Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career between 1925 and 1981. Fix was best known for portraying Marshal Micah Torrance, opposite Chuck Connors’s character in The Rifleman from 1958 to 1963. He later appeared with Connors in the 1966 Western film Ride Beyond Vengeance and The Time Tunnel episode, “The Sky is Falling”.
Early life and military service
Paul Fix was born in Dobbs Ferry, New York, to Wilhelm Fix, a brewmaster, and the former Louise C. Walz,[citation needed] though some sources say he was born Paul Fix Morrison His mother and father were German immigrants who had left their Black Forest home and arrived in New York City in the 1870s.
Following the United States’ entry into World War I in April 1917, Fix joined the National Guard, initially serving at Peekskill, New York. After three months of duty there, he went AWOL and enlisted in the U.S. Army. After serving at Fort Slocum for three months, he again went AWOL and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and was stationed in Providence, Rhode Island. While serving in the Navy, Fix was recruited to perform on stage in a Navy Relief Organization production of the comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore. Later, he served as a hospital corpsman aboard ships transporting American troops to and from Europe, and continued that assignment until he was officially discharged from military service on September 5, 1919.
Stage and films
Following the war, Fix became a busy character actor, who got his start in local productions in New York. By the 1920s, he had moved to Hollywood, and performed in the first of almost 350 movie and television appearances. In the 1930s, he became friends with John Wayne. He was Wayne’s acting coach and eventually appeared as a featured player in about 27 of Wayne’s films.
Fix worked in early films such as Lucky Star (1929) and Ladies Love Brutes (1930), and became a regular performer for the film’s director, Frank Borzage, on a further eight occasions. Fix later appeared as Richard Bravo in the 1950s cult classic, The Bad Seed (1956), The Sea Chase (1955) playing Heinz the cook, and in George Stevens’ Giant (1956), playing Elizabeth Taylor’s father.
Fix appeared as the presiding judge in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). He played the sheriff in The Sons of Katie Elder. In 1966, he appeared in the film El Dorado. In 1972, he was cast in the film Night of the Lepus, and the following year, he portrayed the New Mexico rancher Pete Maxwell in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. In 1979, he appeared in Wanda Nevada. Fix co-wrote the screenplay for the John Wayne film Tall in the Saddle.
Television
Although Fix is best-remembered for his recurring role as Marshal Micah Torrance on ABC’s Western series The Rifleman, he also performed in guest-starring roles in many other television programs between the 1950s and late 1970s. In the 1958 episode “The Golden Gun” on the ABC/Warner Bros.’ Western Colt .45, he portrayed Frank Wilson, Sr., the father of Frank, Jr., played by Edd Byrnes.[citation needed]
On Christmas Day, 1958, Fix appeared in the episode “Medal for Valor” on CBS’s Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater. Fix plays Rufus Stewart, a businessman who hires David Manning, played by Richard Basehart, a man with an ill wife, who is in need of medical treatment, to substitute in the American Civil War for Stewart’s son, Adam, portrayed by Richard Anderson. Manning, who won a Medal of Honor, returns from three years in the United States Army with an affidavit certifying that he was a military substitute so that he can claim western land. Rufus Stewart reneges on the promise because the son, the local sheriff, is running for the United States House of Representatives. Oddly, Rufus ends up being shot to death in a confrontation that he caused, and Adam agrees to provide the affidavit to Manning. The episode does not reveal if the sheriff was elected to Congress, but considers the political liability of one having hired a substitute in the war.
Fix guest-starred on the short-lived detective series, Meet McGraw[citation needed] and on the Western series of Rory Calhoun and John Payne, The Texan and The Restless Gun, which aired, respectively, in the same time slot on Mondays on CBS and NBC.
Fix played the historical role of U.S. President Zachary Taylor in the 1960 episode “That Taylor Affair” of the NBC Western series, Riverboat, with Darren McGavin. Arlene Dahl was cast in this episode as Lucy Belle.
In 1961, Fix appeared as Ramsey Collins in the series finale, “Around the Dark Corner”, of the NBC crime drama Dante. That same year, he played Dr. Abel in the episode “The Haven” on The DuPont Show with June Allyson. His other television credits include Adventures of Superman (1953–1954, with Anthony Caruso and Elisha Cook Jr.) and the adventure series, Northwest Passage.
Fix played Dr Mark Piper in the second pilot episode of Star Trek, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. When the first series was filmed, his character was replaced by Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley.
Fix made five appearances as District Attorney Hale on Perry Mason (1957–1963), showing great skill as an examiner who did not ask objectionable questions unlike Hamilton Burger, who often experienced a judge’s ire for asking leading questions. He guest-starred on such television series as Wagon Train (1962), The Twilight Zone (1964), The F.B.I. (1965–1973), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1966), The Time Tunnel (1966), The Wild Wild West (1966–1967), Daniel Boone (1969), Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (1971), The Rockford Files episode “The House on Willis Avenue” (as Joe Tooley), and two episodes of The Streets of San Francisco, one in 1973 and again in 1975, each a different character/storyline. He appeared on the NBC series Kentucky Jones (1964) as Judge Perkins in the episode “Spare the Rod”. He played an aging suicidal novelist named Maxwell Hart on the Emergency! fourth-season episode “Kidding”, where paramedic John Gage, played by Randolph Mantooth, was in charge of a small group of intellectual 10- and 11-year-old school children on a tour of Rampart General Hospital. In 1974, he made an appearance as an old friend of Steve Austin’s in the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man in the episode “Population Zero”. He also appeared as Kronus, a retired fleet commander on the original Battlestar Galactica.
Fix played the hardy pioneer James Briton “Brit” Bailey in the 1969 episode “Here Stands Bailey” of the syndicated series Death Valley Days, hosted by Robert Taylor not long before Taylor’s own death. In the storyline, Bailey and his second wife, Hannah (Rosemary DeCamp), make their final settlement in southeastern Texas after having overcome many obstacles over the years. Now they face Stephen F. Austin (John Carter) with an order that they leave the land reserved for the Old Three Hundred original families of Texas. Soon, Austin has a change of heart and asks them to stay. Bailey dies with his final wish of interment standing upright facing west, hence his grave marker, “Here Stands Bailey Facing West.”
Personal life and death
His daughter Marilyn married actor Harry Carey, Jr., in 1944, and they had four children of their own.
Fix died of kidney failure in Los Angeles at the age of 82.
Selected filmography
The Perfect Clown (1925) as Bellhop (uncredited)
Hoodoo Ranch (1926)
The First Kiss (1928) as Ezra Talbot
Lucky Star (1929) as Joe
Ladies Love Brutes (1930) as Slip
Man Trouble (1930) as The Kid – A Gunman (uncredited)
The Good Bad Girl (1931) as Roach
The Fighting Sheriff (1931) as Jack Cameron
Doctors’ Wives as Interne (uncredited)
The Avenger (1931) as Juan Marietta (uncredited)
Sob Sister (1931) as Minor Role (uncredited)
Bad Girl (1931)
Young as You Feel (1931) as Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Three Girls Lost (1931) as Tony Halcomb (uncredited)
South of the Rio Grande (1932) as Juan Olivarez
The Racing Strain (1932) as King Kelly
Life Begins (1932) as Anxious Expectant Father (uncredited)
The Last Mile (1932) as Eddie Werner – Cell 8
Scarface (1932) as Hood with Gaffney (uncredited)
Dancers in the Dark (1932) as Benny
The Night of June 13 (1932) as Reporter (uncredited)
Somewhere in Sonora (1933) as Bart Leadly
The Important Witness (1933) as Tony
Fargo Express (1933) as Mort Clark
The Mad Game (1933) as Lou
Devil’s Mate (1933) as Malony
The Avenger (1933) as Vickers
The Important Witness (1933) as Tony
The Sphinx (1933) as Dave Werner
Emergency Call (1933) as Dr. Mason (uncredited)
Zoo in Budapest (1933) as Heinie
The Woman Who Dared (1933) as Racketeer
Gun Law (1933) as Tony Adams
The Westerner (1934) as Rustler Who Confesses (uncredited)
The World Accuses (1934) as John Weymouth
Rocky Rhodes (1934) as Joe Hilton
The Count of Monte Cristo as Angry Citizen (uncredited)
The Crosby Case (1934) as Engineer (uncredited)
Little Man, What Now? (1934) as Lauderbock
Reckless (1935) as Man on Mechanical Horse (uncredited)
The Crimsom Trail (1935) as Paul- Bellair Ranch Hand
Mutiny Ahead (1935) as Teeter Smith
His Fighting Blood (1935) as Phil Elliott
Don’t Bet on Blondes (1935) as Betting Man (uncredited)
Men Without Names (1935) as The Kid
Let ‘Em Have It (1935) as Sam
Millions in the Air (1935) as Hank – the Drunk
Bar 20 Rides Again (1935) as Gila
The Eagle’s Brood (1935) as Henchman Steve
Valley of Wanted Men (1935) as Mike Masters
The Throwback (1935) as Spike Travis
Bulldog Courage (1935) as Bailey
The Desert Trail (1935) as Jim Whitmonlee
Mariners of the Sky aka Navy Born (1936) as Joe Vezie
The Road to Glory (1936) as Second Volunteer
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) as Lou Pender (uncredited)
The Bridge of Sighs (1936) as Harrison Courtney, Jr. aka Harry West
Phantom Patrol (1936) as Henchman Jo-Jo Regan
Yellowstone (1936) a Dynomite
Straight from the Shoulder (1936) as Trigger Benson
Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) as Lefty (uncredited)
36 Hours to Kill (1936) as Gangster (uncredited)
The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) as David Herold
After the Thin Man (1936) as Phil Brynes
Wanted! Jane Turner (1936) as Crowley’s Henchman
The Accusing Finger (1936) as John ‘Twitchy’ Burke
15 Maiden Lane (1936) as Agitator (uncredited)
Two in a Crowd (1936) as Bonelli’s Henchman
Winterset (1936) as Joe
The Plot Thickens (1936) as Joe
Border Cafe (1937) as ‘Doley’ Dolson
Armored Car (1937) as Slim
Her Husband Lies (1937) as Lefty Harker (uncredited)
Woman in Distress (1937) as Joe Emory
The Game That Kills (1937) as Dick Adams
Big City (1937) as Comet Night Watchman (uncredited)
On Such a Night (1937) as Maxie Barnes
Souls at Sea (1937) as Violinest
King of Gamblers (1937) as Charlie
It Can’t Last Forever (1937) as Mikey (uncredited)
Paid to Dance (1937) as Nifty
Daughter of Shanghai (1937) as Miles (uncredited)
Mannequin (1937) as Smooch Hanrahan (uncredited)
Conquest (1937) as Dumb Soldier (uncredited)
Hot Water (1937) as Homer (uncredited)
The Saint of New York (1938) as Phil Farrell – Doorman at the Silverclub (uncredited)
Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938) as Gangster (uncredited)
Smashing the Rackets (1938) as Maxie
The Crowd Roars (1938) as Joe – Bodyguard on Plane (uncredited)
Crime Ring (1938) as Slim (uncredited)
Penitentiary (1938) as Bunch (uncredited)
King of Alcatraz (1938) as ‘Nails’ Miller
The Night Hawk (1938) as Spider
Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938) as Gangster (uncredited)
Crime Takes a Holiday (1938) as Louie
Secrets of a Nurse (1938) as Smiley, Largo’s Gunman (uncredited)
When G-Men Step In (1938) as Clip Phillips – Fred’s Henchman
Walking Down Broadway (1938) as Man in Baccarat Club Bar (uncredited)
The Buccaneer (1938) as Dying Pirate
Behind Prison Gates (1939) as Convict Petey Ryan
They All Came Out (1939) as Vonnie (uncredited)
News Is Made at Night (1939) as Joe Luddy
Heritage of the Desert (1939) as Henchman Chick Chance
Star Reporter (1939) as Clipper
Two Thoroughbreds (1939) as Stablemaster
Heroes in Blue (1939) as Henchman (uncredited)
Those High Grey Walls (1939) as Nightengale
Mutiny on the Blackhawk (1939) as Jock – the Sailor
The Girl and the Gambler (1939) as Charlie
Undercover Doctor (1939) as Monk Jackson
Code of the Streets (1939) as Tommy Shay
Almost a Gentleman (1939) as Kidnapper (uncredited)
Disbarred (1939) as Stone (uncredited)
The Ghost Breakers (1940) as Frenchy Duval
Glamour for Sale (1940) as Louis Manell
Queen of the Mob (1940) as Gang Leader in Garage (uncredited)
The Fargo Kid (1940) as Deuce Mallory
The Great Plane Robbery (1940) as Nick Harmon
Trail of the Vigilantes (1940) as Lefty
Triple Justice (1940) as Fred Cleary
Black Diamonds (1940) as Matthews
The Crooked Road (1940) as Nick Romero
Dr. Cyclops (1940) as Dr. Mendoza
Virginia City (1940) as Murrell’s Henchman (uncredited)
Outside the Three-Mile Limit (1940) as Bill Swanson
Strange Cargo (1940) as Benet
Black Friday (1940) as William Kane
Down Mexico Way (1941) as Henchman Davis
A Missouri Outlaw (1941) as Mark Roberts
Public Enemies (1941) as Scat
Mob Town (1941) as Monk Bangor (uncredited)
Unfinished Business (1941) as Reporter (uncredited)
Hold That Ghost (1941) as Lefty (uncredited)
Citadel of Crime (1941) as Nick Garro
Roar of the Press (1941) as ‘Sparrow’ McGraun
Pittsburgh (1942) as Mine Operator
Escape from Crime (1942) as Dude Mevill
Hitler – Dead or Alive (1942) as Joe ‘The Book’ Conway
Youth on Parade (1942) as Nick Cramer (uncredited)
Highways by Night (1942) as Gabby
Mug Town (1942) as Marco
That Other Woman (1942) as Tough Guy
Dr. Gillespie’s New Assistant (1942) as Husband (uncredited)
Kid Glove Killer (1942) as Allison Stacy (uncredited)
Alias Boston Blackie (1942) as Steve Cavereni
Sleepytime Gal (1942) as Johnny Gatto
South of Santa Fe (1942) as Joe Keenan aka Harmon
Jail House Blues (1942) as Danny
Captive Wild Woman (1943) as Gruen
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) as Mueller (uncredited)
In Old Oklahoma (1943) as Cherokee Kid
Petticoat Larceny (1943) as Louie (uncredited)
Bombardier (1943) as Big Guy – Spy (uncredited)
The Unknown Guest (1943) as Fain
The Fighting Seabees (1944) as Ding
Tall in the Saddle (1944) as Bob Clews (also co-writer)
Back to Bataan (1945) as Bindle Jackson
Grissly’s Millions (1945) as Lewis Bentley
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) as Calico Jim
Dakota (1945) as Carp
Tycoon (1947) as Joe
Angel and the Badman (1947) as Mouse Marr (uncredited)
Force of Evil (1948) as Bill Ficco
The Plunderers (1948) as Calico
Angel in Exile (1948) as Carl Spitz
Red River (1948) as Teeler Yaces
Wake of the Red Witch (1948) as Antonio “Ripper” Arrezo
The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) as Beau Merritt
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) as Gunrunner (uncredited)
Fighting Man of the Plains (1949) as Yancy
Hellfire (1949) as Dusty Stoner
California Passage (1950) as Whalen
Surrender (1950) as Deputy Williams
Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) as Joseph Jamison (uncredited)
Warpath (1951) as Pvt. Fiore
The Great Missouri Raid (1951) as Sgt. Brill
Ride the Man Down (1952) as Ray Cavanaugh
What Price Glory (1952) as Gowdy (uncredited)
Denver and Rio Grande (1952) as Engineer Moynihan
Big Jim Mclain (1952) as Voice of Chauncey (uncredited)
Fair Wind to Java (1953) as Wilson
Island in the Sky (1953) as Wally Miller
Hondo (1953) as Major Sherry
Devil’s Canyon (1953) as Gatling Guard
Star of Texas (1953) as Luke Andrews
The High and the Mighty (1954) as Frank Briscoe
Johnny Guitar (1954) as Eddie
Blood Alley (1955) as Mr. Tso
The Sea Chase (1955) as Max Heinz
Top of the World (1955) as Maj. George French
Santiago (1956) as Trasker
Star in the Dust (1956) as Mike MacNamara
Stagecoach to Fury (1956) as Tim O’Connors
Giant (1956) as Dr. Horace Lynnton
Toward the Unknown (1956) as Lt. Gen. Bryan Shelby
The Bad Seed (1956) as Richard Bravo
Man in the Vault (1956) as Herbie
Man in the Shadow (1957) as Herb Parker
The Devil’s Hairpin (1957) as Doc Addams
Night Passage (1957) as Mr. Feeney
Jet Pilot (1957) as Major Rexford
Night Passage (1957) as Clarence Feeney
Lafayette Escadrille (1958) as U. S. General
The Notorious Mr. Monks (1958) as Benjamin Monks
Guns Girls and Gangsters (1959) as Lon Largo
Wagon Train : The Amos Billings Story (1962, TV Series) as Amos Billings
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) as Judge Taylor
The Outrage (1964) as Indian
Mail Order Bride (1964) as Sheriff Jess Linley
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) as Sheriff Billy Watson
Shenandoah (1965) as Dr. Tom Witherspoon
Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965) as Judge Ewing
El Dorado (1966) as Dr. Miller
Incident at Phantom Hill (1966) as General Hood
Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) as Hanley
An Eye for an Eye (1966) as Brien Quince
Nevada Smith (1966) as Sheriff Bonnell
Welcome to Hard Times (1967) as Major Munn C.S.A.
The Ballad of Josie (1967) as Alpheus Minisk
Day of the Evil Gun (1968) as Sheriff Kelso
Hellfighters (1968) as Dusty Stoner
The Undefeated (1969) as General Joe Masters
Young Billy Young (1969) as Charlie
Dirty Dingus Magee (1970) as Chief Crazy Blanket
Zabriskie Point (1970) as Roadhouse Owner
Shoot Out (1971) as Brakeman Frenatore
Something Big (1971) as Chief Yellow Sun
Night of the Lepus (1972) as Sheriff Cody
Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid (1973) as Maxwell
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) as Old Man
Grayeagle (1977) as Running Wolf
Wanda Nevada (1979) as Texas Curly
Film writer
Tall in the Saddle (Screenplay)
Ring of Fear (Original Screenplay)
Television
The Lone Ranger – episode – Million Dollar Wallpaper – Silk (1950)
Adventures of Superman (Credits Paul Fix) – Episode Season 1 Episode 22 – Czar of the Underworld (1953)
Adventures of Superman (Credits Peter Fix) – Episode Season 2 Episode 18 – Semi-Private Eye (1954)
Perry Mason – episode – The Case of the Angry Mourner – District Attorney Hale (1957)
The Rifleman – 123 episodes appeared in, and credit only for 27 episodes – Marshall Micah Torrance, and Charming Billy for 1 episode (1958–1963)
Wagon Train – episode – The Mark Hanford Story – Jake (1958)
Perry Mason – Season 2 Episode 6 – The Case of the Buried Clock – District Attorney Hale (1958)
Wagon Train – episode – The Amos Billings Story – Amos Billings (1962)
Wagon Train – episode – The Brian Conlin Story – Sean Bannon (1964)
Lassie – episode – The Sulky Race – Sam Snow (1959)
Ripcord – episode – Jump to a Blind Alley – Josh Parker (1963)
The Twilight Zone – Colbey (1964) – Episode Season 5 Episode 26 – “I Am the Night Color Me Black”
The F.B.I. – episode – How to Murder an Iron Horse – Willard Oberley (1965)
Death Valley Days – episode – A Picture of a Lady – Doc Lathrop, with Peter Whitney as Judge Roy Bean and Francine York as Lily Langtry (1965)
Star Trek: The Original Series – episode – Where No Man Has Gone Before – Dr. Mark Piper (1966)
Daniel Boone – episode – Deadly Lodestone – Chief Great Bear (1966)
A Man Called Shenandoah – episode – Plunder – Sam Winters (1966)
Wild Wild West – episode – Night of the green terror – Old Chief (1966)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – episode – The Terrible Toys – Burke (1966)
Bonanza – episode – The Gold Detector – Barney (1967)
Gunsmoke – episode – Fandango – Doc Lacey (1967)
Gunsmoke – episode – Vengeance Part 1 – Sheriff Sloan (1967)
The Big Valley – episode – The Stallion – Brahma (1967)
The Guns of Will Sonnett – episode #1 – Ride the Long Trail – Olenhaussen – Stableman (1967)
Land Of The Giants – episode #9 “The Creed” Doctor Brule (1968)
Land Of The Giants – episode #17 “Deadly Lodestone” Doctor Brule (1969)
The Andy Griffith Show – episode – Barney Hosts a Summit Meeting – Mr. McCabe (1968)
The F.B.I. – episode – The Prey – Chester Cranford (1969)
Death Valley Days season 17 episode 18 Here Stands Bailey – Brit Bailey (1969)
Daniel Boone – episode – The Allegiances – Quonab (1969)
The F.B.I. – episode – Incident in the Desert – Matt Williams (1970)
Ironside – episode – The Laying on of Handy – Cripple (1970)
Alias Smith and Jones – episode – The Day They Hanged Kid Curry – Tom Hansen (1971)
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law – episode – Make No Mistake – Dr. Mel Woodruff (1971)
Alias Smith and Jones – episode – Night of the Red Dog – Clarence Bowles (1971)
Bonanza – episode – For a Young Lady – Bufford Sturgis (1971)
Mannix – episode – Scapegoat – Johnny Gunnarson (1972)
Emergency! – episode – Fuzz Lady – Gus ‘Pop’ William (1972)
Alias Smith and Jones – episode – Three to a Bed – Bronc (1973)
The F.B.I. – episode – The Big Job – Farrell (1973)
The Six Million Dollar Man – episode – Population: Zero – Gus Turners (1974)
Barnaby Jones – episode – Dark Legacy – Amos Barringer (1974)
Doc Elliot – episode – The Pharmacist – Gus Turners (1974)
The Waltons – episode – The Conflict – Senator Lucas Avery (1974)
Barnaby Jones – episode – Death on Deposit – Alfred Stermer (1974)
Barnaby Jones – episode – Double Vengeance – Jack Tatthal (1975)
Emergency! – episode – Kidding – Maxwell Hart (1975)
Lincoln – mini-series – episode – Prairie Law – Judge Thomas (1975)
Ellery Queen – episode – The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario – Captain Benjamin Blake (1976)
How The West Was Won – Mini series – episodes #1.2–1.4 – Portagee (1977–1978)
The Rockford Files – episode – The House On Willis Avenue – Joseph Tooley (1978)
Battlestar Galactica – episode – Take The Celestra – Commander Kronus (1979)
Quincy M.E. – episode – For Want of A Horse – Jason Randall (1981) (final appearance)
External Links
Actor Paul Fix – Wikipedia
