James Ainslie Pryor (February 21, 1921 – May 27, 1958) was an American actor.

Early years

Pryor was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of William E. Prior. He graduated from Christian Brothers College and attended Southwestern and VPI. During World War II, he served with the Merchant Marine.

Career

Radio

Pryor's early entertainment activities came in radio when he worked as an announcer at stations in New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City. He also was program director at WJPR radio in Greenville, Mississippi.

Stage

Before Pryor acted in films, he performed on stage. He organized a school and community theater while he worked in Greenville. He also managed and directed a little theater group in Raleigh, North Carolina. For three years he acted in ''

The Lost Colony The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in ...

'' in Manteo, North Carolina. His performances there, observed by actor Charles Laughton and producer Paul Gregory, led to his Broadway debut as the prosecuting attorney in '' The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial''.

Film and television

He appeared in the films '' The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing'', ''

Ransom! ''Ransom!'' is a 1956 American crime drama film examining the reactions of parents, police, and the public to a kidnapping. Written by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume, the film is based on a popular episode of ''The United States Steel Hour'' tit ...

'', '' Walk the Proud Land'', '' Four Girls in Town'', ''

The Shadow on the Window ''The Shadow on the Window'' is a 1957 American film noir crime film directed by William Asher and starring Philip Carey, Betty Garrett and John Drew Barrymore.. The screenplay involves a boy (Jerry Mathers) who is traumatized after seeing his mo ...

'', ''

The Guns of Fort Petticoat ''The Guns of Fort Petticoat'' is a 1957 American Western film produced by Harry Joe Brown and Audie Murphy for Brown-Murphy Pictures. It was based on the 1955 short story "Petticoat Brigade" by Chester William Harrison (1913–1994) that he ex ...

'', '' The Left Handed Gun'', '' Kathy O''' and '' Onionhead''. On television, Pryor portrayed Dr. William Beaumont in the "Who Search for Truth" episode of '' Medic'' (1956). He also appeared in the series' ''

Ford Star Jubilee ''Ford Star Jubilee'' is an American anthology series that originally aired monthly on Saturday nights on CBS at 9:00 P.M., E.S.T. from the fall of 1955 to the fall of 1956 (With a summer hiatus). The series was approximately 90 minutes long, broa ...

'', '' Steve Donovan, Western Marshal'', ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vid ...

'', ''

Front Row Center ''Front Row Center'' is an American variety show that aired on the DuMont Television Network Sundays at 7pm ET from March 25, 1949, to April 2, 1950. The show was originally 30 minutes then expanded to 60 minutes. This was one of several DuMont n ...

'', '' You Are There'', '' Medic'', '' Wire Service'', '' Sheriff of Cochise'', ''

Meet McGraw Meet may refer to: People with the name * Janek Meet (born 1974), Estonian footballer * Meet Mukhi (born 2005), Indian child actor Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Meet'' (TV series), an early Australian television series which aired on ABC du ...

'', '' Sugarfoot'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

'' (In 1957 as “Cole Yankton”, an outlaw who had been Kitty’s first love in S3E4’s Kitty’s Outlaw”), '' Suspicion'', ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

'', '' Studio One'', '' General Electric Theater'', ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...

'' and '' The Adventures of Hiram Holliday''.

Personal life and death

Pryor was married to Susanne Wellman, and they had three children. Both of them were artists whose work was displayed in North Carolina's State Art Gallery for several years. He died of cancer on May 27, 1958, in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

at age 37.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Ainslie 1921 births 1958 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Broadway theatre people Male actors from Memphis, Tennessee