John Harmon (June 30, 1905 – August 6, 1985) was an American

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

. Harmon was a very prolific bit actor. His career spanned over six decades and almost 300 movie and television roles in a wide variety of genres. Many of his earlier appearances are uncredited. His first major screen credit was in ''

I Was Framed ''I Was Framed'' is a 1942 American crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman. According to Warner Bros records the film earned $159,000 domestically and $90,000 foreign. Plot summary Cast * Tod Andrews as Ken Marshall (Scott) (as Michael Ames) ...

'' (1942). His movie career highlights were roles in '' Gallant Bess'', ''

The Monster of Piedras Blancas ''The Monster of Piedras Blancas'' is a 1959 independently made American black-and-white science fiction- monster film. It was produced by Jack Kevan, written and directed by Irvin Berwick, and stars Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Do ...

'', '' Live Fast, Die Young'' and ''The Street is my Beat''. The movie in which he made his last screen appearance, ''

The Naked Monster ''The Naked Monster'' is a 2005 American ultra low-budget science-fiction and horror comedy fan film written by Ted Newsom and directed by Newsom and Wayne Berwick as an homage to and spoof of the "giant monster-on-the-loose" films of the 1950s. ...

'', was released in 2005, twenty years after his death. Harmon's most notable TV roles were in ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'', ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

'', ''

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 c ...

'' (as a police fingerprint/ballistics expert), ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' (in the episodes "

The City on the Edge of Forever "The City on the Edge of Forever" is the twenty-eighth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Harlan Ellison, contributors and/or editors to the script included ...

" and " A Piece of The Action"), ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show wa ...

'' (as the hotel clerk Eddie Halstead) and again as a hotel clerk in ''

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 S1E15’s “Gold Mine”). He also made several appearances as various criminals in '' Adventures of Superman''. In his later years, Harmon became a used books dealer in Los Angeles. He collected first editions of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

. He suffered a stroke about a year before he died from heart failure.The Rifleman
/ref>

Selected filmography

* ''

The Missing Guest ''The Missing Guest'' is a 1938 American mystery-comedy film directed by John Rawlins. It is a remake of the 1933 film ''Secret of the Blue Room''. Synopsis A newspaper reporter is sent by his editor to spend a night in a country house where a ...

'' (1938) * '' King of the Underworld'' (1939) as Slats * '' The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) as revenue agent * ''

'' (1942) * ''

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp ''Tramp, Tramp, Tramp'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent comedy film directed by Harry Edwards (director), Harry Edwards and starring Harry Langdon and Joan Crawford. Premise The film tells of Harry (Langdon) a ne'er-do-well who falls in ...

'' (1942) * '' Find the Blackmailer'' (1943) * ''

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

'' (1947) * ''

Monsieur Verdoux ''Monsieur Verdoux'' is a 1947 American black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, who plays a bigamist wife killer inspired by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, a ...

'' (1947) as Joe Darwin * ''

Whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

'' (1948) as fighter Kid McKee * ''

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

'' (1949) as Pete Kimmel * '' Tangier Incident'' (1953) * ''

Run for the Hills ''Run for the Hills'' is a 1953 American comedy film directed by Lew Landers and starring Sonny Tufts, Barbara Payton and Mauritz Hugo.Lewis p.168 The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernst Fegté. Cast * Sonny Tufts as Charlie J ...

'' (1953) * ''

Jack Slade Joseph Alfred "Jack" Slade, (January 22, 1831 – March 10, 1864), was a stagecoach and Pony Express superintendent, instrumental in the opening of the American West and the archetype of the Western gunslinger. Born in Carlyle, Illinois, he w ...

'' (1953) * '' Funny Girl'' (1968) as Company Manager * '' Hitch Hike to Hell'' (1977) as Mr. Baldwin * '' Malibu High'' (1979)

References

External links

* * American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Washington, D.C. 1905 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American male actors {{US-tv-actor-1900s-stub