Warren Albert Stevens (November 2, 1919 – March 27, 2012) was an American stage, screen, and television actor.[1]
Warren Stevens | |
|---|---|
 Stevens at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con | |
| Born | Warren Albert Stevens November 2, 1919 |
| Died | March 27, 2012 (aged 92) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | The Actors Studio |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1947–2007 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Tucker Huntington (m. 1942; div. 19??) Barbara French
(m. 1969) |
| Children | 3 |
Early life and career
editStevens was born in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania and graduated from Clarks Summit High School.[2] He attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School and entered the United States Naval Academy in 1937 but was medically discharged in 1940.[2] In January 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces and became an aviation cadet.[2] During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces as a pilot.[citation needed]
A founding member of the Actors Studio in New York,[3] Stevens received notice on Broadway in the late 1940s, and thereafter was offered a Hollywood contract at 20th Century Fox. His first Broadway role was in The Life of Galileo (1947)[4] and his first movie role followed in The Frogmen (1951). As a young studio contract player, Stevens had little choice of material, and he appeared in films that included Phone Call from a Stranger (1952), Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (1952), and Gorilla at Large (1954). A memorable movie role was that of the ill-fated "Doc" Ostrow in the science fiction film Forbidden Planet (1956). He also had supporting roles in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) with Humphrey Bogart and Intent to Kill (1958).
Despite occasional parts in big films, Stevens was unable to break out consistently into A-list movies, so he carved out a career in television as a journeyman dramatic actor.
Stevens was a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.[5] In addition, he was a practicing Methodist.[6]
Television career
editHe co-starred as Lieutenant William Storm in Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers (NBC, 1956–1957), a prime time adventure series set in India. Stevens also provided the voice of John Bracken in season one of Bracken's World (NBC, 1968–1970). He played the role of Elliot Carson in the daytime series Return to Peyton Place during its two-year run (1972-1974).
He appeared in over 150 prime time shows from the 1950s to the early 1980s, including:
- Golden Age anthology series (Actors Studio, Campbell Playhouse, The Web, Justice, Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, The United States Steel Hour, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Route 66),
- Mysteries Hawaiian Eye (4 episodes), Perry Mason, The Untouchables, Climax!, Checkmate (2 episodes), Surfside 6 (2 episodes), 77 Sunset Strip (2 episodes), Behind Closed Doors, I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ironside (3 episodes), The Mod Squad, Mannix, Cannon (3 episodes), Griff, Mission: Impossible (4 episodes), Combat! (1 episode).
- Horror and Sci Fi Inner Sanctum (3 episodes), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (2 episodes), The Twilight Zone (episode "Dead Man's Shoes"), One Step Beyond (episode "The Riddle"), The Outer Limits (episode "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"), Star Trek (episode "By Any Other Name"), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (3 episodes), The Time Tunnel, Science Fiction Theater, Land of the Giants (2 episodes)
- Comedies The Donna Reed Show (2 episodes, 1965 and 1966), M*A*S*H (1 episode, Season 4, episode 13, "The Gun", Dec 2, 1975)
- Westerns (Laramie, The Rebel, A Man Called Shenandoah), Wagon Train (2 episodes), The Alaskans, Tales of Wells Fargo (1 episode), Gunsmoke (3 episodes), Bonanza (4 episodes), Daniel Boone (3 episodes), The Virginian (3 episodes), The Big Valley (one episode), Rawhide, and Have Gun, Will Travel (3 episodes). Tombstone Territory (1 episode), Stoney Burke (1 episode). In 1970 he appeared as Paul Carson on The Men From Shiloh (rebranded name for The Virginian) in the episode titled "Hannah."
Stevens' appearance in the 1955 movie Robbers' Roost introduced him to Richard Boone, who hired him for a continuing television role on The Richard Boone Show, an award-winning NBC anthology series which lasted for the 1963–1964 season.
Stevens was a close friend of actor Richard Basehart and helped him through a difficult divorce in the early 1960s. Stevens guest-starred in a few episodes of Basehart's ABC series, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He also had a supporting role on another Irwin Allen production, The Return of Captain Nemo in 1978.
In his later years, Stevens' appearances were infrequent. He guest-starred in ER in March 2006 and had two roles in 2007.
For the DVD release of Combat! he provided audio commentary for "The Gun" (S5, E1) an episode in which he had guest-starred (he also guest-starred in "The Imposter" (S3, E10))
Death
editStevens died on March 27, 2012, from complications of lung disease in his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. He had three children.[7]
Filmography
edit| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | Follow the Sun | Radio Announcer | Uncredited |
| 1951 | The Frogmen | Hodges | |
| 1951 | Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell | Reporter | |
| 1952 | Phone Call from a Stranger | Marty Nelson | |
| 1952 | Red Skies of Montana | Steve Burgess | |
| 1952 | Deadline – U.S.A. | George Burrows | |
| 1952 | Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie | McCauley | Uncredited |
| 1952 | O. Henry's Full House | Druggist | (segment "The Last Leaf"), Uncredited |
| 1952 | Something for the Birds | Beer Commercial Announcer | Voice, Uncredited |
| 1953 | The I Don't Care Girl | Lawrence | |
| 1953 | Shark River | Clay Webley | |
| 1954 | Gorilla at Large | Joe, Detective | |
| 1954 | The Barefoot Contessa | Kirk Edwards | |
| 1954 | Black Tuesday | Joey Stewart | |
| 1955 | Women's Prison | Glen Burton | |
| 1955 | The Man from Bitter Ridge | Linc Jackman | |
| 1955 | Robbers' Roost | Smokey | |
| 1955 | Duel on the Mississippi | Hugo Marat | |
| 1956 | The Price of Fear | Frankie Edare | |
| 1956 | Forbidden Planet | Lieutenant 'Doc' Ostrow | |
| 1956 | On the Threshold of Space | Captain Mike Bentley | |
| 1956 | Accused of Murder | Stan 'Scarface' Wilbo | |
| 1958 | Man or Gun | Mike Ferris | |
| 1958 | Hot Spell | Wyatt Mitchell - Virginia's Boyfriend | |
| 1958 | The Case Against Brooklyn | Rudi Franklin | |
| 1958 | Intent to Kill | Finch | |
| 1959 | No Name on the Bullet | Lou Fraden | |
| 1962 | Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock | Jess Dollard | |
| 1962 | 40 Pounds of Trouble | Swing | |
| 1966 | Madame X | Michael Spalding | |
| 1966 | Gunpoint | Nate Harlan | |
| 1966 | An American Dream | Johnny Dell | |
| 1966 | Cyborg 2087 | Dr. Carl Zellar | |
| 1968 | Madigan | Captain Ben Williams | |
| 1968 | The Sweet Ride | Brady Caswell | |
| 1976 | The Student Body | Dr. Blalock | |
| 1980 | High Ice | Sergeant Lomax | Television film |
| 1983 | Stroker Ace | Jim Catty | |
| 1991 | Samurai Cop | Film Lab Owner | |
| 2007 | Carts | Fred Tait | (final film role) |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1950 | Robert Montgomery Presents | "The Champion" | |
| 1950-1953 | The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse | Various roles | 4 episodes |
| 1953 | Suspense | Bernard Frank | "Mr. Matches" |
| 1953-1554 | Studio One | Various roles | 2 episodes |
| 1954 | The U.S. Steel Hour | Paul Dane | "The End of Paul Dane" |
| 1955 | Medic | Dr. Robert Alan Parker | "Breath of Life" |
| 1955-1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Various roles | Season 1 Episode 2 "Premonition" as Perry Stanger (1955)
Season 1 Episode 30 "Never Again" as Jeff Simmons (1956) |
| 1956 | Four Star Playhouse | Dan | "Dark Meeting" |
| 1956-1957 | Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers | Lieutenant William Storm | 26 episodes |
| 1957 | Climax! | Various roles | 2 episodes |
| 1957-1963 | Gunsmoke | Various roles | 3 episodes |
| 1957-1963 | Have Gun-Will Travel | Various roles | 3 episodes |
| 1958 | Perry Mason | Alan Neil | "The Case of the Empty Tin" |
| 1959-1962 | Wagon Train | Various roles | 2 episodes |
| 1959 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Clay Allison | "Clay Allison" |
| 1959 | Men Into Space | Dr. Randolph | "Quarantine" |
| 1960-1962 | Hawaiian Eye | Various roles | 4 episodes |
| 1962 | The Twilight Zone | Nathan 'Nate' Bledsoe | "Dead Man's Shoes" |
| 1963-1964 | The Richard Boone Show | Various roles | 25 episodes |
| 1964 | The Outer Limits | Eric Plummer | "Keeper of the Purple Twilight" |
| 1964 | Combat! | Sergeant Walter | "The impostor" |
| 1965 | Rawhide | Talbot | "Clash at Broken Bluff" |
| 1965 | Bonanza | Paul Mandel | "The Ballerina" |
| 1965 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Captain Dennis Jenks | "The Children's Day Affair" |
| 1965 | Kraft Suspense Theatre
|
Mark Wilton | "The Trains of Silence"
|
| 1966 | The Rat Patrol | Sergeant Frank Griffin | "The Do or Die Raid" |
| 1966 | Death Valley Days | Doc Holiday | "Doc Holidays Gold Bars" |
| 1966 | The Time Tunnel | Dr. Harlow | "One Way To The Moon" |
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Bert Jason | "Tunnel of Gold" |
| 1966 | Combat! | Sergeant Higgin | "The Gun" |
| 1967 | Bonanza | Count Alexis | "The Prince" |
| 1967 | Mission Impossible | Karl de Groot | "The Slave" |
| 1967 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Van Wyck | "Cave of the Dead" |
| 1968 | Star Trek | Rojan | "By Any Other Name" |
| 1968 | Mission: Impossible | Frank Layton | "The Bargain" |
| 1968 | Bonanza | Sam Bragan | "The Trackers" |
| 1970 | Bonanza | Owen Driscoll | "El Jefe" |
| 1971 | Sarge | Peter Scott | "Psst! Wanna Buy a Dirty Picture?" |
| 1972 | Mission Impossible | Thor Coffin | "Image" |
| 1975 | M*A*S*H | Colonel Chaffey | "The Gun" |
| 1978 | Wonder Woman | Beal | "The Murderous Missile" |
| 1980 | Quincy, M.E. | Wayne Fields | "Last Rites" |
References
edit- ^ "Warren Stevens, Busy Character Actor, Dies at 92". The New York Times. March 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Susan Huntington Engaged to Marry", The Scranton Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania, volume 340, number 65, September 14, 1942, page 6. (subscription required)
- ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Birth of The Actors Studio: 1947–1950". A Player's Place: The Story of the Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 52. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
Others [selected by Kazan] were Tom Avera, Edward Binns, Dorothy Bird, Rudy Bond, Annette Erlanger, Don Hanmer, Anne Hegira, Peg Hillias, Jennifer Howard, Robin Humphrey, Alicia Krug, Michael Lewin, Pat McClarney, Lenka Peterson, Warren Stevens, Joe Sullivan, and John Sylvester.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Galileo – IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". ibdb.com. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
- ^ An Interview with Warren Stevens, Skip E. Lowe, 1995
- ^ "Rest in Peace: Warren Stevens". Dread Central. June 10, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2015.