Leif Erickson

Birthday:

10/27/1911

Place of birth:

Alameda, California, USA:

Biography:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leif Erickson (born William Wycliffe Anderson) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Erickson was born in Alameda, California, near San Francisco. He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act. Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns. Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he served as a military photographer, shooting film in combat zones, and as an instructor. He was shot down twice in the Pacific as well as receiving two Purple Hearts. Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Over four years service, he shot more than 200,000 feet of film for the Navy. Erickson's first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels. He would go on to appears in films such as The Snake Pit, Sorry, Wrong Number, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront, A Gathering of Eagles, Roustabout, The Carpetbaggers and Mirage. One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr's macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy. He appeared with Greta Garbo, as her brother in Conquest (1937). He played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat. His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977). Erickson appeared frequently on television; he was cast as Dr. Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey's Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. However, he is probably best known for The High Chaparral, which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971. He portrayed a rancher, Big John Cannon, determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache. Erickson guest-starred in several television series, including Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, Cannon, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files, and the 1977 series Hunter. His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984. Erickson was married to actress Frances Farmer from 1936 until 1942. The same day that his divorce from Farmer was finalized, June 12, 1942, he married actress Margaret Hayes. They divorced a month later. He married Ann Diamond in 1945. They had two children, William Leif Erickson (born 1946 - died 1971 in a car accident) and Susan Irene Erickson (born 1950). Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1986, aged 74 CLR



Credits

Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director
Winterhawk (1975)
Guthrie
Abduction (1975)
Prescott
Force Five (1975)
Cal Newkirk
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping (1973)
William Henry Cameron
The Family Rico (1972)
Mike Lamont
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972)
Amos Wetherall
The New Healers (1972)
Dr. Victor Briggs
The Deadly Dream (1971)
Dr. Harold Malcolm
Terror in the Sky (1971)
Marty Treleavan
Man and Boy (1971)
Sheriff Mossman
Mirage (1965)
The Major
I Saw What You Did (1965)
Dave Mannering
Roustabout (1964)
Joe Lean
The Carpetbaggers (1964)
Jonas Cord Senior
Strait-Jacket (1964)
Bill Cutler
A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
Gen. Hewitt
Shootout at Big Sag (1962)
Sam Barbee
Once Upon a Horse... (1958)
Granville "Granny" Dix
Twilight for the Gods (1958)
Harry Hutton
Kiss Them for Me (1957)
Eddie Turnbill
The Vintage (1957)
Louis Morel
Istanbul (1957)
Charlie Boyle
Tea and Sympathy (1956)
Bill Reynolds
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
Lou Glover
Star in the Dust (1956)
George Ballard
On the Waterfront (1954)
Glover
Paris Model (1953)
Edgar Blevins
Captain Scarface (1953)
Sam
Fort Algiers (1953)
Kalmani
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Mr. George MacLean
A Perilous Journey (1953)
Richards
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
Father Provincial aka Ed
Born to the Saddle (1953)
Bob Marshall
Never Wave at a WAC (1953)
Sgt. Norbert 'Noisy' Jackson
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
Morgan
My Wife's Best Friend (1952)
Nicholas Reed
Carbine Williams (1952)
Feder
With a Song in My Heart (1952)
General aboard plane
Sailor Beware (1952)
Commander Lane
The Cimarron Kid (1952)
Marshal John Sutton
Reunion in Reno (1951)
B. Frederick Linaker
The Tall Target (1951)
Stranger
Show Boat (1951)
Pete
Fourteen Hours (1951)
Bit Part (uncredited)
Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration (1951)
Pilate
Dallas (1950)
U.S. Marshal Martin Weatherby
Three Secrets (1950)
Bill Chase
The Showdown (1950)
Big Mart
Stella (1950)
Fred Anderson Jr.
Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950)
Dr. Bruce Gordon
The Lady Gambles (1949)
Tony
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
Pringle
Joan of Arc (1948)
Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948)
Dr. Mason
The Snake Pit (1948)
Gordon
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
Fred Lord
The Gay Intruders (1948)
Dr. Harold Matson
The Gangster (1947)
Beaumont
Blonde Savage (1947)
Steve Blake
Arabian Nights (1942)
Kamar (as Leif Erikson)
Night Monster (1942)
Laurie
Pardon My Sarong (1942)
Whaba
Eagle Squadron (1942)
Johnny M. Coe
Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)
Bill Stone
The Fleet's In (1942)
Jake
H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Rodney 'Bo-Jo' Brown
The Blonde from Singapore (1941)
Terry Prescott
Nothing But the Truth (1941)
Tommy Van Dusen
Crisis (1939)
Narrator (voice)
One Third of a Nation (1939)
Peter Cortlant
Ride a Crooked Mile (1938)
Johnny Simpkins
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
Bob Hayes
Thrill of a Lifetime (1937)
Howard Nelson
Conquest (1937)
Paul Lachinski
Waikiki Wedding (1937)
Dr. Victor Quimby
College Holiday (1936)
Dick Winters
Girl of the Ozarks (1936)
Tom Bolton
Desert Gold (1936)
Glenn Kasedon
Drift Fence (1936)
Curley Prentice
Nevada (1935)
Bill Ide
Wanderer of the Wasteland (1935)
Lawrence