.

Note: My TV TRANSITION series moved to this blog, now on Thursdays. Check out this first set of Monday posts below from my other site:

Harry Townes    Rudolpho Acosta    Harry Lauter     

Patricia Blair   Myron Healey    Richard Denning   

Tall In The Saddle

Standing 6' 7", Don Megowan (1922-1981) was one of the few actors who saw eye to eye with Clink Walker on his series, Cheyenne, as a six-time guest star splitting his time portraying good and bad men. The supporting actor benefitted from a great voice, a comic book hero face, and a quiet demeanor. A perfect fit for television's western "hay" days. His saddle never cooled much with roles on Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, The Tall Man, Maverick, Cimarron City, frequenting Have Gun–Will Travel, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Rifleman, Lawman, Colt .45, Bonanza, and Rawhide. Megowan guest-starred on several modern-day dramas and even a sitcom or two. His film career was very sparse, notable only for his appearance in Blazing Saddles and least recognizable as the Gill-man on land in The Creature Walks Among Us, the third and final installment of the black lagoon creature trilogy. 

Reel Character Series

 

Starring in many significant or low-budget films, Richard Egan (1921-1987) was a strong lead and supporting actor during the 1950s and 1960s. Though many of those early films may have been forgotten, Egan always treated his role as the lead actor he was. He was churning out decent pictures for Universal, RKO and MGM in supporting roles from 1950 to 1954 becoming quite the hunk sans shirt after Demetrius and The Gladiators (1954). Egan won Golden Globes for his supporting performances in the films The Glory Brigade (1953) and The Kid from Left Field (1953). Twentieth Century Fox brought stardom to Egan with a mix of good and bad guys roles in adventure, western and drama films. Beginning in the 1960s, television was the next medium to conquer and he did so through the mid-Eighties.

 
After graduating from St. Ignatius College Preparatory, the San Francisco-born actor enlisted in the Army in 1943 serving as a judo and knife fighting instructor for one year, then discharged with the rank of captain. He eventually earned a master's degree in theater history from Stanford University. He went on to teach public speaking at Northwestern University. Egan's single, nearly thirty-year marriage lasted until his death.