John Crawford

Burly handsome and rugged character actor John Crawford appeared in over 200 movies and TV shows combined in a career that spanned over 40 years usually cast as tough andor villainous characters Crawford was born Cleve Richardson on September 13 1920 in Colfax Washington He was discovered by a Warner Bros scout while attending the University of Washingtons School of Drama Although he failed his screen test Crawford nonetheless joined RKO as a laborer He then got a job building sets at Circle Theater in Los Angeles and eventually persuaded the producers to cast him in some of their plays He was soon signed to Columbia Pictures to act in secondary roles in westerns In the late 1950s he graduated to bigger parts in such films as Ordre de tuer  1958 La clé 1958 and Un homme pour le bagne 1960 all of which were made in the UK Crawford returned to America in the early 1960s and began a prolific career in both movies and TV series up until 1986 His most memorable film roles include the illfated chief engineer inLaventure du Poséidon 1972 the hearty Tom Iverson in La fugue 1975 the bumbling mayor of San Francisco in Linspecteur ne renonce jamais 1976 hardnosed police chief Buzz Cavanaugh in Un couple en fuite 1977 and amiable old mine hand Brian Deerling in The Boogens 1981 John had recurring parts as Sheriff Ep Bridges inLa famille des collines 1971 and Capt Parks on Sergent Anderson 1974 Among the many TV shows he made guest appearances in are The Lone Ranger 1949 Superman1952 Les espions 1965 La quatrième dimension 1959 Les incorruptibles 1959La grande caravane 1957 Le fugitif 1963 Star Trek 1966 Perdus dans lespace1965 Bonanza 1959 Stalag 13 1965 Mission impossible 1966 Gunsmoke1955 Super Jaimie 1976 Dallas 1978 and Dynastie 1981 Crawford died at age 90 following complications from a stroke on September 21 2010 in Thousand Oaks California Hes survived by his exwife Ann Wakefield four daughters and two grandchildren IMDb Mini Biography