Gregory Muradian (April 4, 1939 – October 2, 1989), known by his stage name Gregory Marshall, was an American child and, subsequently, adolescent film and television actor whose career lasted from 1944 to 1958. He never rose above supporting roles, with a number of his film appearances reduced to uncredited bits. A native of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

, Gregory Muradian was just past his fifth birthday when the first film in which he appeared, ''

Roughly Speaking ''Roughly Speaking'' is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian rock band April Wine, released in November 2006. The album was recorded without computerized modern digital recording techniques. Instead, the group employed the same type of au ...

'', a comedy-drama starring

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary ''Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

and

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

, started production in April 1944, finishing in mid-July. Unbilled, briefly playing the son of Russell and Carson, his character was subsequently played as an older boy by the unbilled

Johnny Sheffield Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan, April 11, 1931 – October 15, 2010) was an American child actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the Tarzan film series and, between 1949 and 1955, played Bomba the Jungle Boy. ...

and, as a teenager, by Robert Arthur. During his first two years as an actor, the youngster appeared in eight additional films, with small credited roles in 1945's ''

Captain Eddie ''Captain Eddie'' is a 1945 American drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, based on ''Seven Were Saved'' by "Eddie" Rickenbacker and Lt. James Whittaker's ''We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing''. The film stars Fred MacMurray, Lynn Bari and Charl ...

'' (playing young

Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.Strange Confession ''Strange Confession'' is a 1945 Inner Sanctum film noir mystery horror film, released by Universal Pictures and starring Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish and Brenda Joyce. The film was directed by John Hoffman and was later rereleased under t ...

'' as well as 1946's ''

The Bride Wore Boots ''The Bride Wore Boots'' is a 1946 romantic comedy film with Barbara Stanwyck in the title role, playing opposite Robert Cummings. A very young Natalie Wood is seen in the film, directed by Irving Pichel. This was Stanwyck's last feature comedy. ...

'' and ''

Child of Divorce ''Child of Divorce'' is a 1946 American film directed by Richard O. Fleischer. It was the first film that he directed. RKO had adapted the play to film before as the 1934 film ''Wednesday's Child (film), Wednesday's Child''. Plot summary Young Ro ...

''. In 1947 he was given a new stage name, Gregory Marshall, and supporting roles in four more films. There were seven additional films during 1948–51, with on-screen credit in two, 1949's ''

Adventure in Baltimore ''Adventure in Baltimore '' is a 1949 American drama film directed by Richard Wallace and starring Robert Young and Shirley Temple. Dinah Sheldon (Shirley Temple) is a student at an exclusive girls' school who starts campaigning for women's r ...

'' and 1951's '' The Blue Veil''. Also in 1951, his television debut, at the age of 12, in an episode of ''

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok ''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' is an American Western television series that ran for eight seasons from April 15, 1951, through September 24, 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication, but ran on CBS from June 5, 1955, through 195 ...

'', a western series aimed at pre-teens and young adolescents, was broadcast on December 30. Marshall was seen in three films during 1952, but received billing in only one, ''

Washington Story ''Washington Story'' is a 1952 American drama film directed by Robert Pirosh and starring Van Johnson and Patricia Neal. The screenplay concerns a reporter in search of government corruption who falls for a congressman. Plot On her first trip to ...

''. Upon becoming a teenager, he found roles becoming scarce, with his only work in 1953 consisting of an episode of the popular

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...

sitcom, ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. Radio The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later kn ...

'', playing Egbert Gillis, the son of Riley's best friend, Jim Gillis and, in 1954, there was one film, ''

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

'', along with a

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

episode of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

' ''

Four Star Playhouse ''Four Star Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956. Four Star Playhouse was owned by Four Star International. Its episodes ranged anywhere from surreal mysteries, such as "The Man on the Train", to light comedies ...

'', airing on February 18. Although he was one of three teenage actors, along with

Richard Beymer George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who played the roles of Tony in the film version of ''West Side Story'' (1961), Peter in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and Ben Horne on the telev ...

and ultimate choice

Sal Mineo Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination f ...

, tested by director

Nicholas Ray Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features pr ...

for the key supporting role of the protagonist's sensitive friend Plato in 1955's ''

Rebel Without a Cause ''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format and directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social co ...

'', there was no work for him that year and the sole acting assignment in 1956 was another appearance as Egbert on ''The Life of Riley''. His career was nearly over in 1957, with a 9th-billed role in the juvenile delinquency exploitation drama, ''

Teenage Thunder ''Teenage Thunder'' is a 1957 American black and white teenage drama film directed by Paul Helmick. The film stars Chuck Courtney (actor), Chuck Courtney, Melinda Byron, Robert Fuller (actor), Robert Fuller, Tyler McVey and Paul Bryar. The opening ...

''.Photograph of Gregory Marshall in ''Teenage Thunder''
/ref> His final three screen acting roles came the following year, with another turn as Egbert on ''The Life of Riley'', an episode of the syndicated series ''

The Silent Service is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was published in Kodansha's ''Weekly Morning'' manga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and collected in 32 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was adapted into an anime telev ...

'' and an unbilled bit in the attempted revival of the

Andy Hardy Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The films were released from 1937 to 1946, except for a final one made in 1958 in an unsuccessful att ...

film series, ''

Andy Hardy Comes Home ''Andy Hardy Comes Home'' is a 1958 comedy film directed by Howard W. Koch. It is the 16th and final film in the Andy Hardy series, with Mickey Rooney reprising his signature role. It was produced 12 years after the previous Hardy film, and was ...

''. At the age of 19, his acting career had come to an end. Gregory Marshall died in California's

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

city of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

six months past his 50th birthday.

References

External links

*
Gregory Marshall
at the

American Film Institute Catalog The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema in ...

Gregory Muradian
at the

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Gregory 1939 births 1989 deaths American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Los Angeles County, California 20th-century American male actors American people of Armenian descent Death in California