Jack Orrison

Jack Orrison
Jack Orrison on The Plainclothesman
BornOctober 12, 1909
Victor, Colorado, U.S.
DiedJune 3, 1986(1986-06-03) (aged 76)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active1937–1968
Spouse
Margaret K. Smith
​
(m. 1937)​

Jack Orrison (October 12, 1909 – June 3, 1986) was an American actor and script writer who worked in radio, television and films. He is best known for his acting roles in The Plainclothesman[1] and I Married a Monster from Outer Space. Orrison was born in Victor, Colorado, but moved to other cities to work in the field of entertainment. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II.[2]

Early life

Jack Huffaker Orrison was born October 12, 1909, in Victor, Colorado, the son of Peter Kemp Orrison and Lena Mable Smiley Orrison.[3] He attended the University of Denver[4] for three years.[2]

Orrison moved to Denver, Colorado to work at radio station KOA. In 1937 he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to work at radio station KDKA, where he was both a writer and actor in the comedy radio series Adam and Eve. His costar was Margaret K. Smith,[5] whom he met at the University of Denver. Orrison and Smith were married on November 20, 1937, at the home of KDKA manager A. E. Nelson.[4] The marriage license lists the occupation of both spouses as "Radio Script writer".[6]

Besides being heard on Adam and Eve Orrison acted in the KDKA radio series Under Western Skies, starting on November 10, 1937. From January 26, 1938, to May 10, 1938, the western series was heard on the NBC Blue Network before reverting to a local series, until leaving the air in 1939.[7]

On February 15, 1939, Orrison resigned from KDKA radio to move to New York City.[8] A 1942 Billboard article stated that he was one of the American Federation of Radio Artists members who’d entered military service.[9]

Post-World War II acting career

Orrison's post-war acting work included being added to the cast of the CBS radio serial Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters.[10] He was also in an episode of the 1948 radio series Call the Police.[11]

From 1949 to 1954 Orrison played Sergeant Brady in The Plainclothesman on the DuMont Television Network. This was a police procedural drama, seen through the eyes of an unnamed lieutenant. With exception to one flashback segment, the lieutenant was never seen, leaving Orrison's Sergeant Brady as the only character viewers saw each week.[12]

From 1949 to 1951 he appeared on six episodes of DuMont's Captain Video and His Video Rangers as Commissioner of Public Safety Bell.[13]

Orrison continued to work in radio, and from 1955 to 1957 he was heard on six episodes of X Minus One.[14] He was on episodes of John Steele, Adventurer (1949) and Gang Busters (1955).

Film roles include Detective in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Haskins in Wolf Larsen (1958),[15] Officer Schultz in I Married a Monster From Outer Space (1958),[16] Osborne in Never Steal Anything Small (1959), Police Clerk in Al Capone (1959),[17] Editor in The Second Time Around (1961), Dr. Creston in Wild in the Country (1961),[18] and Bartender in Move Over, Darling (1963).[19]

Orrison played William Vedder in the 1959 Hawaiian Eye episode Cloud Over Koala;[20] Shopkeeper in the 1961 Gunsmoke episode The Squaw;[21] Warren Bullard in the unsold TV pilot Down Home, shown in 1965 on the CBS summer series Vacation Playhouse;[22] and Mr. Butcher in the 1967 The Wild Wild West episode The Night of the Bogus Bandits.

Death

Orrison died on June 3, 1986, in Los Angeles, California. He was 76 years old.[23]

References

  1. ^ Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 – Present (Seventh Edition), Ballantine Books, 1999, pages 809 and 810
  2. ^ a b Military Records
  3. ^ 1910 U.S. Census, Colorado, Teller County, Victor Ward 3, Sheet A113
  4. ^ a b Radio Team Plans to Wed Saturday, Pittsburgh Press, November 17, 1937, page 1
  5. ^ Pittsburgh Sun-Telegram, June 12, 1938
  6. ^ Westmoreland Co., PA Marriage License Docket No. 56, page 125
  7. ^ Jack French and David S. Siegel, Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967, page 195, McFarland, 2013
  8. ^ KDKA Pittsburgh, NBC Transmitter, March, 1939, page 16
  9. ^ Radio Actors; Amateurs Flock to Nets for Jobs; See No Shortage, Billboard, April 4, 1942 New York
  10. ^ From the Production Centers in New York City, Variety, March 12, 1947, page 42
  11. ^ Billboard, June 12, 1948, page 12
  12. ^ David Weinsten, The Forgotten Network DuMont and the Birth of American Television, Temple University Press, 2004, pages138 to 146.
  13. ^ Who’s Who in Show Business, page 80, Who’s Who in Show Business, Inc., 1951
  14. ^ Martin Grams, Radio Drama: A Comprehensive Chronicle of American Network Programs, 1932 - 1962, page 526, McFarland, 2000
  15. ^ Thomas S. Hischak, American Literature on Stage and Screen, page 209, McFarland, 2014
  16. ^ R. G. Young, The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film: Ali Baba to Zombies, page 301, Applause, 2000
  17. ^ Alan Gevinson, Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911 - 1960, page 57, University of California Press, 1997
  18. ^ James L. Neibaur The Elvis Movies, page 71, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014
  19. ^ John Howard Reid, Cinemascope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge, page 170, Lulu, 2006
  20. ^ Gianakos, Larry, Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1959-1975, Volume 2, page 255, Scarecrow Press, 1978
  21. ^ Lentz, Harris M., Television Westerns Episode Guide: All United States Series, 1949 - 1996, page 174, McFarland & Company, 1997
  22. ^ Vincent Terrace, Encyclopedia of Television Pilots: 2,470 Films Broadcast 1937-2019, page 665, McFarland, 2019
  23. ^ Funeral Announcements, The Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1986, page 10J
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