Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman | |
---|---|
Erdman in The Admiral Was a Lady (1950) | |
Born | John Richard Erdmann (1925-06-01) June 1, 1925 Enid, Oklahoma, USA |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Dick Erdman |
Occupation | Actor, occasional director |
Years active | 1944–present |
Spouse(s) | Leza Holland (married 1948–1950, divorced) Sharon Randall (married 1953-2016, her death) |
Children | One daughter, deceased |
Richard "Dick" Erdman (born June 1, 1925) is an American actor and occasional director.[1] He appeared in more than 160 film, television and theater productions since 1944, mostly in supporting roles.[2]
Contents
1 Early life and career
2 Personal life
3 Selected filmography
3.1 Film appearances (complete)
3.2 Television appearances (selected)
3.3 Richard Erdman as a director (complete)
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Early life and career
Erdman was born John Richard Erdmann in Enid in northern Oklahoma. His mother was Allie J. Erdman. His parents divorced during his childhood. Erdman, his sibling and his mother moved to Colorado Springs when he was a teenager. He graduated from Palmer High School, where he would perform on stage. During his youth, he worked as a paper boy for the Colorado Springs Evening Telegraph. A stage director named Newton Winburne encouraged him to try his luck in Hollywood.[3]
Erdman started his career at Warner Bros. where he signed a studio contract. Two of his first roles were in the films Mr. Skeffington, starring Bette Davis and Claude Rains and Janie, starring Joyce Reynolds. After a few smaller roles he achieved success as a character actor in supporting roles. In a career that has spanned seven decades, his best-known roles are that of the barracks chief Hoffy in Stalag 17, and the garrulous, tedious barfly McNulty in the Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch" ("...you think about that now!"). He also appeared in The Men (1950) with Marlon Brando and the film noir Cry Danger (1951) with Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming. In Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) he played Colonel Edward F. French, the officer who responded to the failure to transmit the warning to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
He directed the 1971 TV film Mooch Goes to Hollywood.[4] From 2009 to 2015, Erdman had a recurring role as the old student Leonard Rodriguez on Community.
Personal life
Erdman married actress Leza Holland in 1948, but they divorced two years later. He was married to his second wife, Sharon Randall, from 1953 until her death in 2016. They had one daughter, Erica, who was born in 1954 and died on February 18, 2010, of an accidental overdose of prescription medicine.[5] Erica was a poet and illustrator (The Ellyn Maybe Coloring Book) and the author of one full-length collection of poems (The Apocalyptic Kid).
Selected filmography
Film appearances (complete)
Mr. Skeffington (1944) as Western Union Boy (uncredited)
Janie (1944) as Scooper Nolan
Musical Movieland (1944) as Sailor with Tour (uncredited)
The Very Thought of You (1944) as Soda Jerk
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
Objective, Burma (1945) as Pvt. Nebraska Hooper
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) as Joe Smith (scenes deleted)
Star in the Night (1945) as Cowboy
Danger Signal (1945) as Bunkie Taylor
Too Young to Know (1945) as Tommy
Janie Gets Married (1946) as Lt. 'Scooper' Nolan
Night and Day (1946) as Music Store Customer (uncredited)
Shadow of a Woman (1946) as Joe
So You Want to Play the Horses (1946) as Eddie (uncredited)
Deception (1946) as Jerry Spencer (uncredited)
Nobody Lives Forever (1946) as Bellboy, The Marwood Arms
That Way with Women (1947) as Eddie
Wild Harvest (1947) as Mark Lewis
The Time of Your Life (1948) as Willie (the pinball machine maniac)
Easy Living (1949) as Buddy Morgan
Swiss Tour (1950) as Eddy
The Men (1950) as Leo
The Admiral Was a Lady (1950) as Oliver 'Ollie' Bonelli
Cry Danger (1951) as Delong
You're in the Navy Now (1951) as Ens. Chuck Dorrance
The Stooge (1951) as Ben Bailey
The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) as Cpl. Frenchy
Aladdin and His Lamp (1952) as Mirza
The San Francisco Story (1952) as Shorty
Jumping Jacks (1952) as Pvt. Dogface Dolan
The Happy Time (1952) as Alfred Grattin
The Blue Gardenia (1953) as Al
Stalag 17 (1953) as Sgt. 'Hoffy' Hoffman
Mission Over Korea (1953) as Pvt. Swenson
The Steel Lady (1953) as Jim Evans
Francis in the Navy (1955) as Murph
Bengazi (1955) as Selby
Anything Goes (1956) as Ed Brent
The Power and the Prize (1956) as Lester Everett
The Rawhide Trail (1958) as Rupe Pardee
Saddle the Wind (1958) as Dallas Hanson
Face of Fire (1959) as Al Williams
Marines, Let's Go (1961) as MP (uncredited)
The Brass Bottle (1964) as Seymour Jenks
Namu, the Killer Whale (1966) as Deke
Rascal (1969) as Walt Dabbett
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) as Colonel Edward F. French
The Brothers O'Toole (1973) as Judge Quincey P. Trumbell
Mr. Majestyk (1974) as Dick Richard (uncredited)
Heidi's Song (1982) as Herr Sessman (voice)
Trancers (1984) as Drunken Wise Man
Tomboy (1985) as Chester
Stewardess School (1986) as Attorney
Beverly Hills Car Park (1987) as Waiter
The Pagemaster (1994) as Pirate (voice)
The Learning Curve (1999) as Ralph
Empire State Building Murders (2008) as Eddie Walker
The Bag (2010) as John Harper
Television appearances (selected)
- 1953: The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (three episodes) as Duffy Edwards / Pete / Recruiting Sgt.
- 1953–1955: Where's Raymond? (32 episodes) as Pete Morrisey
- 1958–1966: Perry Mason (six episodes) as Jud Bennett / Ben Lucas / Harry Niles / Charles (Monty) Montrose / Jim West / Arthur Binney
- 1958: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (one episode) as Charlie Brown
- 1959: Disneyland (two episodes) as Sergeant Jasper
- 1960–1961: The Tab Hunter Show (32 episodes) as Richard Fairfield III
- 1962–1963: Saints and Sinners (18 episodes) as Klugie
- 1963: The Twilight Zone (one episode: A Kind of a Stopwatch) as McNulty
- 1967: Gomer Pyle USMC as Sergeant Gilroy
- 1968: Hogan's Heroes (one episode) as Walter Hobson
- 1969: I Dream of Jeannie (one episode) as Store Manager
- 1975/1976: The Six Million Dollar Man (two episodes) as Vernon / Slayton
- 1977: The Bionic Woman (one episode) as Terrence Quinn
- 1978–1982: Lou Grant (four episodes) as Hal Hennecker / Gary Banks / Mal Cavanaugh
- 1979: The Amazing Spider-Man (two episodes) as Mr. Zeider
- 1982: Quincy, M.E. (one episode) as Miles' Attorney
- 1983: The Dukes (20 episodes) (voice)
- 1984/1989: Murder, She Wrote (two episodes) as Jonathan / Eggman
- 1986: Cheers (one episode) as Duncan Fitzgerald
- 1987: DuckTales (two episodes) as Mayor Rufus B. Pinfeathers / King Arty (voice)
- 1991–1993: The Pirates of Dark Water (nine episodes) (voice)
- 1997: Beverly Hills, 90210 (one episode) as Mayor Rufus B. Pinfeathers / King Arty
- 2009–2015: Community (53 episodes) as Leonard
- 2015: Weird Loners (one episode) as Carl's Grandfather
- 2017: Dr. Ken (one episode) as Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman as a director (complete)
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1966, two episodes)
Teenage Tease (1971, feature film)
Mooch Goes to Hollywood (1971, television film)
The Brothers O'Toole (1973, feature film)
See also
References
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^ Valentine, Dan (July 21, 1967). "Nothing Serious". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
^ Aldridge, Dorothy (October 14, 1972). "A Character Actor Career Which Began Here Spins a 30-year Cycle, Climaxing in Colorado". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
^ "Mooch Goes to Hollywood". The New York Times.
^ "Erica E. Erdman". The Los Angeles Times. February 26, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
External links
Richard Erdman on IMDb