John Robert Anderson (October 20, 1922 – August 7, 1992) was an American character actor who performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions during a career that spanned over four decades.
Life and career
Anderson was born and raised in Clayton, Illinois in 1922. Anderson served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II, where he met artist Orazio Fumagalli, who became his lifelong friend. Anderson held a master’s degree in drama from the University of Iowa.
An accomplished actor, Anderson started out on Broadway, including an appearance in the musical Paint Your Wagon in 1951. He later worked primarily in film and television.
Standing 6 ft 2 in tall (188 cm), he bore a strong resemblance to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, whom he portrayed three times. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) as “California Charlie”, the used car salesman who helps Marion Crane (Janet Leigh). On television, he appeared in such series as The Rockford Files, Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Laramie, Have Gun – Will Travel , The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Virginian, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The Californians, Johnny Ringo, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Trackdown, The Big Valley, Tales of Wells Fargo, Emergency!, The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series), MacGyver and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (episode “Cradle Of The Deep”).
Anderson was cast on The Rat Patrol four times (three of those occasions as the same character). He also made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, which include the episodes “The Case of the Calendar Girl” (1959), “The Case of the Bartered Bikini” (1959), and “The Case of the Greek Goddess”. In 1961 Anderson appeared as Hassayampa Edwards in the TV western Lawman in the episode titled “Hassayampa.” He can also be seen in other series produced in this period, such as Overland Trail, The Tall Man, and The Legend of Jesse James. He portrays an eccentric farmer who jealously guards his prize watermelon with a shotgun in “For the Love of Willadean: A Taste of Melon”, a story originally broadcast on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in 1964.
Anderson had a recurring role in MacGyver as Harry Jackson, MacGyver’s grandfather. Other credits include: Man Without a Gun; Hawaii Five-O; M*A*S*H as Major General Collins, Once an Eagle; Rich Man, Poor Man Book II; Backstairs at the White House; Star Trek: The Next Generation and Dallas. A recurring Twilight Zone actor, he appeared in four different episodes: “The Old Man in the Cave”, “Of Late I Think of Cliffordville”, “The Odyssey of Flight 33”, and “A Passage for Trumpet”. He was also The Interrogator on an episode of The Outer Limits titled “Nightmare”.
The first release of the 1993 soundtrack album Music from the Television Series Quantum Leap was dedicated to him. He had featured in the fourth season episode “The Last Gunfighter” of that sci-fi series as Pat Knight; the episode had first aired about six months before his death.
Personal life and death
On June 8, 1946, Anderson married Patricia A. Cason in the rectory of St. Boniface Catholic Church. They moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where Anderson studied in the liberal arts college at the University of Iowa and earned his master’s degree in drama. Anderson was married to Patricia Ann Cason until her death on February 18, 1989. Three years later, Anderson suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, at the age of 69. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea as part of his membership in the Neptune Society.[citation needed]
Body of work
Partial filmography
The Eddie Cantor Story (1953) as Bobby (uncredited)
Target Zero (1955) as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Perry Mason (1957) as George Andrews
Gunsmoke 15 appearances
Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre (1957); Episode: “Episode in Darkness”
The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958) as Doc (uncredited)
The Californian (1958, three episodes) as Reed Bullard / Slater / The Deacon
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) as Salesman in Horseshoe (uncredited)
Psycho (1960) as California Charlie
The Twilight Zone (1960)
Le olimpiadi dei mariti (1960)
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960) as Sailor (uncredited)
Bonanza (1960-1969, three episodes)
The Rifleman Eleven episodes including (1961) as Will Temple
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) S7/Ep8 “The Old Pro” as Nicholson
Bat Masterson (1961) S3/Ep15 “The Court-marshal of Major Mars” as Major Mars
Walk on the Wild Side (1962) as Preacher
Geronimo (1962) as Jeremiah Burns
Ride the High Country (1962) as Elder Hammond
Perry Mason” (1963) as Dan O’Malley
The Outer Limits (1963) as Ebonite Interrogator
My Favorite Martian (1963) in the episode “Raffles No. 2” as Capt. Farrow
Laramie (1963) in the episode “The Violent Ones” as Bob Blayne
The Satan Bug (1965) as Agent Reagan
The Hallelujah Trail (1965) as Sgt. Buell
Namu, the Killer Whale (1966) as Joe Clausen
The Fortune Cookie (1966) as Abraham Lincoln (uncredited)
A Covenant with Death (1967) as Dietrich
Welcome to Hard Times (1967) as Ezra Maple / Isaac Maple
Day of the Evil Gun (1968) as Captain Jefferson Addis
A Man Called Gannon (1968) as Capper
5 Card Stud (1968) as Marshal Dana
Massacre Harbor (1968) as Maj. Indrus
Heaven with a Gun (1969) as Asa Beck
The Great Bank Robbery (1969) as Mayor Kincaid
Young Billy Young (1969) as Boone
The Animals (1970) as Sheriff Allan Pierce
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) as Capt. Bryce
Soldier Blue (1970) as Col. Iverson
Man and Boy (1971) as Stretch
Bearcats! – “Man in a Cage” (1971) as Judge Juan O’Brian
The Stepmother (1972) as Inspector Darnezi
Molly and Lawless John (1972) as Sheriff Marvin Parker
Counselor at Crime (1973) as Don Vito Albanese
Night Gallery (1973, “Through the Flame Darkly”) as sheriff
Executive Action (1973) as Halliday
Heatwave! (1974) as Toler
The Dove (1974) as Mike Turk
Little House On The Prairie (1975) as Mr. Pike
The Specialist (1975) as Pike Smith
Landfall (1975) as John
Emergency! “Smoke Eater” (1975) as Captain Bob Roberts
Rich Man, Poor Man Book II (mini-series) (1976) as Scotty
The Rockford Files – “Coulter City Wildcat” (1976) as Gerald A. O’Malley
Once an Eagle (mini-series) (1976) as George Varney
The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977) as Abraham Lincoln
The Last Hurrah (1977) as Amos Force
Backstairs at the White House (mini-series) (1979) as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Incredible Hulk – “Wildfire” as Mike Callahan
Out of the Blue (1980) as T.V. Interviewer
Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) as Governor
Zoot Suit (1981) as Judge F.W. Charles
The American Adventure (1982) as Mark Twain / Franklin D. Roosevelt (voice)
The First Time (1982) as Paul Cooper
Carry Me Back (1982) as Geoff
Voyagers! – “The Day the Rebs Took Lincoln” (1982) – as Abraham Lincoln
M*A*S*H – “Say No More” (1983) – as General Addison Collins
North and South (mini-series) (1985) as William Hazard
Amerasia (1986)
Dream West (TV mini-series 1986) as Brig. Gen. Brooke
Never Too Young to Die (1986) as Arliss
Scorpion (1986) as Joel / Noel G. Koch
Eight Men Out (1988) as Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Deadly Innocents (1989) as Gus
Star Trek: The Next Generation – “The Survivors” (1989) as Kevin Uxbridge
In Broad Daylight (television movie) (1991) as Wes Westerman
External Links
Actor John Anderson – Wikipedia
