Eddie Quillan

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Edward Eddie Quillan March 31 1907 July 19 1990 was an American film actor whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s Quillans very first film appearance was in the 1922 comedy short Up and at Em His next performance was in the 1926 comedy short The Love Sundae opposite actress Alice Day Quillan would remain a popular leading and secondary actor throughout the sound film era and would appear in such notable films as 1935s Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone 1939s Young Mr Lincoln opposite Henry Fonda and Alice Brady as Connie Rivers in John Fords 1940 film adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath opposite Henry Fonda in 1943s Alaska Highway and It Aint Hay opposite the comedic duo Abbott and Costello Quillans breezy screen personality was seen in B musicals comedies and even serials during the 1940s In 1948 Columbia Pictures producer Jules White teamed Quillan with veteran movie comic Wally Vernon for a series of comedy short subjects White emphasized extreme physical comedy in these films and Vernon and Quillan made a good team enthusiastically engaging in pratfalling kickinthepants slapstick The series ran through 1956 Beginning in the late 1950s Quillan began to make the transition to the medium of television and by the 1960s could be seen frequently appearing as a guest actor in such series as The Andy Griffith Show Petticoat Junction Perry Mason and approximately five appearances on the camphorror comedy series The Addams Family He was a regular on the Anthony Franciosa sitcom Valentines Day from 1964 to 1965 and from 1968 through 1971 he appeared as Eddie Edson on the television drama Julia opposite actress Diahann Carroll Through the 1950s and 1960s Quillan continued to appear in motion pictures but in increasingly smaller roles and often in bit parts One notable appearance of the era was his role of Sandy in the 1954 Vincente Minnelli directed musical Brigadoon Quillan also appeared in the uncredited role of MrCassidy in the 1969 Gene Kelly film adaptation of Hello Dolly Quillan appeared in My Three Sons as Mr Hewlett 1961 and also appeared on the western television adventure series The Rifleman as Angus Evans In the 1970s Quillan made guest appearances on such varied television series as Mannix Heres Lucy Chico and the Man and Baretta After meeting and befriending actor and director Michael Landon he played numerous bit roles in the popular television series Little House on the Prairie Quillan also performed in the Landondirected series Highway to Heaven and Father Murphy during the 1980s Quillan made his last television appearance in a 1987 episode of the television crimemystery series Matlock