John Rollin Lupton[1] (August 23, 1928 – November 3, 1993) was an American film and televisionactor.
Early years
Lupton was the son of Adelma and Dorothy (née Marsh) Lupton.[2] He developed an interest in drama while he was a student at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wisconsin.[3] He pursued acting via an apprenticeship with a stock theater company in New York, and after graduating he toured with the Strawbridge Children's Theater Company.[2]
In 1959, John Lupton was cast as a struggling writer in The Rebel Set. That same year, he played the historical figure Buffalo Bill Cody in the episode "The Grand Duke" of the syndicatedanthology series, eath Valley Days. The episode revolves around the friendship that forms when the skeptical Buffalo Bill Cody was assigned by the United States Army to escort the Grand Duke of Russia on a buffalo hunt in the West. In 1961, John Lupton was cast in another episode of Death Valley Days titled "South of Horror Flats," where he portrayed Pinkerton agent Allen Hodges, who is hired by a ghost-plagued woman to assist her and her gold fortune in traveling to San Francisco.
On April 25, 1961, John Lupton portrayed Fred Powers in the episode "Killers' Odds" of NBC's Laramie. In this episode, series character Jess Harper, played by Robert Fuller, encounters Powers, a stranger with a bounty on his head due to a fraudulent charge, as he had killed in self-defense. In 1961, Lupton also took on the role of Dr. John "Buzz" Neldrum in the episode "A Doctor Comes to Town" of the comedy-drama Window on Main Street, which starred Robert Young as an author returning to his hometown after the loss of his wife and child. Additionally, Lupton guest-starred as Amber in the 1961 episode "The Platinum Highway" of ABC's crime drama Target: The Corruptors. He appeared in the 1965 episode "What Television Show Does Your Dog Watch?" of the CBSsitcomThe Cara Williams Show and also made an appearance on NBC's Daniel Boone
He was featured from 1967 to 1980 on the daytime soap operaDays of Our Lives in a central role Dr. Tom (Tommy) Horton Jr.
Walk of Fame
John Lupton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located on the west side of the 1700 block of Vine Street.[5]
Personal life
On April 7, 1956,[6] Lupton married Anne Sills, and they had a daughter, Rollin.[3] They divorced three years later, and on July 24, 1969, he wed Dian Friml in Las Vegas, Nevada,[7] to whom he was still married at the time of his death.
Death
Lupton died on November 3, 1993, aged 65.[1] His widow, Dian, died of cancer in 2005, aged 69.[8] He was cremated, with his family receiving his ashes.[1]