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Michael Pate
Michael Pate
	Pate, circa 1938
Born	Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920; Drummoyne, New South Wales, Australia
Died	1 September 2008 (aged 88); Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations	Actor; director; screenwriter;
Years active	1940–1996
Spouse	Felippa Rock (m. 1951)
Children	Christopher Pate

Michael Pate OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked prolifically as a supporting actor in Hollywood films and American Television during the 1950s and 1960s.

Biography

Early life

Pate was born in Drummoyne, New South Wales, and attended Fort Street High School.^[1] Initially interested in becoming a medical missionary, but unable to afford the university fees due to the Depression,^[2] he worked in Sydney before 1938, when he became a writer and broadcaster for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, collaborating with George Ivan Smith on Youth Speaks. For the remainder of the 1930s, he worked primarily in radio drama. He also published theatrical and literary criticism and enjoyed brief success as an author of short stories, publishing works in both Australia and the United States.

World War II

During World War II, Pate served in the Australian Army in the South West Pacific Area. He was transferred to the 1st Australian Army Amenities Entertainment Unit, known as "The Islanders", entertaining Australian troops in various combat areas.

Australian acting career

After the war, Pate returned to radio, appearing in many plays and serials. Between 1946 and 1950 he began working in films. In 1949 he appeared in his first leading role in Sons of Matthew. In 1950, he appeared in Bitter Springs with Tommy Trinder and Chips Rafferty. That same year Pate also adapted, produced, and directed two plays: Dark of the Moon and Bonaventure.

Hollywood, 1950s–1960s

Later in 1950 he travelled to the United States to appear in a film adaptation of Bonaventure for Universal Pictures, which was released in 1951 as Thunder on the Hill, starring Claudette Colbert and Ann Blyth. Pate spent most of the remainder of the 1950s in the United States, appearing in over 300 television shows and films. Most notable among those was a 1954 Climax! live production of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, in which Pate played the role of "Clarence Leiter", opposite Barry Nelson's "Jimmy Bond". On the big screen, he played the one-scene role of Flavius in Julius Caesar, the 1953 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. In the same year he played for the first time the Apache chief Victorio, a role he would reprise several times in his career, in Australian director John Farrow's western Hondo playing opposite John Wayne. Pate later said that this was his favourite film role. He also went on to perform many Native American roles in movies and on television. In 1956 he appeared in the film The Court Jester, and three years later he played the lead role of a gunfighting vampire in the horror film Curse of the Undead. He played parts as well in episodes 27 and 28 of the 1957 television series Zorro along with Guy Williams. Pate in 1963 played the role of Puma, the Comanche chief in Andrew V. McLaglen's western McLintock!, again playing opposite John Wayne.

During his time in the United States, Pate became an acting instructor and lecturer, and wrote many screenplays and plays for American films and television series, including Rawhide ("Incident of the Power and the Plow" with Dick Van Patten) and Most Dangerous Man Alive ("The Steel Monster"). In 1959, he returned briefly to Australia, where he starred in a television presentation of Tragedy in a Temporary Town, shown as part of the Shell Presents anthology drama series.^[3] After that project he returned to the United States for another eight years, during which time he enjoyed a successful career as a television character actor, appearing repeatedly on programs such as Gunsmoke, Sugarfoot, The Texan, The Rifleman, Maverick (S4 Ep23),Branded ("Call to Glory"), Daniel Boone, The Virginian, Perry Mason ("The Case of the Skeleton's Closet" and "The Case of the Wednesday Woman"), Batman (episodes 45 "The Clock King's Crazy Crimes" and 46 "The Clock King Gets Crowned"), Mission: Impossible ("Trek"), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Foreign Legion Affair"), Get Smart, Rawhide ("Incident of the Power and the Plow", "Incident at Superstition Prairie", "Incident of the Boomerang", and others), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("The Traitor"), and Wagon Train. In the 1963 movie PT 109, he played the part of Arthur Reginald Evans, the Australian coast watcher who helped rescue John F. Kennedy and his crew. That role was of the few occasions when Pate played an Australian while working in the United States, others including Four Star Playhouse ("The Firing Squad"), 77 Sunset Strip ("The Down-Under Caper"), and Rawhide ("Incident of the Boomerang", for which he also wrote the story-line).

Return to Australia, 1968

In 1968, Pate returned to Australia and became a television producer, winning two Logie Awards while working at the Seven Network.^[4] In 1970, he published a textbook on acting, The Film Actor.^[5] From 1971 to 1975 he starred as Detective Senior Sergeant Vic Maddern in Matlock Police. After leaving Matlock Police, Pate began working more behind the camera, continuing to work too in theatre in both Sydney and Melbourne. In 1977 he wrote and produced The Mango Tree, starring his son Christopher Pate. In 1979 he adapted the screenplay for Tim from the novel by Colleen McCullough, as well as producing and directing the film, which starred Piper Laurie and Mel Gibson. Pate won the Best Screenplay Award from the Australian Writers Guild for his adaptation.^[6]

His film appearances in the 1970s and 1980s included Mad Dog Morgan (1976), introduction in the biopic The Battle of Broken Hill (1981), Duet for Four (1982), The Wild Duck (1984), Death of a Soldier (1986), and Howling III (1987). Pate also appeared as the President of the United States in The Return of Captain Invincible (1982), in which he sings "What the World Needs", a song calling for the return of Captain Invincible to save the world. Additionally, Pate made a television appearance in the updated version of Mission: Impossible (1989). During the early 1980s Pate also collaborated with his son Christopher in a successful stage production of Mass Appeal at the Sydney Opera House.

Personal life

In 1951, Pate married Felippa Rock, daughter of American film producer Joe Rock. The couple had a son, Christopher Pate, also an actor, along with a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.^{[citation needed]}

Although Michael Pate retired from acting in 2001, he remained busy with voiceover work; and he was writing a screenplay at the time of his death. He died at the age of 88 at Gosford Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, on 1 September 2008.^[1]

Partial filmography

Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940) as Arab Carpet Seller / Arab Customer / Sikh Policeman (uncredited)
Sons of Matthew (1949) as Shane O'Riordan
Bitter Springs (1950) as Trooper
Thunder on the Hill (1951) as Willie (also screenplay)
Ten Tall Men (1951) as Browning
The Strange Door (1951) as Talon
5 Fingers (1952) as Morrison (uncredited)
Face to Face (Part 1, 1952) as Leggatt ("The Secret Sharer")
The Black Castle (1952) as Count Ernst von Melcher
Target Hong Kong (1953) as Dockery Pete Gresham
Rogue's March (1953) as Crane
The Desert Rats (1953) as Capt. Currie (uncredited)
Julius Caesar (1953) as Flavius
Scandal at Scourie (1953) as Rev. Williams
The Maze (1953) as William
Houdini (1953) as Dooley
The Royal African Rifles (1953) as Cunningham
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) as Varde, Second Mate
Hondo (1953) as Vittoro - Chiricahua Apache Chief
El Alamein (1953) as Sgt. McQueen
Secret of the Incas (1954) as Pachacutec
King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) as Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat
The Silver Chalice (1954) as Aaron Ben Joseph
A Lawless Street (1955) as Harley Baskam
The Court Jester (1955) as Sir Locksley
The Killer is Loose (1956) as Detective Chris Gillespie
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956) as Harry Adkins
Congo Crossing (1956) as Bart O'Connell
Reprisal! (1956) as Bert Shipley
7th Cavalry (1956) as Capt. Benteen
Something of Value (1957) as A Farmer - Joe Matson
The Oklahoman (1957) as Charlie Smith
The Tall Stranger (1957) as Charley
Desert Hell (1958) as Ahitagel
Wanted Dead or Alive
Hong Kong Confidential (1958) as John Blanchard
Westbound (1959) as Mace
Green Mansions (1959) as Priest
Curse of the Undead (1959) as Drake Robey / Don Drago Robles
Walk Like a Dragon (1960) as Rev. Will Allen
The Canadians (1961) as Chief Four Horns (uncredited)
Sergeants Three (1962) as Watanka
Beauty and the Beast (1962) as Bruno
Tower of London (1962) as Sir Ratcliffe
California (1963) as Don Francisco Hernandez
Drums of Africa (1963) as Viledo
PT 109 (1963) as Lt. Reginald Evans^[7]
McLintock! (1963) as Puma
Advance to the Rear (1964) as Thin Elk
Major Dundee (1965) as Sierra Charriba
Brainstorm (1965) as Dr. Mills
The Great Sioux Massacre (1965) as Sitting Bull
The Singing Nun (1966) as Mr. Arlien
Return of the Gunfighter (1967) as Frank Boone
Little Jungle Boy (1971) as The Sultan
Mad Dog Morgan (1976) as Superintendent Winch
Tim (1981) (also screenplay, director, producer)
The Battle of Broken Hill (1981) as Himself - Narrator
The Mango Tree (1982) (writer, producer only)
Duet for Four (1982) as Al Geisman
The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) as President
The Wild Duck (1984) as Wardle
The Camel Boy (1984) (voice)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1986) as Injun Joe (voice)
Death of a Soldier (1986) as Maj. Gen. Sutherland
The Howling III (1987) as President
A Dangerous Life (1988) as Stephen W. Bosworth

Television

The Lone Wolf (1954) as Suva Polege/Dr. Bill Roche
You Are There (1953/1955) as Brutus
Schlitz Playhouse (1954/1955)
Four Star Playhouse (1955) as Sgt. Gibbons
Passport to Danger (1956)
Conflict (1956)
Broken Arrow (1956) as Gokliya
Soldiers of Fortune (1956) as Salom
Wire Service (1957) as Edward Lansing
The Millionaire (1957) as Mark Jason
The Adventures of McGraw (1957) as Blake
Gunsmoke (1957) as Locke
The O. Henry Playhouse (1957)
The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1957) as First Officer
Goodyear Theatre (1957) as Jim Witcher
The Californians (1958) as Don Manuel Guzman
Zorro (1958) as Salvador Quintana
The Frank Sinatra Show (1958) as Paul Dupres
Climax! (1954/1958) as Wilcher/Eddie/Bert Landon
The Silent Service (1958) as Australian Commando Dennis
Sugarfoot (1958) as Ross Garrett
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1959) as Sleeping Dog
The Third Man as Nick Boles
Black Saddle as Garnie Starrit
Wanted: Dead or Alive as Victorio/Captain Manuel Herrera
Markham (1959) as Largo
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1959) as Howard
Gunsmoke (1959) as Indians Wild Hog & Blue Horse (latter the title character)
Grand Jury (1959) as Freeman
The Detectives (1960) as Lyman
Law of the Plainsman (1960) as 'Gentleman' Frank Deegan
The Texan (1958/1960) as George Brandon/Emory
Wichita Town (1960) as Kotana
Men Into Space (1960) as Dr. Morrow
The Islanders (1960) as Moribus
Zane Grey Theater (1956-1960) as Gunman/Deputy Charlie Spawn/Miguel/Geronimo
Michael Shayne (1960) as Leo Gannet
Hawaiian Eye (1960) as Joe Gordon
General Electric Theater (1961) as Dick Rogers
Adventures in Paradise (1961) as Andre Villard
Maverick (1961) as Chet Whitehead
Thriller (1961) as Shanner
The Tall Man (1961) as Harry Young
The Roaring 20's (1961) as Frankie Delain
Acapulco (1961) as George Jamison
Peter Gunn (1961) as Juan Mendoza
Follow the Sun (1961) as T.J. Conlon
Lawman (1961) as King Harris
Frontier Circus (1961) as Michael Smith
Tales of Wells Fargo (1960-1961) as Hogan/Paul Jennings Kalo
Laramie (1960-1962) as Governor Loren Corteen/Quinto/Toriano
Have Gun - Will Travel (1957-1962) as Miguel Rojas/Chief Tamasun (twice)
77 Sunset Strip (1962) as Reggie Waddick/Nicky Madrid-Andrew Cornell
The Rifleman (1958-1962) as Xavier Escobar/Brad Davis/Pete Morgan/Mogollan/Sanchez
Route 66 (1962) as Phillip Tager
The Beachcomber (1962) as Ricardo Selas
Cheyenne (1957-1962) as Strongbow/Col. Rissot/Chato
Ripcord (1962)
Rawhide (1959-1964) as Taslatch/Mitla/Sankeno/Richard Goffage/Running Horse
Rawhide (1961) – Richard Goffage in S3:E20, "Incident of the Boomerang"
Glynis (1963) as Wellman
The Dakotas (1963) as Hal Regis
Perry Mason (1963-1964) as Richard Harris/Jack Mallory
Temple Houston (1964) as Nat Cramer
Gunsmoke (1957-1964) as Locke/Wild Hog/Blue Horse/Buffalo Calf
Profiles in Courage (1965) as John Wilson
Lassie (1965) as Eddie Burch
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964-1965) as Hare/Stephen Leslie
Kraft Suspense Theatre (1965) as Johnny Slato
Wagon Train (1958-1965) as Yellow Robe/Crazy Bear
Burke's Law (1965) as Kauffman
Get Smart (1965) as Naharana
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1966) as Lucienne Bey
Honey West (1966) as Darza
Branded (1966) as Chief Crazy Horse
Daktari (1966) as Patrick Boyle Connors
Daniel Boone (1964-1966) as Pushta/Raaccuwan
Batman (1966) as Second Hand Three
The Wild Wild West (1966) as Bledsoe
Death Valley Days (1962-1966) as Roy Anthony/Two Horses/Augustine Chacon/Chief Hastele/Frenchy Godey/Horace Stoner
The Magical World of Disney (1967) as Capt. Blazer
The Time Tunnel (1966-1967) as Capt. Hotchkiss/Captain
Rango (1967) as Burning Arrow
The Road West (1967) as Deacon
The Rat Patrol (1967) as Sheik
Tarzan (1967) as Griggs/Findley
Mission: Impossible (1967) as General Diaz
Hondo (1967) as Chief Vittoro
Maya (1968) as Matt Collins
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968) as Colonel/Hamid/Gelid
Riptide (1969) as Wes Lowry/Capt. Bonner
The Virginian (1963-1970) as Mike McGoff/Alf
Homicide (1970) as Harold Barrett
Delta (1970) as Leo Falstone-Green
The Long Arm (1970) as David Martin
Division 4 (1970) as Vic Delaney
The Box (1974) as Narrator
Matlock Police (1971-1975) as Det. Sgt. Vic Maddern
Cash and Company (1975) as Jacob Striker
Power Without Glory (1976) as Dr. Malone/Archbishop Malone
Mission: Impossible (1989) as Luis Berezan