Richard Simmons (August 19, 1913 – January 11, 2003) was an American actor.

Early life

Simmons was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, and his family later moved across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. There, he attended West Side High School and then the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where he studied drama.Dennis McLellan, Richard Simmons Actor, ''Calgary Herald'' (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), January 18, 2003, page 138] Simmons was a professional pilot.

Career

While attending the university, Simmons competed in fencing and swimming, and also acted in a few theater productions. Simmons left the Twin Cities in the 1930s to launch his film acting career in 1937. He soon became an

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

contract player. Many of his minor movie roles went uncredited through the 1940s. One even included his portrayal of a Mountie in ''

King of the Royal Mounted ''King of the Royal Mounted'' is an American comics series which debuted February 17, 1935 by Stephen Slesinger, based on popular Western writer Zane Grey's byline and marketed as ''Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted''. The series' protagonist i ...

'' produced by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

. Starting in 1943, he began appearing in credited roles, beginning with his appearance in ''

The Youngest Profession ''The Youngest Profession'' is a 1943 film directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Virginia Weidler, Edward Arnold, John Carroll, Scotty Beckett, and Agnes Moorehead. Based on a short story series and book written by Lillian Day, it contains c ...

'', starring

Virginia Weidler Virginia Anna Adeleid Weidler (March 21, 1927 – July 1, 1968) was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life and career Weidler was born on March 21, 1927, in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles County, ...

. From 1943 through 1949, he appeared in 17 films, of which 10 listed him in the credits. Simmons interrupted his film career to serve as a

flight officer The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and also an air force rank in several Commonwealth countries, where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of flig ...

pilot '' Look'' – February 6, 1945 with the

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

in World War II. The 1950s mirrored the 1940s, with him appearing in several films and television series, at times uncredited. In 1952, he played the co-pilot in '' Above and Beyond''. In 1955, Simmons won his best-known role, portraying

Sergeant William Preston ''Challenge of the Yukon'' is an American radio adventure series that began on Detroit, Michigan, Detroit's WXYT (AM), WXYZ and is an example of a Northern (genre), Northern genre story. The series was first heard on January 3, 1939. The title c ...

in ''

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon ''Challenge of the Yukon'' is an American radio adventure series that began on Detroit's WXYZ and is an example of a Northern genre story. The series was first heard on January 3, 1939. The title changed from ''Challenge of the Yukon'' to ''Se ...

''. Following the end of the series in 1958, he continued to have a successful acting career, mostly in television series guest appearances, through 1982. Simmons appeared in a 1963 episode of ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'' ("The Case of the Decadent Dean"). In 1964, he appeared in the episode "Tin Can Man" (aired November 5, 1964) of ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'' as Harold Balding, the principal of Eddie Munster's school. His last role was in a 1982 episode of ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

''.

Later life and death

In the 1970s, when acting roles became scarce, Simmons managed a mobile home park in Carlsbad, near San Diego. Towards the end of his life, Simmons was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He died on January 11, 2003, at the age of 89, in an

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a city on the South Coast (California), South Coast of California, located in San Diego County, California, San Diego County. The city had a population of 167,086 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is a popular ...

, nursing home

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Richard 1913 births 2003 deaths American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Saint Paul, Minnesota Deaths from dementia in California Deaths from Alzheimer's disease 20th-century American male actors United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers