Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death.
Biography
A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richards was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Addison Richards. His grandfather was a mayor of Zanesville. Following his father's death in 1942, the family moved to California.
Richards was cast in many television series, including the syndicated 1950s
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...
, '' The Loretta Young Show''.
In 1956 Richards appeared as Doc Jennings in an uncredited role in the western movie ''
The Fastest Gun Alive
''The Fastest Gun Alive'' is a 1956 MGM Western film starring Glenn Ford, Jeanne Crain, and Broderick Crawford directed by Russell Rouse.
Plot
Son of a notorious fast-drawing sheriff, George Kelby Jr. (Ford) and his wife Dora (Jeanne Crain) s ...
'' starring '' Glenn Ford''. However, he often had more substantial supporting roles in films, especially Westerns, including playing George Armstrong Custer in '' Badlands of Dakota'' (1941) and the marshal in ''
The Broken Star
''The Broken Star'' is a 1956 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by John C. Higgins. The film stars Howard Duff, Lita Baron, Bill Williams, Douglas Fowley, Henry Calvin, Addison Richards, Joel Ashley and John ...
'' (1956).
From 1957-1958, he appeared in the recurring role of J.B. Barker in nine episodes of
Jackie Cooper
John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...
's NBC sitcom, '' The People's Choice''. In 1958, he was cast as Warden Johnson in the episode "Dead Reckoning" on the ABC/
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Lew Wallace in the episode entitled, "Billy the Kid". Richards played the role of Evanson in the 1957 episode "Venus of Park Avenue" on the CBS
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...
, '' Richard Diamond, Private Detective''.
In 1958 and 1959, Richards was cast as Doc Jay Calhoun in seven episodes, one uncredited, of the CBS western series, '' Trackdown.''
In 1959, Richards portrayed Mayor Thurston in the episode "Traildust" of CBS's western series, '' The Texan'', starring
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...
. He was cast that same year as Martin Kingsley in two episodes of the NBC western series, '' Cimarron City''. He appeared as Doc Gamble in three episodes of the radio series made briefly into a 1959 NBC sitcom, '' Fibber McGee and Molly''. From 1960 to 1961, he appeared as Doc Landy in eight episodes of the NBC western series, '' the Deputy'', with Henry Fonda and Allen Case.
Richards portrayed Mark Stacy in the 1960 episode "Dennis and the Bees" of the CBS sitcom, '' Dennis the Menace'', starring Jay North. He guest starred as Judge Danby in the 1961 episode "The Best Policy" of another NBC western series, '' The Tall Man''. Also, in 1961, in the TV series '' Rawhide'', he played Frank Miller in the episode "Incident of the Running Iron".
Richards was cast in two episodes of the ABC sitcom, ''
The Real McCoys
''The Real McCoys'' is an American situation comedy starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Compan ...
'': as R.T. Overland in "Weekend in Los Angeles" (1960) and as Colonel Martin in "You Can't Beat the Army" (1961). In 1961, he appeared in different roles in two episodes of the CBS crime drama, '' Checkmate''. He was cast as an immigration officer in the 1962 episode "Mi's Citizenship" of the NBC family drama, '' National Velvet''.
Richards appeared on the CBS sitcoms, ''
Pete and Gladys
''Pete and Gladys'' is an American sitcom television series starring Harry Morgan and Cara Williams that aired on CBS on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time for two seasons, beginning on September 19, 1960. The last episode was ...
Richards met Vivian Eccles in late 1929, marrying a year later and later had one child, daughter Ann.
Richards died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
. His interment is at Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. (A news story in the March 26, 1964, issue of the ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' says that services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.)
Selected filmography
*''
Riot Squad
Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest.
If a riot is spontaneous and irratio ...
Such Women Are Dangerous
''Such Women Are Dangerous'' is a 1934 American drama film directed by James Flood, written by Oscar M. Sheridan, Jane Storm and Lenore Coffee, and starring Warner Baxter, Rosemary Ames, Rochelle Hudson, Mona Barrie, Herbert Mundin and Henriett ...
A Lost Lady
''A Lost Lady'' is a 1923 novel by American writer Willa Cather. It tells the story of Marian Forrester and her husband, Captain Daniel Forrester, who live in the Western town of Sweet Water along the Transcontinental Railroad. Throughout the ...
'' (1934) - State Attorney (uncredited)
*''
The St. Louis Kid
''The St. Louis Kid'' is a 1934 drama film directed by Ray Enright and starring James Cagney.
Plot
A truck driver
A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Aus ...
Society Doctor
''Society Doctor'' is a 1935 American drama film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Robert Taylor, Chester Morris, and Virginia Bruce. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was inspired by an unproduced play by Theodo ...
A Dog of Flanders
''A Dog of Flanders'' is an 1872 novel by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée published with her pseudonym " Ouida". It is about a Flemish boy named Nello and his dog, Patrasche, and is set in Antwerp.
In Japan, Korea, Russia, Ukraine ...
'' (1935) - Herr Herden
*'' Black Fury'' (1935) - Government Man (uncredited)
*'' Eight Bells'' (1935) - Tracey
*'' G Men'' (1935) - Bruce J. Gregory
*'' Alias Mary Dow'' (1935) - Martin
*''
Dinky
Dinky may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Dinky Toys, a brand of die-cast toy vehicles
* Dinky (film), a 1935 film starring Jackie Cooper
* Dinky Bossetti, protagonist of the 1990 film '' Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael'', played by Winona Ryde ...
'' (1935) - District Attorney
*'' Front Page Woman'' (1935) - District Attorney
*''
The Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
'' (1935) - Sentry (uncredited)
*''
Here Comes the Band
''Here Comes the Band'' is an album by Trinidadian Soca artist Machel Montano and his band Xtatik released in 2000. The album's 22 tracks feature different singers on each, with the album covering a diverse range of styles.Birchmeier, Jason " '' ...
'' (1935) - Col. Wallace
*'' Little Big Shot'' (1935) - Hank Gibbs
*'' Freckles'' (1935) - Jack Carter
*''
The Eagle's Brood
''The Eagle's Brood'' is a 1935 American Western film directed by Howard Bretherton and written by Doris Schroeder and Harrison Jacobs. The film stars William Boyd, James Ellison, William Farnum, George "Gabby" Hayes, Addison Richards, Nana ...
Trailin' West
''Trailin' West'' (UK title: ''On Secret Service'') is a 1936 American Western film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Anthony Coldeway and starring Dick Foran, Paula Stone, and Wild Bill Elliott.
Plot
In 1864, President Abraham Linco ...
Smart Blonde
''Smart Blonde'' is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Frank McDonald. Starring Glenda Farrell as Torchy Blane, a fast-talking wisecracking female reporter, teaming up with her boyfriend detective Steve McBride, to solve the killing of an ...
'' (1937)
*''
White Bondage
''White Bondage'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Nick Grinde and written by Anthony Coldeway. The film stars Jean Muir, Gordon Oliver, Howard Phillips, Joe King, Harry Davenport and Virginia Brissac. The film was released by Warne ...
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever
''Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The plot is about Andy Hardy having a crush on his high school drama teacher, Miss Rose Meredith. It is the seventh of sixteen Andy Hardy films s ...
Inside Information
Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...
'' (1939)
*''
Man from Montreal
''Man from Montreal'' is a 1939 American Western film directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars Richard Arlen, Andy Devine, and Kay Sutton, and was released on December 8, 1939.
Cast list
* Richard Arlen as Clark Manning
* Andy Devine as Constable ...
'' (1939)
*''
Whispering Enemies
''Whispering Enemies'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Lewis D. Collins and starring Jack Holt, Dolores Costello and Addison Richards.Darby p.65
Cast
* Jack Holt as Stephen Brewster
* Dolores Costello as Laura Crandall
* Addison ...
'' (1939)
*''
Mystery of the White Room
''Mystery of the White Room'' is a 1939 American mystery film directed by Otis Garrett and starring Bruce Cabot, Helen Mack and Joan Woodbury.Weaver & Brunas p.441 A surgeon is killed during the middle of an operation when the hospital room is thr ...
The Man from Dakota
''The Man from Dakota'' is a 1940 American Civil War film directed by Leslie Fenton and starring Wallace Beery and Dolores del Río. The film was adapted by Laurence Stallings from the novel ''Arouse and Beware'' by MacKinlay Kantor.
Francis ...
'' (1940)
*''
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...
'' (1940)
*''
Charlie Chan in Panama
''Charlie Chan in Panama'' is a 1940 mystery film starring Sidney Toler. It is an unaccredited remake of Jacques Deval's novel "Marie Galante", produced by 20th Century Fox in 1934, directed by Henry King.
Plot
Charlie Chan must stop a spy from ...
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
''Andy Hardy Meets Debutante '' is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. The film stars Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden and Judy Garland. It is the ninth of the ''Andy Hardy'' full-length film ...
Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...
Andy Hardy's Private Secretary
''Andy Hardy's Private Secretary'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Rutherford and Fay Holden. It was the tenth of the 16-film Andy Hardy series. Marian Hard ...
'' (1941)
*''
Her First Beau
''Her First Beau'' is a 1941 comedy-drama directed by Theodore Reed and starring Jane Withers and Jackie Cooper. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures, and the screenplay was written by Gladys Lehman and Karen DeWolf based on the 1939 pla ...
Mutiny in the Arctic
''Mutiny in the Arctic'' is a 1941 American action adventure film directed by John Rawlins and starring Richard Arlen, Andy Devine and Anne Nagel. It was part of their Aces of Action series produced and released by Universal Pictures. It was als ...
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
'' (1941)
*''
Secret Agent of Japan
''Secret Agent of Japan'' is a 1942 film directed by Irving Pichel. It was the first American anti-Japanese war film produced by a major studio after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The film stars Preston Foster as a nightclub owner in Shanghai who b ...
Flying Tigers
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...
'' (1942)
*''
The Pride of the Yankees
''The Pride of the Yankees'' is a 1942 American film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Sam Wood, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. It is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, w ...
'' (1942)
*''
Underground Agent
''Underground Agent'' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Michael Gordon and starring Bruce Bennett, Leslie Brooks, Frank Albertson, and Julian Rivero. The film was released by Columbia Pictures.
Plot
Two U.S. government agents (Bruce Be ...
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
'' (1943)
*''
The Mad Ghoul
''The Mad Ghoul'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by James Hogan and starring Turhan Bey, Evelyn Ankers, and David Bruce, and featuring George Zucco, Robert Armstrong, and Milburn Stone. The film is about the scientist Dr. Alfred Morri ...
The Fighting Seabees
''The Fighting Seabees'' is a 1944 war film, directed by Edward Ludwig and starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The supporting cast includes Dennis O'Keefe, William Frawley, Leonid Kinsky, Addison Richards and Grant Withers. ''The Fighting Seab ...
Are These Our Parents?
''Are These Our Parents?'' is a 1944 American romantic drama film directed by William Nigh. It stars Helen Vinson, Lyle Talbot, Ivan Lebedeff.
Plot
A mother's preference for partying, boozing, and running around with an assortment of sleazy ch ...
The Adventures of Rusty
''Adventures of Rusty'' is a 1945 drama film, the first in the "Rusty" series of children's films. The series of eight films were made in the 1940s by Columbia Pictures with stories centered on Rusty, a German shepherd dog. The film is notable f ...
'' (1945)
*''
The Shanghai Cobra
''The Shanghai Cobra'' is a 1945 mystery film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.THE SHANGHAI COBRA (Monogram-Pathé)
Picture Show; London Vol. 50, Iss. 1294, (Jul 27, 1946): 10.
Synopsis
When three bank employee ...
'' (1945)
*''
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
''Love Laughs at Andy Hardy'' is a 1946 American film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Willis Goldbeck and starring Mickey Rooney and Lewis Stone.
The film is also known under its American promotional title ''Uncle Andy Hardy''.
...
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...
Last of the Badmen
''Last of the Badmen'' is a 1957 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Paul Landres and starring George Montgomery.
Plot
Cast
*George Montgomery as Dan Barton
*James Best as Ted Hamilton
*Douglas Kennedy as Hawkins
*Keith Larsen as ...
'' (1957) - Dillon
*'' The Deerslayer'' (1957)
*'' Gunsight Ridge'' (1957) - Sheriff Tom Jones
*'' Perry Mason'' (1957) "The Case of the Angry Mourner" - Attorney George Lansing
*'' The Saga of Hemp Brown'' (1958) - Col. Ford
*'' The Californians'' (NBC-TV, 1958, Episode: "Dangerous Journey") - Thomas Durkin
*'' Lassie'' (CBS-TV, 1958, Episode: "The Christmas Story") - Dr. Watkins
*'' Rawhide'' (CBS-TV, 1959, Episode: "Incident of the Dog Days") - Jed Blaine
*'' The Oregon Trail'' (1959) - President James Polk (uncredited)
*''
All the Fine Young Cannibals
''All the Fine Young Cannibals'' is a 1960 American film directed by Michael Anderson, based on the novel by Rosamond Marshall, starring Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, Susan Kohner, George Hamilton and Pearl Bailey. Hamilton said that the film " ...
Frontier Uprising
''Frontier Uprising'' is a 1961 American Western film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Jim Davis, Nancy Hadley and Ken Mayer. It is a remake of ''Kit Carson'' (1940).Operation Eichmann
Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann" ''
Saintly Sinners
''Saintly Sinners'' is a 1962 American comedy-drama film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring Don Beddoe, Ellen Corby, Stanley Clements and Paul Bryar."'Saintly Sinners,' a Comedy, Arrives" ''New York Times'' 29 Mar 1962: 28.
Plot
Ex-con Josep ...
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...