Harry Rhett Townes (September 18, 1914 – May 23, 2001)[1] was an American actor who later became an Episcopalian minister.
Early life
Harry Townes was born in Huntsville, Alabama. the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Townes. He had a brother and a sister. He graduated from Huntsville High School,[2] and while attending the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, began landing acting roles. Upon graduation, he moved to New York City to study acting at Columbia University.[3]
Career
Townes performed in several New York and Broadway stage productions, including summer stock. His Broadway credits include In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer (1968), Gramercy Ghost (1950), Twelfth Night (1949), Mr. Sycamore (1942), and Tobacco Road (1942).[4]
During World War II, he served three years in the United States Army. Discharged in 1946, he enrolled at Columbia University to study drama.[2]
As a character actor, Townes was a familiar face to television viewers in the 1950s and 1960s. His expanded range led him to fill a variety of roles, and he avoided being typecast. He made five guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of title character Newton Bain in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Woeful Widower." He also made three appearances on Bonanza and seven on Gunsmoke and in The Fugitive. He made single and double appearances on numerous other television series, including in Star Trek: The Original Series. Besides appearing in 29 films, he is credited with more than 200 television roles. He gained a cult following with a younger audience for a guest shot on "The First", a two-part episode of The Incredible Hulk, in which he portrays Dell Frye, a man with the ability to transform as well into a Hulk-like creature. "The First" is one of the more popular episodes from the television series largely because of Townes' performance[5]
Later years and death
While he was acting, Townes took philosophy classes at UCLA and studied for the ministry at Bishop Bloy School of Theology in Los Angeles. His ordination as a deacon came in 1973 at St. Paul's Cathedral in Los Angeles.[6] He was ordained as an Episcopal minister in St. Paul's Cathedral on March 16, 1974. He served at St. Mary of the Angels Church in Hollywood. He retired from acting in 1989 and returned to his hometown of Huntsville, where he lived the remainder of his life.[citation needed]
On May 23, 2001, Townes died at his home in Huntsville at the age of 86,[7] and his body was interred at Maple Hill Cemetery, also in Huntsville.
Gunsmoke (1956–1971, TV Series) - Hale Parker / Malachi Harper / Abihu Howell / Tobe Hostater / Pezzy / Ivy / Bill Lee
Mannix (1970-1972, TV Series) - Wilkerson / Martin Kimbrough
Kung Fu (1973, TV Series, playing the same type role he played in the 1969 Bonanza episode, that of an American Civil War Rebel soldier, who, after the war, is still filled with hurt and resentment about the loss to the North) - Amos Buchanan
^"Harry Townes: Biography", Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, New York, N.Y. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
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