James Westerfield
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 22, 1913
- Died
- September 20, 1971 (aged 58)
- Birthplace
- Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Biography
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
Filmography
Dead Aim
Movie · as John Applebee
Set This Town on Fire
Movie · as Cark Rickter
The Boy Who Stole the Elephant
Movie · as Sheriff Berry
True Grit
Movie · as Judge Parker
Bartleby
Movie · as The Lawyer
Smith!
Movie · as Sheriff
The Love God?
Movie · as Rev. Wilkerson
Hang 'em High
Movie · as Prisoner
A Man Called Gannon
Movie · as Amos
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Movie · as Capt. Boyle
Blue
Movie · as Abe Parker
The Outcasts
TV · 1 ep
Mayberry R.F.D.
TV · as Sheriff Matson · 1 ep
Mannix
TV · 1 ep
Judd, for the Defense
TV · 1 ep
Scalplock
Movie · as Nehemiah
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Movie · as Jack Balter
The Time Tunnel
TV · as Sheriff · 1 ep
The Sons of Katie Elder
Movie · as Mr. Vennar
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Movie · as Charley Mardis
That Funny Feeling
Movie · as Officer Brokaw
Green Acres
TV · 1 ep
Lost in Space
TV · as Dr. Marvello · 1 ep
The Big Valley
TV · as Jeb Lassiter · 1 ep
The Wild Wild West
TV · as McAvity · 1 ep
Man's Favorite Sport?
Movie · as Policeman
Bikini Beach
Movie · as Cop #2
Bewitched
TV · 1 ep
Daniel Boone
TV · as Hand, Simon Girty · 1 ep
Profiles in Courage
TV · as Sen. Samuel Pomeroy · 1 ep
Son of Flubber
Movie · as Officer Hanson
The Great Adventure
TV · as Attorney Thomas Green · 1 ep
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
TV · as John Murrel · 2 eps
The Dakotas
TV · 1 ep
Birdman of Alcatraz
Movie · as Jess Younger
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV · 1 ep
Going My Way
TV · 1 ep
The Lucy Show
TV · as Weitzman · 1 ep
Homicidal
Movie · as Alfred S. Adrims
The Absent-Minded Professor
Movie · as Officer Hanson
Alcatraz Express
Movie
Straightaway
TV · 1 ep
The Asphalt Jungle
TV · 1 ep
Wild River
Movie · as Cal Garth
The Plunderers
Movie · as Mike Baron
The Andy Griffith Show
TV · as Uncle Ollie · 1 ep
My Three Sons
TV · 1 ep
The Tall Man
TV · 1 ep
Thriller
TV · as Al Matthews · 1 ep
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Movie · as Reverend Howard
The Shaggy Dog
Movie · as Officer Hanson
The Hangman
Movie · as Herb Loftus
The Twilight Zone
TV · as Anthony O'Toole · 1 ep
Rawhide
TV · as Matt Lucas, Mort Henry · 1 ep
The Alaskans
TV · 1 ep
The Rebel
TV · as Suee · 1 ep
Law of the Plainsman
TV · as Joshua Jones · 1 ep
Johnny Ringo
TV · as Aben Burke · 1 ep
Tightrope
TV · 1 ep
Bonanza
TV · as Arthur Blackwell · 1 ep
The Proud Rebel
Movie · as Birm Bates
Old Man
Movie · as Warden
Cowboy
Movie · as Mike Adams
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · 1 ep
Wanted: Dead or Alive
TV · as Dr. Langland · 1 ep
The Rifleman
TV · 2 eps
Bat Masterson
TV · as Shapley Howell · 1 ep
The Texan
TV · 1 ep
Decision at Sundown
Movie · as Otis, the Bartender
Jungle Heat
Movie · as Harvey Mathews
The Helen Morgan Story
Movie · as Frank Piggin
Trackdown
TV · 1 ep
Perry Mason
TV · as Sheriff Elmore, Roger Quigley · 1 ep
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
TV · as McAllister · 1 ep
The Walter Winchell File
TV · 1 ep
Maverick
TV · 2 eps
Away All Boats
Movie
Three Brave Men
Movie · as Chief O'Reilly
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV · 1 ep
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV · as Bert Farrow · 1 ep
State Trooper
TV · 1 ep
Man with the Gun
Movie · as Mr. Zender
The Cobweb
Movie · as James Petlee
The Scarlet Coat
Movie · as Col. Jameson
The Violent Men
Movie · as Sheriff Magruder
Chief Crazy Horse
Movie · as Caleb Mantz
Lucy Gallant
Movie · as Harry Wilson
Gunsmoke
TV · as Rance Bradley, Harry Duggan, Cleed, Franks · 1 ep
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as Commissioner Cummings, Pops Lafferty · 1 ep
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV · as Mapes · 1 ep
On the Waterfront
Movie · as Big Mac
The Human Jungle
Movie · as Marty Harrison
Three Hours to Kill
Movie · as Sam Minor
Lassie
TV · 1 ep
Inner Sanctum
TV · 1 ep
The Bachelor Party
Movie · as Bookkeeper
General Electric Theater
TV · as Bartender, The General · 1 ep
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Movie · as Joe London
Casey, Crime Photographer
TV · 1 ep
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Movie · as Harvey (Zoo Attendant) (uncredited)
Side Street
Movie · as Charlie (policeman)
Studio One
TV · as Captain James Reagan, Bilgeboy / Jimmy Scaggs · 1 ep
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV · as H.T. Carmichael · 1 ep
The Chase
Movie · as Job the Butler
Undercurrent
Movie · as Henry Gilson
Around the World
Movie · as Bashful Marine
The Pride of the Yankees
Movie · as Spectator (uncredited)
The Magnificent Ambersons
Movie · as Policeman at Accident (uncredited)
About Face
Movie · as Soldier with Daisy (uncredited)
Highway West
Movie · as Swede, Trucker at Cafe
The Howards of Virginia
Movie · as Backwoodsman