James Westerfield
Acting
Born: March 22, 1913 · Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Died: September 20, 1971 (aged 58)
Highest Rated
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James A. Westerfield (22 March 1913 – 20 September 1971) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, to candy-maker Brasher Omier Westerfield and his wife Dora Elizabeth Bailey, he was raised in Detroit, Michigan. (A news story in the June 12, 1949, issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle calls the information in the preceding sentence into question. It describes Westerfield as "the son of a famous producer-director" and says that he was "a youngster in Denver, Col.") He became interested in theatre as a young man and in the 1930s joined Gilmor Brown's famed Pasadena Community Playhouse, appearing in dozens of plays. He played in numerous films following his debut in 1940, then went to New York City and appeared on Broadway, winning two New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for his supporting roles in The Madwoman of Chaillot and Detective Story. He then returned to Hollywood and made more than 40 more films. Westerfield maintained an interest in the theatre. He directed more than 50 musicals in a summer-musical tent he owned in Danbury, Connecticut, and was the original stage director and producer for the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. He directed three seasons of "Theatre Under the Stars" in Vancouver, British Columbia, and appeared in musical roles with the Detroit Civic Light Opera, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and the San Francisco Civic Light Opera. On film, Westerfield had roles in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), On The Waterfront (1954), Lucy Gallant (1955), the 1957 Budd Boetticher-directed Western Decision at Sundown starring Randolph Scott, Cowboy (1958), a repeating role in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Man's Favorite Sport (1964), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Hang 'Em High (1968) and True Grit (1969). Westerfield had many roles on television, including seven episodes as John Murrel from 1963 to 1964 on ABC's The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, starring child actor Kurt Russell in the title role. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Sheriff Bert Elmore in the 1957 episode, "The Case of the Angry Mourner." He also appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger in 1954 entitled "Texas Draw." Westerfield's other appearances were on such series as The Rifleman, The Californians, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Alaskans, The Rebel, Straightaway, Going My Way, The Asphalt Jungle, Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show, Daniel Boone, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Gunsmoke. He played the circus leader, Dr. Marvello, in an episode of Lost in Space "Space Circus" (1966). Westerfield as a young man was a roommate of fellow Pasadena Playhouse actor George Reeves. The two remained close friends until Reeves's death in 1959. Westerfield was married to Alice G. Fay (an actress under the name Fay Tracey), who, along with his mother, survived him. Westerfield died from a heart attack in Woodlands Hills, California, at the age of fifty-eight.
Known for
On the Waterfront
1954
The Twilight Zone
1959
True Grit
1969
Hang 'em High
1968
Bewitched
1964
Bonanza
1959
The Magnificent Ambersons
1942
Birdman of Alcatraz
1962
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
The Absent-Minded Professor
1961
The Time Tunnel
1966
Photos (1)
Movies (55)
True Grit
Judge Parker
Hang 'em High
Prisoner
On the Waterfront
Big Mac
The Sons of Katie Elder
Mr. Vennar
The Magnificent Ambersons
Policeman at Accident (uncredited)
Birdman of Alcatraz
Jess Younger
The Absent-Minded Professor
Officer Hanson
The Violent Men
Sheriff Magruder
Man's Favorite Sport?
Policeman
Man with the Gun
Mr. Zender
Undercurrent
Henry Gilson
The Cobweb
James Petlee
Wild River
Cal Garth
Son of Flubber
Officer Hanson
The Hangman
Herb Loftus
The Shaggy Dog
Officer Hanson
The Chase
Job the Butler
The Proud Rebel
Birm Bates
About Face
Soldier with Daisy (uncredited)
Homicidal
Alfred S. Adrims
The Love God?
Rev. Wilkerson
Blue
Abe Parker
Bikini Beach
Cop #2
Decision at Sundown
Otis, the Bartender
Away All Boats
1956
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Reverend Howard
The Pride of the Yankees
Spectator (uncredited)
Cowboy
Mike Adams
Chief Crazy Horse
Caleb Mantz
Smith!
Sheriff
The Howards of Virginia
Backwoodsman
A Man Called Gannon
Amos
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Jack Balter
Three Hours to Kill
Sam Minor
The Scarlet Coat
Col. Jameson
That Funny Feeling
Officer Brokaw
Lucy Gallant
Harry Wilson
Side Street
Charlie (policeman)
Around the World
Bashful Marine
Highway West
Swede, Trucker at Cafe
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Capt. Boyle
Three Brave Men
Chief O'Reilly
The Plunderers
Mike Baron
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Charley Mardis
Set This Town on Fire
Cark Rickter
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Harvey (Zoo Attendant) (uncredited)
Jungle Heat
Harvey Mathews
The Helen Morgan Story
Frank Piggin
Scalplock
Nehemiah
Old Man
Warden
The Boy Who Stole the Elephant
Sheriff Berry
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Joe London
The Human Jungle
Marty Harrison
Dead Aim
John Applebee
Bartleby
The Lawyer
TV Shows (61)
Perry Mason
Sheriff Elmore · 1 eps
Perry Mason
Roger Quigley · 1 eps
Lassie
1 eps
The Andy Griffith Show
Uncle Ollie · 1 eps
Bonanza
Arthur Blackwell · 1 eps
The Rifleman
2 eps
Bewitched
1 eps
Mannix
1 eps
The Lucy Show
Weitzman · 1 eps
The Wild Wild West
McAvity · 1 eps
The Twilight Zone
Anthony O'Toole · 1 eps
Maverick
2 eps
Green Acres
1 eps
The Beverly Hillbillies
1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
H.T. Carmichael · 1 eps
My Three Sons
1 eps
Rawhide
Matt Lucas · 1 eps
Rawhide
Mort Henry · 1 eps
Daniel Boone
Hand · 1 eps
Daniel Boone
Simon Girty · 1 eps
Studio One
Captain James Reagan · 1 eps
Studio One
Bilgeboy / Jimmy Scaggs · 1 eps
The Big Valley
Jeb Lassiter · 1 eps
Thriller
Al Matthews · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Rance Bradley · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Harry Duggan · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Cleed · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Franks · 1 eps
Lost in Space
Dr. Marvello · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Commissioner Cummings · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Pops Lafferty · 1 eps
Bat Masterson
Shapley Howell · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Bert Farrow · 1 eps
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Dr. Langland · 1 eps
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
McAllister · 1 eps
The Rebel
Suee · 1 eps
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Mapes · 1 eps
Judd, for the Defense
1 eps
The Texan
1 eps
The Time Tunnel
Sheriff · 1 eps
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1 eps
Trackdown
1 eps
Mayberry R.F.D.
Sheriff Matson · 1 eps
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1 eps
Johnny Ringo
Aben Burke · 1 eps
Law of the Plainsman
Joshua Jones · 1 eps
The Tall Man
1 eps
Inner Sanctum
1 eps
The Great Adventure
Attorney Thomas Green · 1 eps
The Walter Winchell File
1 eps
Tightrope
1 eps
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
John Murrel · 2 eps
The Alaskans
1 eps
The Dakotas
1 eps
Straightaway
1 eps
The Outcasts
1 eps
Going My Way
1 eps
General Electric Theater
Bartender · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
The General · 1 eps
The Asphalt Jungle
1 eps