James Westerfield
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.
Known for
Bonanza
Arthur Blackwell
The Andy Griffith Show
Uncle Ollie
Lassie
The Rifleman
Mannix
The Twilight Zone
Anthony O'Toole
Maverick
The Texan
Studio One
Captain James Reagan
Studio One
Bilgeboy / Jimmy Scaggs
The Lucy Show
Weitzman
The Philco Television Playhouse
The Philco Television Playhouse
H.T. Carmichael
Trackdown
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Bert Farrow
The Big Valley
Jeb Lassiter
Daniel Boone
Hand
Daniel Boone
Simon Girty
State Trooper
Perry Mason
Sheriff Elmore
Perry Mason
Roger Quigley
The Time Tunnel
Sheriff
Johnny Ringo
Aben Burke
Law of the Plainsman
Joshua Jones
Rawhide
Matt Lucas
Rawhide
Mort Henry
Tightrope
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Dr. Langland
Inner Sanctum
Bewitched
Bat Masterson
Shapley Howell
Thriller
Al Matthews
The Rebel
Suee
The Outcasts
Profiles in Courage
Sen. Samuel Pomeroy
Going My Way
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
Casey, Crime Photographer
The Walter Winchell File
Straightaway
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
McAllister
The Alaskans
The Beverly Hillbillies
My Three Sons
The Great Adventure
Attorney Thomas Green
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Commissioner Cummings
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Pops Lafferty
The Wild Wild West
McAvity
Lost in Space
Dr. Marvello
Gunsmoke
Rance Bradley
Gunsmoke
Harry Duggan
Gunsmoke
Cleed
Gunsmoke
Franks
Green Acres
The Dakotas
The 20th Century Fox Hour
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
John Murrel
Judd for the Defense
Mayberry R.F.D.
Sheriff Matson
The Tall Man
Hang 'em High
Prisoner
General Electric Theater
Bartender
General Electric Theater
The General
True Grit
Judge Parker
The Magnificent Ambersons
Policeman at Accident (uncredited)
On the Waterfront
Big Mac
Decision at Sundown
Otis, the Bartender
The Sons of Katie Elder
Mr. Vennar
Birdman of Alcatraz
Jess Younger
The Asphalt Jungle
Wild River
Cal Garth
The Chase
Job the Butler
The Shaggy Dog
Officer Hanson
The Absent-Minded Professor
Officer Hanson
The Pride of the Yankees
Spectator (uncredited)
The Proud Rebel
Birm Bates
Man's Favorite Sport?
Policeman
Bikini Beach
Cop #2
Blue
Abe Parker
The Hangman
Herb Loftus
Cowboy
Mike Adams
Man with the Gun
Mr. Zender
The Violent Men
Sheriff Magruder
Away All Boats
The Cobweb
James Petlee
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Reverend Howard
Son of Flubber
Officer Hanson
Chief Crazy Horse
Caleb Mantz
Undercurrent
Henry Gilson
Homicidal
Alfred S. Adrims
The Boy Who Stole the Elephant
Sheriff Berry
Smith!
Sheriff
The Love God?
Rev. Wilkerson
That Funny Feeling
Officer Brokaw
A Man Called Gannon
Amos
Lucy Gallant
Harry Wilson
The Plunderers
Mike Baron
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Jack Balter
Side Street
Charlie (policeman)
Scalplock
Nehemiah
The Howards of Virginia
Backwoodsman
Dead Aim
John Applebee
Around the World
Bashful Marine
Old Man
Warden
The Scarlet Coat
Col. Jameson
The Human Jungle
Marty Harrison
About Face
Soldier with Daisy (uncredited)
Three Hours to Kill
Sam Minor
Highway West
Swede, Trucker at Cafe
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Capt. Boyle
Jungle Heat
Harvey Mathews
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Joe London
Three Brave Men
Chief O'Reilly
Set This Town on Fire
Cark Rickter
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Harvey (Zoo Attendant) (uncredited)
The Helen Morgan Story
Frank Piggin
Bartleby
The Lawyer
The Bachelor Party
Bookkeeper
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Charley Mardis