John Bromfield (born Farron Bromfield; June 11, 1922 – September 19, 2005) was an American actor and commercial fisherman.

Early years

Farron Bromfield was born in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and was a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

champion at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a private Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate ...

, where he also lettered in football, baseball, track and swimming. In the 1940s, he gained his first acting experience at the

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

Military service

Bromfield served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in World War II.

Film

Bromfield's screen debut came in ''

Harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target ani ...

'' (1948). The same year, he was cast as a detective in '' Sorry, Wrong Number'', starring

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

and

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. In 1953, Bromfield appeared with

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment ...

and Tony Martin in '' Easy to Love''. He also starred in horror films, including the 1955 3D production ''

Revenge of the Creature ''Revenge of the Creature'' ( ''Return of the Creature'' and ''Return of the Creature from the Black Lagoon'') is the first of two Universal-International sequels to '' Creature from the Black Lagoon''. It was the only 3D film released in 1955 ...

'', one of the ''

Creature from the Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

'' sequels.

Television

In the middle 1950s, Bromfield appeared in westerns, such as

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...

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 ...

in the role of a

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

in the episode "The Hanging at Thunder Butte Creek". In 1956, Bromfield was cast as law enforcement officer Frank Morgan in the syndicated

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-themed

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 ...

series '' The Sheriff of Cochise'',Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 960. and in its spinoff, ''U.S. Marshal''. The real sheriff of Cochise County at the time, Jack Howard, visited the set when the program began and made Bromfield an honorary deputy. Bromfield once told ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'': "About 40 million see 'Sheriff of Cochise' or 'U.S. Marshal' every week. I'd have to do about twenty-five pictures, major pictures, over a span of eight or nine years for enough people to see me in the theater who see me in one week on 'U.S. Marshal'... The show is seen all over the world. Television is a fabulous medium."''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', Washington, D.C., September 26, 2005, p. B 4 The series was actually created by his co-star Stan Jones, who appeared in twenty-four segments as Deputy Harry Olson.

Later years

In 1960, Bromfield retired from acting to produce sports shows and work as a commercial

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...

off

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws v ...

Personal life

Bromfield married Grace Landis while in college. They later divorced. He married actress Corinne Calvet in Boulder, Colorado, in 1948. They were divorced March 16, 1954. He also was divorced from actress/dancer

Larri Thomas Larri Thomas (January 23, 1932 – October 20, 2013) was an American actress and dancer. She began her career by participating in a string of television commercials and eventually signed a contract with NBC. The network put on her shows includin ...

. He and his fourth wife, actress/dancer and author

Mary Ellen Bromfield Mary Ellen Bromfield (born Mary Ellen Tillotson on March 13, 1928) is an American actress, dancer, and writer. Biography Mary Bromfield was born in Fresno County, California to Frank and Edna Tillotson. She attended University of the Pacific ...

, were married 43 years.

Death

Bromfield died September 18, 2005, at age 83 from

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has bee ...

Filmography

References

External links

* *
John Bromfield website
johnbromfield.com; accessed May 15, 2015

BriansDriveinTheater.com; accessed May 15, 2015
The Colt Revolver in the American West—John Bromfield's Official Police Model
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bromfield, John 1922 births 2005 deaths American male film actors American male television actors Deaths from kidney failure Male actors from Indiana Actors from South Bend, Indiana People from Palm Desert, California Male Western (genre) film actors United States Navy sailors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American male actors United States Navy personnel of World War II