Richard Derr (June 15, 1917 – May 8, 1992) was an American actor who worked on stage, screen, and television, performing in both starring and supporting roles.

Early years

Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Derr graduated from Norristown High School in 1933. While he worked as a bank clerk, he acted with a little theater group in Norristown.

Stage

A life member of The Actors Studio, Derr landed the majority of his leading roles on stage. In 1955, he sang in the lead role in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical '' Plain and Fancy''. His other Broadway credits include ''

Dial M for Murder ''Dial M for Murder'' is a 1954 American crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, Anthony Dawson, and John Williams. Both the screenplay and the successful stage play on which it was b ...

'' (1952), ''Invitation to a March'' (1960), ''Maybe Tuesday'' (1957), ''A Phoenix Too Frequent'' (1949), and ''The Closing Door'' (1949).

Film

On the

silver screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scree ...

, Derr was primarily a character actor. He had a starring role in George Pal's 1951 science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, '' When Worlds Collide''. Derr later starred in the ''Invisible Avenger'' (1958), a film based on the radio show and pulp magazine character ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

''. The character also served as the basis for two television pilot episodes, neither of which was developed into a series.

Television

In the 1950s, most of Derr's work was done on television. On November 21, 1950, he co-starred in "The Perfect Type" on ''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fi ...

''. In 1959, he was the host of ''Fanfare'', a summer dramatic anthology series on

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 ...

-TV. In 1965, he played the role of Dr. Dwyer in the three-part serial, "The Adventures of Gallegher," on ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

'', and later made appearances in ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was o ...

'', in two episodes of '' Star Trek'', and in the 1976 miniseries ''

Rich Man, Poor Man Book II ''Rich Man, Poor Man Book II'' is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 9:00pm ET/PT on Tuesday nights between September 21, 1976 and March 8, 1977. A sequel to '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' that had aired the pr ...

''.

Military service

Derr served in the

Army Transport Service The United States Army Transport Service (ATS) was established as a sea-going transport service that was independent of the Navy Department. ATS operated army transport ships for both troop transport and cargo service between United States ports ...

for three years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Real estate

Derr had a license as a real estate broker. He was an associate of the Beverly Hills Realty Company and a member of the Beverly Hills Realty Board.

Death

On May 8, 1992, at the age of 75, Derr died of pancreatic cancer in Santa Monica, California.

Partial filmography

*'' Charlie Chan in Rio'' (1941) as Ken Reynolds *'' Man at Large'' (1941) as Max, posing as Colonel Von Rohn *''

A Gentleman at Heart A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'' (1942) as Stewart Haines *'' Sex Hygiene'' (1942 short) as Soldier *'' Castle in the Desert'' (1942) as Carl Detheridge *'' The Man Who Wouldn't Die'' (1942) as Roger Blake *'' Ten Gentlemen from West Point'' (1942) as Chester *''

Just Off Broadway ''Just Off Broadway'' is a 1942 Drama directed by Herbert I. Leeds, starring Lloyd Nolan and Marjorie Weaver. This is the sixth of a series of seven that Lloyd Nolan played Michael Shayne for Twentieth Century Fox films. Hugh Beaumont portrayed ...

'' (1942) as John Logan *''

Commandos Strike at Dawn ''Commandos Strike at Dawn'' is a 1942 war film directed by John Farrow and written by Irwin Shaw from a short story entitled "The Commandos" by C. S. Forester that appeared in ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in June 1942. Filmed in Canada, it starred ...

'' (1942) as Gunnar Korstad *'' Tonight We Raid Calais'' (1943) as German Captain (uncredited) *'' Cry "Havoc"'' (1943) as Marine with Thermometer (uncredited) *'' An American Romance'' (1944) in an undetermined role (uncredited) *''

The Secret Heart ''The Secret Heart'' is a 1946 film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon and June Allyson. Plot Lee (Claudette Colbert) is engaged to marry Larry Adams (Richard Derr), a spendthrift widower with two childr ...

'' (1946) as Larry Addams *'' The Bride Goes Wild'' (1948) as Bruce Kope Johnson *'' Luxury Liner'' (1948) as Charles G.K. Worton *''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

'' 1948) as Jean de Metz (a knight) *''

Guilty of Treason ''Guilty of Treason'' is a 1950 American drama film directed by Felix E. Feist and starring Charles Bickford, Bonita Granville and Paul Kelly. Also known by the alternative title ''Treason'', it is an anti-communist and anti-Soviet film about th ...

'' (1950) as Soviet Col. Aleksandr Melnikov *'' When Worlds Collide'' (1951) as David Randall *'' Something to Live For'' (1952) as Tony Collins *'' Invisible Avenger'' (1958) as Lamont Cranston *'' Terror Is a Man'' (1959) as William Fitzgerald *'' An American Dream'' (1966) as Jack Hale (uncredited) *''

Rosie! ''Rosie!'' is a 1967 American comedy film directed by David Lowell Rich, based on Ruth Gordon's play ''A Very Rich Woman''. Plot Rosie Lord is a widowed millionaire who, much to the dismay of her daughters Mildred and Edith, spends her money ...

'' (1967) as Lawyer *''

Three in the Attic ''Three in the Attic'' is a 1968 comedy film directed by Richard Wilson and starring Christopher Jones and Yvette Mimieux, with Judy Pace and Maggie Thrett. Nan Martin, John Beck, and Eve McVeagh appear in supporting roles. Jones plays Paxton ...

'' (1968) as Mr. Clinton *'' Topaz'' (1969) as U.S. Embassy Official in Copenhagen (uncredited) *''

Adam at 6 A.M. ''Adam at 6 A.M.'' is a 1970 American drama film directed by Robert Scheerer. It stars Michael Douglas, Lee Purcell, Joe Don Baker, Louise Latham, Charles Aidman, Grayson Hall, Marge Redmond, and Dana Elcar. The film did not receive much attenti ...

'' (1970) as Mr. Gaines *'' The Morning After'' (1974) as Dr. Tillman *'' The Drowning Pool'' (1975) as James Devereaux *'' SST: Death Flight'' (1977) as Governor Stensky *'' American Gigolo'' (1980) as Mr. Williams *''

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...

'' (1982) as Admiral Curtin

References

External links

* * *
Richard Derr biography
Richard Derr biography a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derr, Richard 1917 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male television actors American male film actors Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from pancreatic cancer Male actors from Pennsylvania People from Norristown, Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II