Paul Birch (actor)
Paul Birch (born January 13, 1912 in Atmore , Alabama as Paul Lowery Smith ; † May 24, 1969 in St. George’s , Grenada ) was an American actor .
life and career
After studying at Auburn University , Paul Birch became a stage actor and was a member of the Pasadena Playhouse for many years . On Broadway in the mid-1950s, he starred in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial , an adaptation of Herman Wouk's bestseller The Caine Was Her Fate .
Paul Birch appeared in Hollywood films as early as the mid-1940s, but it took another ten years before he moved from statistic-like appearances to more rewarding supporting roles. He had a small, uncredited appearance in the classic film ... because you don't know what you do as a police officer. However, his roles in westerns and science fiction films made him better known , the latter often being directed or produced by Roger Corman . In Corman's cheaply produced envoy of horror , for example, in 1957 he was allowed to play one of his few leading roles as a melancholy extraterrestrial. During the shoot, however, there was a fight with Corman, so that there were no further collaborations later. In westerns, he played mostly authority characters such as judges ( two rode together ), sheriffs ( the first bullet hits ) and mayors ( the man who shot Liberty Valance ).
On television, the brawny, dark-haired Birch starred in the 1950s in the series The Court of Last Resort (in which he played the writer Erle Stanley Gardner ) and Cannonball (in which he and William Campbell played truck drivers) , but both series ran for no more than a year. Between 1963 and 1965 he had a recurring supporting role as Captain Carpenter, the supervisor of Lieutenant Gerard played by Barry Morse in the successful series Auf der Flucht . In addition, Birch made guest appearances in episodes of series classics such as Bonanza , Smoking Colts , Perry Mason , My Three Sons and Maverick . He played several times for television series the opposing Civil War generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee , to whom he had a certain similarity.
Paul Birch died of cancer in Grenada in May 1969 at the age of 57. He was married twice and had four children, and his grandson Ned Luke is also an actor.
Filmography (selection)
- 1945: Man without a Heart (Adventure)
- 1946: Till the End of Time
- 1949: The Third Man (The Third Man)
- 1953: War of the Worlds (The War of the Worlds)
- 1954: Ride with the Devil (Ride Clear of Diablo)
- 1954: Queen of the Mountains (Cattle Queen of Missouri)
- 1955: The last seven (Day the World Ended)
- 1955: The Beast with a Million Eyes
- 1955: Five revolvers go west (Five Guns West)
- 1955: With a fist as hard as steel (Man Without a Star)
- 1955: ... because they don't know what they're doing (Rebel Without a Cause)
- 1955: From the Life of a Doctor (Strange Lady in Town)
- 1956: The Fastest Gun Alive (The Fastest Gun Alive)
- 1957: Envoy of Horror (Not of This Earth)
- 1957: Lindbergh - My flight over the ocean (The Spirit of St. Louis)
- 1957: The 27th Day
- 1957–1958: The Court of Last Resort (TV series, 23 episodes)
- 1958: Duel at dawn (Gunman's Walk)
- 1958: In the claws of Venus (Queen of Outer Space)
- 1958: Dashed the bill (The Gun Runners)
- 1958–1959: Cannonball (TV series, 46 episodes)
- 1960: The Secret of the Lady in Black (Portrait in Black)
- 1960: The Dark on Top of the Stairs
- 1961: Two Rode Together (Two Rode Together)
- 1962: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)
- 1963: A totally, totally crazy world (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World)
- 1963–1965: On the run ( The Fugitive ; TV series, 13 episodes)
- 1965: The Glory Guys (The Glory Guys)
- 1966: Whenever He Smelled Dollars (Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round)
- 1967: Arkansas Murder Burners (Welcome to Hard Times)
Web links
- Paul Birch in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 31 Dec 1969, Page 61 - Independent Star-News at Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 28, 2019 .
- ^ Paul Birch - Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB. Retrieved July 28, 2019 .
- ^ Paul Birch | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved July 28, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Paul Birch. Retrieved July 28, 2019 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Birch, Paul |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Paul Lowery (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-American actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 13, 1912 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Atmore , Alabama |
DATE OF DEATH | May 24, 1969 |
Place of death | St. George’s , Grenada |