Richard Carlson (actor)

Richard Carlson

Richard Carlson in 1940
Born Richard Dutoit Carlson
(1912-04-29)April 29, 1912
Albert Lea, Minnesota, USA
Died November 25, 1977(1977-11-25) (aged 65)
Encino, California
Cause of death Cerebral hemorrhage
Resting place Los Angeles National Cemetery
Alma mater University of Minnesota
summa cum laude
Occupation Actor, director, screenwriter
Years active 1937–75
Spouse(s) Mona Carlson (1939–1977, his death)
Children Richard Henry Carlson
Christopher Hugh Carlson
Parent(s) Mabel Du Toit
Henry Carlson

Richard Dutoit Carlson (April 29, 1912 November 25, 1977) was an American actor, television and film director, and screenwriter.

Career

The son of a lawyer, Carlson was born in Albert Lea in southern Minnesota.

He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Master of Arts degree, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He appeared on the Broadway stage in the 1930s after studying and teaching drama in Minnesota. His first film role was in the 1938 David O. Selznick comedy The Young in Heart. He worked as a freelance actor, appearing in many different film studio works, beginning in 1939 when he moved to California. Before the war, he appeared mostly in comedies and dramas, including The Little Foxes and Too Many Girls with Lucille Ball in 1940.

Carlson served in the United States Navy as a pilot in World War II, interrupting his acting career. After returning he found it difficult to procure new roles, and his future in Hollywood remained in doubt until 1948. In that year, Carlson was cast in two low-budget film noir releases, Behind Locked Doors and The Amazing Mr. X. Despite this, real success in Hollywood eluded him until 1950, when he co-starred with Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger in the highly successful jungle adventure film King Solomon's Mines, shot on location in Africa. Other films followed, including the World War II naval action film Flat Top.

Carlson slowly began to rebuild his career, finding work in the newly emergent science fiction and horror B films of the 1950s. He appeared in a number of horror and science fiction films, including three 3-D films: The Maze (1953) and the classics It Came from Outer Space (1953) with Barbara Rush, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) with Julia Adams, and The Magnetic Monster. His success in the genre led him to the director's chair for the 1954 science fiction film Riders to the Stars, in which he also starred.

In addition to science fiction work, he had a recurring role as a writer of "science fact" in The Bell Laboratory Science Series.

On July 14, 1951, Carlson and then U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey were the guests on the CBS live variety show, Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, in which hostess Faye Emerson visited Minneapolis to accent the kinds of music popular in the city.[1]

In addition to writing and directing various film and television projects, Carlson also was the star of the Cold War drama television series I Led Three Lives from 1953 to 1956.

He was featured in 1957 in The Helen Morgan Story. That same year, he was cast as two different ministers, Rabbi Avraham Soltes and Father William Wendt, in the episodes "The Happy Gift" and "Call for Help", respectively, of the syndicated religion anthology series, Crossroads.

In the 1958-1959 television season, Carlson portrayed Colonel Ranald Mackenzie of the 4th Regiment of the United States Cavalry in the syndicated western series, Mackenzie's Raiders, with Morris Ankrum, Louis Jean Heydt, Jack Ging, and Brett King among the "Raiders". The series is set at the former Fort Clark near Brackettville in southwestern Texas, where the real Mackenzie was stationed during much of the 1870s. However, the episodes were filmed at the former Corriganville Movie Ranch in Simi Valley, California. In the series theme, Mackenzie and his men must protect the American border from an assortment of outlaws from both the United States and Mexico. Yet the Raiders cannot risk being caught within Mexico, or they would lose the open support of their own government.[2]

In 1959, Carlson was cast as Paul Drake in "The Faithless" of the NBC western series Riverboat, with Darren McGavin. In the story line, Drake is an escaped prisoner with medical training being transported on the river vessel, the Enterprise, back to jail. Having lost his religious faith, Drake refuses to render medical assistance to a two-year-old girl stricken with a communicable disease which threatens the entire vessel. William Phipps and Jeanne Bates play the parents of the child. Bethel Leslie portrays Cathy Norris.[3]

In 1965, he played a mad scientist who creates a mutant, killer octopus in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode "The Village of Guilt".

In the final two seasons of CBS's Perry Mason, Carlson made two guest appearances, both times as the murder victim. In 1964 he played Anthony Fry in "The Case of the Tragic Trophy;" in 1966, he played Clete Hawley in "The Case of the Avenging Angel."

Carlson's last movie role was in the 1969 Elvis Presley/Mary Tyler Moore film, Change of Habit. His last acting role was in a 1975 episode of the television series Khan!.

In terms of his physical appearance and voice, Carlson was sometimes compared to Hugh Marlowe, who was one year older and starred in the science fiction classics The Day the Earth Stood Still and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. The two men were not related.

Death

Carlson died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 65 on November 25, 1977, in Encino, California.[4] He was buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery, in West Los Angeles. For his contribution to the television industry, Richard Carlson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6333 Hollywood Blvd.

Selected filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1938 The Young in Heart Duncan Macrae
The Duke of West Point Jack West
1939 Winter Carnival Professor John Welden
These Glamour Girls Joe
Dancing Co-Ed Michael "Pug" Braddock
Little Accident Perry Allerton
1940 Beyond Tomorrow James Houston
The Ghost Breakers Geoff Montgomery
The Howards of Virginia Thomas Jefferson
Too Many Girls Clint Kelly
No, No, Nanette Tom Gillespie
1941 Back Street Curt Stanton
West Point Widow Dr. Jimmy Krueger
Hold That Ghost Dr. Duncan "Doc" Jackson Alternative title: Oh Charlie
The Little Foxes David Hewitt
1942 Fly-by-Night Dr. Geoffrey Burton
The Affairs of Martha Jeff Sommerfield
Highways by Night Tommy Van Steel
My Heart Belongs to Daddy Prof. Richard Inglethorpe Culbertson Kay
White Cargo Mr. Langford
1943 A Stranger in Town Bill Adams
Presenting Lily Mars Owen Vail
Young Ideas Tom Farrell
The Man from Down Under "Nipper" Wilson
1947 So Well Remembered Charles Winslow
1948 The Amazing Mr. X Martin Abbott
Behind Locked Doors Ross Stewart
1950 King Solomon's Mines John Goode
The Sound of Fury Gil Stanton Alternative title: Try and Get Me
1951 Valentino Bill King
A Millionaire for Christy Dr. Roland Cook
The Day the Earth Stood Still Thomas Stevens Jr Uncredited
The Blue Veil Gerald Kean
1952 Whispering Smith Hits London Whispering Smith
Retreat, Hell! Captain Paul Hansen
The Rose Bowl Story Narrator Voice, Uncredited
Flat Top Lt. Rodgers
1953 The Magnetic Monster Dr. Jeffrey Stewart
Seminole Major Harlan Degan
It Came from Outer Space John Putnam
All I Desire Henry Murdoch
The Maze Gerald MacTeam
The Golden Blade Narrator Voice, Uncredited
1954 Riders to the Stars Dr. Jerome "Jerry" Lockwood Also directed
Creature from the Black Lagoon Dr. David Reed
1955 An Annapolis Story Narrator Voice, Uncredited
The Last Command William B. Travis Alternative title: San Antonio de Bexar
Bengazi Insp. Levering
1956 Three for Jamie Dawn Martin Random
1957 The Helen Morgan Story Russell Wade
1960 Tormented Tom Stewart
1966 Kid Rodelo Link Also director
The Doomsday Flight Chief Pilot Bob Shea
1968 The Power Professor Norman E. Van Zandt
1969 The Valley of Gwangi Champ
Change of Habit Bishop Finley
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1953-1956 I Led Three Lives Herbert Philbrick
1954 General Electric Theater Archie Hawkins 1 episode
The Best of Broadway Mike Connor 1 episode
1959 Riverboat Paul Drake 1 episode
The Man and the Challenge
-
Director, 1 episode
Men into Space
-
Director, 1 episode
1960 The Aquanauts Ross Porter 1 episode
1961–1962 The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
-
Director, 5 episodes
1962 Bus Stop George Whaley 1 episode
Thriller Guy Guthrie 1 episode
Going My Way Francis Delaney 1 episode
1964 Arrest and Trial Turner Leigh 1 episode
The Fugitive Allan Pruitt 1 episode
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' Lars Mattson 1 episode
1968 Bonanza Arch Hollinbeck 1 episode
1969 It Takes a Thief Daniel K. Ryder 1 episode
The F.B.I. Harold David Dewitt 1 episode
Lancer Judah Abbott 1 episode
1971–1973 O'Hara, U.S. Treasury
-
Writer, 3 episodes
1972–1973 Cannon Owen McMahon; Mr. Archibald 2 episodes
1973 Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law Al Downes 1 episode
1975 Khan! 1 episode

References

  1. "Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town". Classic Television Archives. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  2. Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 112-113
  3. ""The Faithless", Riverboat, November 22, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  4. Jarvis, Everett Grant (1996). Final Curtain: Deaths of Noted Movie and TV Personalities, 1912-1996 (8 ed.). Carol Pub. Group. p. 65.
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