Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor. He played Sonny Pruit in Movin' On, a 1974–1976 American drama series about a trucking team, Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series, and a variety of other film and television roles.
Early years
Akins was born in Nelson, Georgia, and grew up in Bedford, Indiana, the son of Maude and Ernest Akins.[2] Although film reference books gave his age at death as 75, Akins' son said his father was born in 1926,[3] which is supported by public records.[4][5][3][6] He was part Cherokee.[2][7]
Akins was signed up by talent agent Meyer Mishkin and became one of "Meyer Mishkin's Band of Uglies," a group of character actors represented by Mishkin that included Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jeff Chandler, James Coburn, Michael Ansara and Chuck Connors. He later recounted that early in his career demands were made on actors in low-budget movies that included doing their own stunts to save money. As a result, Akins once was run over by a wagon in one western.[10]
Akins appeared in Porgy and Bess (1959) and went on to portray Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman in The Devil's Brigade, the Reverend Jeremiah Brown in the movie Inherit the Wind (1960), outlaw Ben Lane in Comanche Station that same year. He was featured in Sam Fuller's 1962 film Merrill's Marauders, receiving critical acclaim for his performance as a hard-bitten, weary soldier, especially for a scene in which his unit rests for a short while in a Burmese village. Kolowicz is fed a bowl of rice by an elderly women and weeps. Writing in his memoir A Third Face, Fuller said it was "one of the scenes I'm most proud of," and that whenever he sees it he bursts into tears.[11]
Akins played a rodeo clown convicted of armed robbery in "Killer on Horseback", an episode of the NBC anthology series Star Stage, which became the pilot episode for the syndicatedpolice dramaState Trooper, starring Rod Cameron. The episode was later broadcast on the regular series as "Rodeo Rough House". Akins also appeared in the 1963 episode "The Chooser of the Slain" on the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series, The Dakotas.
Among Akins's four appearances on NBC's Laramie with series stars John Smith and Robert Fuller was the role of former Sheriff Jim Dark in the episode "Queen of Diamonds" (September 20, 1960).
Akins's other early appearances included a role as a policeman on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in "Place of Shadows" (1956) and "Reward to Finder" (1957). He played another television cop, good-natured Sheriff's Detective Phillip Dix, in the first season of the Perry Mason in "The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife" (episode 1-26) that aired March 15, 1958. He was in a first-season episode of Maverick titled "Burial Ground of the Gods" (1958) that starred Jack Kelly. In 1965, Akins played El Supremo in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." episode, "The Very Important Zombie Affair". In 1967, Akins played Lt. Finch in The Lucy Show episode, "Lucy Meets the Law".
He portrayed prosecuting attorney Calvin Wolf opposite Carl Betz in an episode of Judd, for the Defense.
Akins was cast as Lou Myerson in the 1964 episode, "One Monday Afternoon", of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus, and as Dr. Roy Kirk in an episode, "When Do They Hang the Good Samaritan?", of the CBS political drama, Slattery's People (which starred Richard Crenna). He played a kidnapper in a 1964 episode of The Fugitive. In 1965, he was featured in an episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre, playing a German infiltrator who went unsuspected. Also that year, Akins portrayed the head of an Irish immigrant family in The Big Valley ("The Brawlers"). Akins had an earlier role in the first season of Barnaby Jones; episode titled "Murder Go-Round".
Before his signature character Sheriff Lobo, Akins appeared as owner-operator trucker Sonny Pruitt in NBC's Movin' On, from 1974 to 1976, with Frank Converse. Akins starred in over 40 episodes of Movin' On, plus a made-for-TV movie "In Tandem". He also starred as a Nashville police detective, Stoney Huff, in the crime drama Nashville 99. Akins' best-known role of Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo had begun as a recurring character on the television series B.J. and the Bear. After becoming a recognizable name in the late 1970s, Akins did testimonial TV commercials for PoliGrip, Rollins Truck Leasing, and AAMCO Transmissions.
Akins found work in the late 1980s lending his voice talents to the work safety instructional video series, Safety Shorts, in which he expounded on the virtues of workplace safety to thousands of industrial employees, offering lessons on the importance of lockout/tagout procedures, personal protective equipment, and the MSDS documentation process. Akins made a golfing video with Ron Masak, entitled Tom Kite and Friends.
Akins died of stomach cancer in Altadena, California, on January 27, 1994, at the age of 67. In May 1993, he lost half his stomach in cancer surgery.[3] He was cremated and his ashes were returned to Altadena.[12]
Legacy
Akins told an interviewer in 1987 that he felt "like an outsider in a business I have been a part of for 37 years. For some reason, Hollywood’s mainstream has eluded me." Said Akins: “A guy who looks like Robert Redford will most often be cast as a hero. A guy like me or Ernie Borgnine plays a lot of heavies. If you’re big, they think you’re tough. And if you’re tough, they think you’re dumb.”[2]
The Claude Akins Memorial Golf Classic, a six-person scramble-format golf tournament, takes place at Otis Park Golf Course in Bedford, Indiana, in August or September of each year.
Proceeds from the event go to the Akins Scholarship and the Bedford Recreation Foundation Scholarship, given every year to a graduating senior at Bedford North Lawrence High School, as well as many projects involving recreation and improvements.[13]
In 1986, Akins attended the 55th annual American Indian Exposition in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Akins, who was part Cherokee, was a guest speaker and received the Outstanding Indian/Native American of the Year Award.[7]
The Untouchables- episodes The Unhired Assassin part 1 as Jake "Dodo" Ryan (1960), The Monkey Wrench as Karl Hansa (1962), The Spoiler as Vince Majesky (1963)
Laramie - episode "Death Wind", s1 ep20 - Sergeant Major Tom Cole (1960)
Pony Express - episode "The Story of Juiesberg" (1960)
Overland Trail - episode "Fire in the Hole" - Jumbo (1960)
The Rebel – episode "The Waiting" – Tom Hall (1960)
Wagon Train - episode "The Roger Bigelow Story" - Wes Varney (1960)
Riverboat - episode "Duel on the River" - Beaudry Rawlins (1960)
Rawhide (1960) – Jim Lark in S2:E13, "Incident of the Druid Curse"
Bonanza - episodes "Desert Justice" (1960) as Marshal Emmett Dowd, "The Mill" (1960) as Ezekiel (1960), "Sam Hill" (1961) as Sam Hill and "The Deserter" (1962) as Colonel Edward J. Dunwoody
Branded - episode "Vindicator" - Ned Travis (1965)
Hazel - episode "But Is It Art?" - Milwaukee Ames (1966)
Combat! - episodes "Ask Me No Questions" as Mastin, "Ollie Joe" as Charlie Pelton and "Nightmare on the Red Ball Run" as Rosie (1966–1967)
Laredo - episodes "Limit of the Law", "The Treasure of San Diablo", "Hey Diddle Diddle", "A Question of Guilt", and "Walk Softly" - Cotton Buckmeister (1966–1967)
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