American actor (1902–1964)
Addison Richards
Born Addison Whitaker Richards, Jr.
(1902-10-20 ) October 20, 1902Died March 22, 1964(1964-03-22) (aged 61) Resting place Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont , California Occupation(s) Film and television actor Years active 1933–1964 Spouses
Vivian Eccles
(
m. 1930; died 1946)
Patricia Sarazln
(
m. 1952)
Children 1
Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. [citation needed (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than 300 films between 1933 and his death in 1964.
Biography
A native of Zanesville, Ohio , Richards was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Addison Richards. His grandfather was a mayor of Zanesville. Following his father's death, the family moved to California.[ 1] [ 2]
Stage and screen
In 1931 Addison Richards joined the Pasadena Playhouse as actor and associate director. He entered motion pictures in 1933. Warner Bros. signed him to a nonexclusive five-year contract in 1934, and he appeared steadily in that studio's feature films. His dignified, businesslike demeanor established him as a character actor, and he almost always played professional men of authority: doctors, attorneys, judges, executives, military officers, legislators, prison wardens, etc. Richards became such a fixture at Warners that he can often be seen in the studio's annual blooper reels of the late 1930s (Breakdowns of 1937 , etc.).
While working at Warners he accepted roles offered by other studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Paramount Pictures , Universal Pictures , and RKO Radio Pictures . Later he also worked at Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures . Today's audiences may recognize him from the James Cagney feature G Men Andy Hardy series (as neighbor Polly Benedict's father); the Mae West -W. C. Fields collaboration My Little Chickadee Charlie Chan mysteries Charlie Chan in Panama The Shanghai Cobra Badlands of Dakota George Armstrong Custer ; the Laurel and Hardy feature A-Haunting We Will Go Charlie Chaplin production Monsieur Verdoux Bowery Boys comedy High Society
In 1956, Richards appeared as Doc Jennings in The Fastest Gun Alive Glenn Ford , and as the marshal in The Broken Star
Television
Like many veteran screen actors, Richards began working in television, eventually becoming so busy that he slowed his motion-picture work to only one or two features a year. He was cast in many television series , including the syndicated 1950s crime drama , Sheriff of Cochise John Bromfield . He appeared in six episodes in different roles on the NBC anthology series , The Loretta Young Show CBS crime drama , Richard Diamond, Private Detective Checkmate National Velvet [ 3]
Richards often appeared in the then-popular genre of TV westerns. In 1957, in the first of three appearances on Dale Robertson 's NBC western series, Tales of Wells Fargo Governor Lew Wallace in the episode titled, "Billy the Kid". He was cast as Warden Johnson in the episode "Dead Reckoning" on the ABC /Warner Brothers series Colt .45 CBS series Trackdown [ 4] The Texan Rory Calhoun , and in two episodes of Cimarron City the Deputy Henry Fonda and Allen Case .[ 3] The Tall Man [ 3] Rawhide
Richards was also seen in situation comedies. He appeared in the recurring role of J.B. Barker in nine episodes of Jackie Cooper 's NBC sitcom The People's Choice [ 3] Fibber McGee and Molly Dennis the Menace Jay North , and in two episodes of The Real McCoys Pete and Gladys The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Dwayne Hickman , Petticoat Junction The Beverly Hillbillies Buddy Ebsen . His last television role was as Colonel Saunders in the 1964 episode "The Permanent Recruit" of ABC's No Time for Sergeants Andy Griffith film of the same name.
Return to the stage
For the summer of 1962, Richards joined the summer stock cast at Denver's Elitch Theatre and appeared in shows including Auntie Mame and The Best Man .[ 5]
Personal life
Richards met Vivian Eccles in late 1929, marrying a year later and later had one child, daughter Ann.[ 6]
Richards died of a heart attack . His interment is at Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont , California . A news story in the March 26, 1964 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.[ 7]
Selected filmography
Riot Squad Lone Cowboy Let's Be Ritzy The Love Captive Such Women Are Dangerous Handy Andy Our Daily Bread Beyond the Law The Girl from Missouri British Agent The Case of the Howling Dog A Lost Lady The St. Louis Kid Gentlemen Are Born Babbitt 365 Nights in Hollywood The White Cockatoo Society Doctor Home on the Range Sweet Music A Dog of Flanders Black Fury Eight Bells G Men Alias Mary Dow Dinky Front Page Woman The Crusades Here Comes the Band Little Big Shot Freckles The Eagle's Brood Frisco Kid The Walking Dead Trailin' West The Case of the Velvet Claws China Clipper Ready, Willing and Able The Singing Marine Smart Blonde White Bondage Black Legion Boys Town Valley of the Giants Flight to Fame Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever Exile Express Geronimo Inside Information Man from Montreal Whispering Enemies Mystery of the White Room The Lone Wolf Strikes South to Karanga My Little Chickadee The Man from Dakota Northwest Passage Charlie Chan in Panama Edison, the Man Ski Patrol Andy Hardy Meets Debutante Flight Command Western Union Forbidden Passage Andy Hardy's Private Secretary Her First Beau I Wanted Wings The Great Lie Mutiny in the Arctic Men of Boys Town Texas Secret Agent of Japan A-Haunting We Will Go Flying Tigers The Pride of the Yankees Underground Agent Adventures of the Flying Cadets Air Force The Mad Ghoul Mystery Broadcast A Guy Named Joe The Mystery of the 13th Guest The Fighting Seabees The Mummy's Curse Are These Our Parents? Black Market Babies The Adventures of Rusty The Shanghai Cobra Love Laughs at Andy Hardy Rustlers Henry, the Rainmaker Davy Crockett, Indian Scout The Watchdogs (1954) as starring role in an industrial film for Packard The Ten Commandments Reprisal! Last of the Badmen The Deerslayer Gunsight Ridge Perry Mason The Saga of Hemp Brown The Californians Lassie Rawhide The Oregon Trail James K. Polk (uncredited)Alfred Hitchcock Presents All the Fine Young Cannibals Inherit the Wind The Dark at the Top of the Stairs The Facts of Life Alfred Hitchcock Presents Frontier Uprising Operation Eichmann The Gambler Wore a Gun The Flight That Disappeared Perry Mason Rawhide Bonanza Rawhide Saintly Sinners Bonanza Bonanza The Raiders Rawhide For Those Who Think Young
References
^ "Author of "Since You Went Away" and Two Members of Cast Formerly of This Locality" . Sunday Times Signal . Ohio, Zanesville. October 1, 1944. p. 1. Retrieved June 24, 2016 – via Newspapers.com .^ Terry Ramsaye (ed.), International Motion Picture Almanac , Quigley Publications, 1946, p. 324.^ a b c d "Addison Richards" . Internet Movie Database . Retrieved January 10, 2013 .^ 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
^ R, Greg. "1913" . Historic Elitch Theatre . Retrieved January 8, 2023 . ^ "Former Ogden Actor Has Top Role" . The Deseret News . Utah, Salt Lake City. April 6, 1943. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2016 .^ "Rites Held For Character Actor Addison Richards" . Santa Cruz Sentinel . California, Santa Cruz. March 26, 1964. p. 8. Retrieved June 24, 2016 – via Newspapers.com .
External links
