William Rockne Tarkington, Jr. (May 14, 1932 – April 5, 2015) was an American stage, film and television actor.

Career

Born in

Junction City, Kansas Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby. History Junction City is so named from its ...

, Tarkington began his career as a stage actor, and made the transition to television with guest appearances in episodes of ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was re ...

'', ''

Kraft Suspense Theatre The ''Kraft Suspense Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced and broadcast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's '' Kraft ...

'', ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'', ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaff ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible'', '' Bewitched'', and many others. Tarkington was also the first credited black actor to appear on ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', and the only

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

on the show to ever have a speaking part. Tarkington made recurring appearances on ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'' (as Tao) and starred as Elihu Morgan on '' Danger Island'' on Hanna-Barbera's '' Banana Splits Adventure Hour''. He also played "Too Mean" Malone on the 1983–84 season of '' Matt Houston'' and made appearances in episodes of ''

Bearcats! ''Bearcats!'' is an American Western television series broadcast on the CBS television network during the fall 1971 television season. It starred Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole as troubleshooters in the period before the American entry into World Wa ...

'', ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both p ...

'', ''

Baretta ''Baretta'' is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, '' Toma'', starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey pol ...

'' and other shows in the 1970s and 1980s. As a film actor, Tarkington played the title role in the blaxploitation picture '' Black Samson'' (1974), and co-starred with

Richard X. Slattery Richard Xavier Slattery (June 26, 1925 – January 27, 1997) was an American character actor in film, theater and television. Slattery appeared in such films as '' A Distant Trumpet'', '' The Boston Strangler'', '' Walking Tall'', '' The No Merc ...

in ''

The No Mercy Man ''The No Mercy Man'' (also known as ''Bad Man'', ''Trained to Kill'', and ''Trained to Kill USA'') is a 1973 action film with elements of a modern-day Western starring Steve Sandor, Rockne Tarkington, Sid Haig, Ron Thompson, Mike Lane, and Rich ...

'' (1973) and ''

Zebra Force ''The Zebra Force'' (''Codename: Zebra'', USA title) is a 1976 American film directed by Joe Tornatore. The film is about a group of Vietnam War veterans who declare war on Los Angeles drug dealers and the Mafia. The film is also known as ''Code ...

'' (1976). He also appeared in films such as ''

Soldier in the Rain ''Soldier in the Rain'' is a 1963 American comedy buddy film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen. Tuesday Weld portrays Gleason's character's romantic partner. Produced by Martin Jurow and co-written by Mauric ...

'' (1963), ''

Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion ''Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion'' is a 1965 light comedy-adventure film, produced by Ivan Tors, Leonard B. Kaufman, and Harry Redmond Jr., directed by Andrew Marton, and starring Marshall Thompson and Betsy Drake. The film was shot at Soledad ...

'' (1965), ''

The Great White Hope ''The Great White Hope'' is a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, later adapted in 1970 for a film of the same name. The play was first produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and debuted on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre in October 1 ...

'' (1970), ''

Beware! The Blob ''Beware! The Blob'' (also known as ''Beware the Blob'', ''Son of Blob'', ''The Blob II'' or ''The Blob Returns'') is a 1972 American independent science fiction comedy horror film directed by Larry Hagman. It is a sequel to ''The Blob'' (1958). ...

'' (1972), ''

Melinda Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...

'' (1972), ''

The Baltimore Bullet ''The Baltimore Bullet'' is a 1979 American comedy film based on the adventures of two pool hustlers in the United States. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller and starred James Coburn, Omar Sharif, Bruce Boxleitner and Ronee Blakley. The ...

'' (1980), ''

National Lampoon's Movie Madness ''National Lampoon's Movie Madness'' is a 1982 American comedy film produced by '' National Lampoon'' as the second film from the magazine. The film was originally produced under the title ''National Lampoon Goes to the Movies''; completed in 1981, ...

'' (1983), ''

The Ice Pirates ''The Ice Pirates'' is a 1984 American comic science fiction film directed by Stewart Raffill, who co-wrote the screenplay with '' Krull'' writer Stanford Sherman. The film stars Robert Urich, Mary Crosby and Michael D. Roberts; other notable ...

'' (1984), '' Uphill All the Way'' (1986) and '' Death Before Dishonor'' (1987), and had parts in many television films. Tarkington was the first choice to play the part of Williams in ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

'' (1973), but just before the start of filming he was replaced by

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

Personal life

Tarkington lived in Los Angeles for the majority of his career where he was married to fellow screen actor Joan Blackman from July 1968 to October 1970. In the 1990s he returned home to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

when his mother became ill. He eventually became a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

after seeing a television commercial for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarkington, Rockne African-American male actors American Latter Day Saints American male film actors Place of death missing American male stage actors American male television actors People from Junction City, Kansas Male actors from Kansas 1931 births 2015 deaths Converts to Mormonism 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people