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John Dehner (1915-1992)
John Dehner

Hot Spell, September 17, 1955 - Written by E. Jack Neuman, Directed by Charles Marquis WarreTap Day For Kitty, March 17, 1956 - Written by John Dunkel, Story by John Meston, Directed by Charles Marquis Warren, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Mary Adams

Tap Day For Kitty, March 17, 1956 - Written by John Dunkel, Story by John Meston, Directed by Charles Marquis Warren, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Mary Adams

Daddy-O, June 1, 1957 Written by John Meston, Directed by Andrew McLaglen, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Judson Pratt

Crackup, September 14, 1957 Written by John Meston, DiTom Cassidy, March 22, 1958 Written by John Meston, Directed by John Rich, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Ross Martin, Peggy McKay

Tom Cassidy, March 22, 1958 Written by John Meston, Directed by John Rich, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Ross Martin, Peggy McKay

The Badge, November 12, 1960 Written by John Meston Story by Marian Clark, Directed by Andrew McLaglen, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Conlan Carter, Allan Lane, Harry Swoger, Mike Mikler

The Squaw, November 11, 1961 Written by John Dunkel, Directed by Gerald H. Mayer Cast: John Dehner, Vitina Marcus, Paul Carr, Bob Hastings, Jeb McDonald, Jack Orrison, Bill Erwin

Root Down, October 6, 1962 Written by Kathleen Hite, Directed by Sobey Martin, Assistant Director Wes McAfee, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Sherry Jackson, Robert Doyle, Howard McNear, George Selk, Michael Cart, Ollie O'Toole

Ash, February 16th, 1963 Written by John Meston, Directed by Harry Harris, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Anthony Caruso, Dee Hartford, Adam West, Sheldon Allman

Homecoming, March 28th, 1964 Written by Paul Savage, Directed by Harry Harris, Guest Cast: Dabbs Greer, John Dehner, Lane The Pariah, April 17, 1965 Written by Calvin Clements, Directed by Harry Harris, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Steve Ihnat, Tom Reese, Ika Windish, Donald Loseby

The Pariah, April 17, 1965 Written by Calvin Clements, Directed by Harry Harris, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Steve Ihnat, Tom Reese, Ika Windish, Donald Loseby

Dead Man's Law, January 8, 1968 Written by Calvin Clements, Jr, Directed by John Rich, Assistant Director Paul Nichols, Incidental Music Leon Klatzkin, Guest Cast: John Dehner, Gunnar Hellstrom, Eddie Little Sky, Craig Curtis, Ralph Manza, Gregg Palmer, Robert Brubaker, Steve Raines, Baynes Barron, Alex Sharp, Ted Jordan, Jonathan Harper

He was a master of many areas of the entertainment world: animation, stage, radio news announcer and actor, film and television actor. Tall and impressive looking with a stern face and smooth voice he was most prolific on television. Born John Forkum on November 23, 1915 in Staten Island, New York the son of an artist he spent much of his youth in Europe. As a teen he returned to the U.S. and tried his hand at stage acting. During World War II he served as a publicist for the Army and spent much time covering Gen. Patton. After the war he worked in radio for many years as both newsman, commentator and actor. He was the original Paladin on radio's "Have Gun, Will Travel." He worked as an animation assistant at Disney Studios on such films as: "Fantasia"; "Bambi" and Mickey Mouse cartoons. He made his film acting debut in 1944 in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" in a Bit Part. Among his other film credits were: "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) as 2nd State Trooper; "The Corn is Green" (1945) as Welshman; "State Fair" (1945) as Announcer; "Golden Earrings" (1947) uncredited as S.S. Man with Hoff; "Tulsa" (1949) as Oilman; "Lorna Doone" (1951) as Baron de Wichehalse; "Al Jennings of Oklahoma" (1951) as Tom Marsden; "Scaramouche" (1952) with Stewart Granger, as Doutreval; "Man on a Tightrope" (1953) as The Chief, my favorite of his film roles; "The Prodigal" (1955) as Jaram; "Carousel" (1956) as Mr. Bascombe; "Timbuktu" (1959) as Emir; "Youngblood Hawke" (1964) as Scotty Hawke; "Dirty Dingus Magee" (1970) as General; "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1972) as Rumfoord; "Day of the Dolphin" (1973) as Wallingford; "The Boys From Brazil" (1978) as Henry Wheelock; "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982) as The Commissioner; "Jagged Edge" (1985) as Judge Carrigan and "Creator" (1985) with Peter O'Toole, as Paul, his last film. On TV, surprisingly, he was a regular in many series: "The Westerner" (1960) as Burgundy Smith; "The Roaring Twenties" (1960-62) as Jim Duke Williams; "The Baileys of Balboa" (1964-65) as Commodore Cecil Wyntoon; "The Don Knotts Show" (1970-71) as a regular; "The Doris Day Show" (1971-73) as Cy Bennett; "Temperatures Rising" (1973-74) as Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver; "Big Hawaii" (1977) as Barrett Fears; "Young Maverick" (1979-80) as Marshal Edge Troy; "Enos" (1980-81) as Lt. Jacob Broggi and the mini-series "Winds of War" (1983) & "War and Remembrance" (1989) as Admiral King. He appeared in many TV movies and guested on many series including: "Gunsmoke"; "Maverick"; "Combat"; "Perry Mason"; "Twilight Zone"; "The Wild, Wild West"; "Quincy" and "The Rockford Files." He died on February 4, 1992 in Santa Barbara, California of emphysema and diabetes at age 76.

Many Biographies are courtesy of GREAT CHARACTER ACTORS