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. 

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.