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James Westerfield
Born · March 22, 1913
Died · September 20, 1971 (58 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Bio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James A. Westerfield (22 March 1913 – 20 September 1971) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, to candy-maker Brasher Omier Westerfield and his wife Dora Elizabeth Bailey, he was raised in Detroit, Michigan. (A news story in the June 12, 1949, issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle calls the information in the preceding sentence into question. It describes Westerfield as "the son of a famous producer-director" and says that he was "a youngster in Denver, Col.") He became interested in theatre as a young man and in the 1930s joined Gilmor Brown's famed Pasadena Community Playhouse, appearing in dozens of plays. He played in numerous films following his debut in 1940, then went to New York City and appeared on Broadway, winning two New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for his supporting roles in The Madwoman of Chaillot and Detective Story. He then returned to Hollywood and made more than 40 more films. Westerfield maintained an interest in the theatre. He directed more than 50 musicals in a summer-musical tent he owned in Danbury, Connecticut, and was the original stage director and producer for the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. He directed three seasons of "Theatre Under the Stars" in Vancouver, British Columbia, and appeared in musical roles with the Detroit Civic Light Opera, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and the San Francisco Civic Light Opera. On film, Westerfield had roles in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), On The Waterfront (1954), Lucy Gallant (1955), the 1957 Budd Boetticher-directed Western Decision at Sundown starring Randolph Scott, Cowboy (1958), a repeating role in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Man's Favorite Sport (1964), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Hang 'Em High (1968) and True Grit (1969). Westerfield had many roles on television, including seven episodes as John Murrel from 1963 to 1964 on ABC's The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, starring child actor Kurt Russell in the title role. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Sheriff Bert Elmore in the 1957 episode, "The Case of the Angry Mourner." He also appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger in 1954 entitled "Texas Draw." Westerfield's other appearances were on such series as The Rifleman, The Californians, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Alaskans, The Rebel, Straightaway, Going My Way, The Asphalt Jungle, Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show, Daniel Boone, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Gunsmoke. He played the circus leader, Dr. Marvello, in an episode of Lost in Space "Space Circus" (1966). Westerfield as a young man was a roommate of fellow Pasadena Playhouse actor George Reeves. The two remained close friends until Reeves's death in 1959. Westerfield was married to Alice G. Fay (an actress under the name Fay Tracey), who, along with his mother, survived him. Westerfield died from a heart attack in Woodlands Hills, California, at the age of fifty-eight.
Set This Town on Fire
Cark Rickter
0.0
1973
Dead Aim
John Applebee
3.2
1971
The Boy Who Stole the Elephant
Sheriff Berry
4.0
1970
Bartleby
The Lawyer
0.0
1969
The Love God?
Rev. Wilkerson
6.0
1969
True Grit
Judge Parker
7.3
1969
Smith!
Sheriff
5.6
1969
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Capt. Boyle
0.0
1968
The Outcasts
(1 episode)
5.3
1968
Mayberry R.F.D.
Sheriff Matson · (1 episode)
5.7
1968
Blue
Abe Parker
5.2
1968
Hang 'em High
Prisoner
6.8
1968
A Man Called Gannon
Amos
4.4
1968
Mannix
(1 episode)
6.7
1967
Judd for the Defense
(1 episode)
7.5
1967
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Jack Balter
5.1
1966
The Time Tunnel
Sheriff · (1 episode)
7.6
1966
Scalplock
Nehemiah
6.5
1966
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Charley Mardis
0.0
1965
The Wild Wild West
McAvity · (1 episode)
7.6
1965
Green Acres
(1 episode)
7.3
1965
Lost in Space
Dr. Marvello · (1 episode)
7.1
1965
The Big Valley
Jeb Lassiter · (1 episode)
6.1
1965
That Funny Feeling
Officer Brokaw
5.9
1965
The Sons of Katie Elder
Mr. Vennar
7.0
1965
Profiles in Courage
Sen. Samuel Pomeroy · (1 episode)
5.0
1964
Daniel Boone
Hand · (1 episode)
6.9
1964
Daniel Boone
Simon Girty · (1 episode)
6.9
1964
Bewitched
(1 episode)
7.9
1964
Bikini Beach
Cop #2
5.7
1964
Man's Favorite Sport?
Policeman
7.0
1964
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
John Murrel · (2 episodes)
5.3
1963
The Great Adventure
Attorney Thomas Green · (1 episode)
0.0
1963
Son of Flubber
Officer Hanson
5.9
1963
The Dakotas
(1 episode)
5.7
1963
Going My Way
(1 episode)
5.7
1962
The Lucy Show
Weitzman · (1 episode)
7.0
1962
The Beverly Hillbillies
(1 episode)
6.8
1962
Birdman of Alcatraz
Jess Younger
7.5
1962
Straightaway
(1 episode)
0.0
1961
Homicidal
Alfred S. Adrims
6.5
1961
The Asphalt Jungle
(1 episode)
5.0
1961
The Absent-Minded Professor
Officer Hanson
6.5
1961
The Plunderers
Mike Baron
5.8
1960
The Andy Griffith Show
Uncle Ollie · (1 episode)
7.6
1960
My Three Sons
(1 episode)
6.5
1960
Thriller
Al Matthews · (1 episode)
6.3
1960
The Tall Man
(1 episode)
6.3
1960
Wild River
Cal Garth
7.2
1960
The Alaskans
(1 episode)
5.5
1959
The Rebel
Suee · (1 episode)
5.1
1959
The Twilight Zone
Anthony O'Toole · (1 episode)
8.4
1959
Johnny Ringo
Aben Burke · (1 episode)
5.7
1959
Law of the Plainsman
Joshua Jones · (1 episode)
6.0
1959
Bonanza
Arthur Blackwell · (1 episode)
7.5
1959
Tightrope
(1 episode)
5.5
1959
The Hangman
Herb Loftus
6.2
1959
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Reverend Howard
5.6
1959
The Shaggy Dog
Officer Hanson
6.1
1959
Rawhide
Matt Lucas · (1 episode)
7.2
1959
Rawhide
Mort Henry · (1 episode)
7.2
1959
Old Man
Warden
0.0
1958
Bat Masterson
Shapley Howell · (1 episode)
6.1
1958
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
(1 episode)
5.3
1958
The Rifleman
(2 episodes)
7.0
1958
The Texan
(1 episode)
5.0
1958
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Dr. Langland · (1 episode)
6.9
1958
The Proud Rebel
Birm Bates
6.0
1958
Cowboy
Mike Adams
6.4
1958
Decision at Sundown
Otis, the Bartender
6.3
1957
Trackdown
(1 episode)
6.4
1957
The Walter Winchell File
(1 episode)
5.0
1957
Maverick
(2 episodes)
6.8
1957
Perry Mason
Sheriff Elmore · (1 episode)
7.7
1957
Perry Mason
Roger Quigley · (1 episode)
7.7
1957
Jungle Heat
Harvey Mathews
4.3
1957
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
McAllister · (1 episode)
6.2
1957
The Helen Morgan Story
Frank Piggin
0.0
1957
Three Brave Men
Chief O'Reilly
4.8
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Bert Farrow · (1 episode)
5.5
1956
State Trooper
(1 episode)
5.0
1956
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
(1 episode)
3.7
1956
Away All Boats
5.1
1956
Man with the Gun
Mr. Zender
6.2
1955
Lucy Gallant
Harry Wilson
7.0
1955
The 20th Century Fox Hour
(1 episode)
5.2
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Commissioner Cummings · (1 episode)
7.7
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Pops Lafferty · (1 episode)
7.7
1955
Gunsmoke
Rance Bradley · (1 episode)
6.6
1955
Gunsmoke
Harry Duggan · (1 episode)
6.6
1955
Gunsmoke
Cleed · (1 episode)
6.6
1955
Gunsmoke
Franks · (1 episode)
6.6
1955
The Scarlet Coat
Col. Jameson
6.4
1955
The Cobweb
James Petlee
5.8
1955
Chief Crazy Horse
Caleb Mantz
5.6
1955
The Violent Men
Sheriff Magruder
6.4
1955
Three Hours to Kill
Sam Minor
5.0
1954
The Human Jungle
Marty Harrison
5.3
1954
Lassie
(1 episode)
6.1
1954
On the Waterfront
Big Mac
7.9
1954
Inner Sanctum
(1 episode)
7.0
1954
The Bachelor Party
Bookkeeper
0.0
1953
General Electric Theater
Bartender · (1 episode)
6.0
1953
General Electric Theater
The General · (1 episode)
6.0
1953
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Joe London
6.2
1951
Casey, Crime Photographer
(1 episode)
0.0
1951
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Harvey (Zoo Attendant) (uncredited)
6.1
1950
Side Street
Charlie (policeman)
6.6
1950
Studio One
Captain James Reagan · (1 episode)
4.7
1948
Studio One
Bilgeboy / Jimmy Scaggs · (1 episode)
4.7
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
(1 episode)
6.0
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
H.T. Carmichael · (1 episode)
6.0
1948
The Chase
Job the Butler
6.2
1946
Undercurrent
Henry Gilson
5.8
1946
Around the World
Bashful Marine
5.0
1943
The Pride of the Yankees
Spectator (uncredited)
7.4
1942
The Magnificent Ambersons
Policeman at Accident (uncredited)
7.3
1942
About Face
Soldier with Daisy (uncredited)
5.5
1942
Highway West
Swede, Trucker at Cafe
5.8
1941
The Howards of Virginia
Backwoodsman
6.4
1940