John Howard (actor, 1913)

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John Howard

John Howard (* 14. April 1913 in Cleveland , Ohio as John R. Cox Jr. , † 19th February 1995 in Santa Rosa , California ) was an American actor. In total, he had around 115 film and television appearances between 1934 and 1978.

life and career

Born in Cleveland, John Howard first studied at Case Western Reserve University there . After graduating with excellent grades, he got a position at a local radio station and was also on stage with amateur theaters. At one of these performances he was discovered by an agent from Paramount Pictures and taken under a studio contract. After a small role as a lift boy in his film debut One Hour Late (1934), Howard soon rose to become a popular and promising film actor. From 1937 he played the leading role of the adventurer and detective Bulldog Drummond seven times in the B film series of the same name. While he mostly acted as the leading actor in such B-films, he was mostly limited to supporting roles in larger films - for example as Ronald Colman's brother in Frank Capra's drama In the Fetters of Shangri-La (1937) and as Katharine Hepburn's brittle fiancé George Kittredge in George Cukor's Oscar-winning comedy The Night Before the Wedding (1940). From 1942 Howard was in World War II , for his service he received the Navy Cross and the French Croix de guerre .

When Howard returned to the film business after five years of abstinence, however, he could no longer build on earlier successes and had to be content with smaller roles. In the 1950s he hardly made any films, but switched to roles in television or the theater and found success there: Howard played a reporter in the male lead in 1953 in the Broadway comedy hit Hazel Flagg , and he also played the lead in the Doctor TV series Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal . From Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal was shot a total of 78 episodes between 1955 and 1957. Subsequently, his acting roles became more irregular, instead he taught English and drama at California's Highland Hall Waldorf School for over 20 years. In the 1960s he starred alongside his friend Fred MacMurray on the sitcom My Three Sons . He had his last acting role in 1978 in two episodes Detective Rockford - a call is enough .

John Howard was married to Eva Rolf from Germany, a former member of the Berlin State Ballet . They met in 1953 when he was starring in a play on Broadway. He and Eva had four children. He died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 81. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his film work .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1934: One Hour Late
  • 1935: Police car 99 (Car 99)
  • 1935: His last command (Annapolis Farewell)
  • 1936: The Second Mother (Valiant Is the Word for Carrie)
  • 1937: In the Shackles of Shangri-La (Lost Horizon)
  • 1937: The Black Widow's Revenge (Bulldog Drummond Comes Back)
  • 1937: Scotland Yard intervenes! (Bulldog Drummonds Revenge)
  • 1938: Bulldog Drummond's Peril
  • 1938: Scotland Yard on the wrong track (Bulldog Drummond in Africa)
  • 1939: Scotland Yard issues an arrest warrant (Arrest Bulldog Drummond)
  • 1939: Scotland Yard embarrasses itself (Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police)
  • 1939: Bulldog Drummond's Bride
  • 1940: The Texas Rangers Ride Again
  • 1940: The Night Before the Wedding (The Philadelphia Story)
  • 1940: The Invisible Woman (The Invisible Woman)
  • 1941: The Mad Doctor
  • 1941: Father Takes a Wife
  • 1942: Isle of Missing Men
  • 1942: The Undying Monster
  • 1947: Love from a Stranger
  • 1947–1951: Public Prosecutor (TV series, 12 episodes)
  • 1949: In the Last Second (The Fighting Kentuckian)
  • 1950: Radar Secret Service
  • 1954: The High and the Mighty (The High and the Mighty)
  • 1955–1957: Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal (TV series, 67 episodes)
  • 1958: Adventures of the Sea Hawk (TV series, 26 episodes)
  • 1960/1961: 77 Sunset Strip (TV series, two episodes)
  • 1962–1964: Perry Mason (TV series, 4 episodes)
  • 1965–1967: My Three Sons (TV series, 12 episodes)
  • 1971–1972: Three girls and three boys (TV series, 2 episodes)
  • 1974: So Evil, my Sister
  • 1975: Capone
  • 1978: Detective Rockford - Just give us a call (TV series, 2 episodes)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Project LATimes: George Howard
  2. ↑ John Howard in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
  3. ↑ John Howard at the Los Angeles Times
personal data
SURNAME Howard, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cox, John R. junior (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Cleveland , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1995
Place of death Santa Rosa , California