Leif Erickson

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Leif Erickson born William Wycliffe Anderson was an American stage film and television actor Erickson was born in Alameda California near San Francisco He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player performed in Max Reinhardts productions and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit he served as a military photographer shooting film in combat zones and as an instructor He was shot down twice in the Pacific as well as receiving two Purple Hearts Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2 1945 Over four years service he shot more than 200000 feet of film for the Navy Ericksons first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels He would go on to appears in films such as The Snake Pit Sorry Wrong Number Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd Invaders from Mars On the Waterfront A Gathering of Eagles Roustabout The Carpetbaggers and Mirage One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerrs macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy He appeared with Greta Garbo as her brother in Conquest 1937 He played the role of Pete the vindictive boat engineer in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilights Last Gleaming 1977 Erickson appeared frequently on television he was cast as Dr Hillyer in Consider Her Ways 1964 and as Paul White in The Monkeys PawA Retelling 1965 on CBSs The Alfred Hitchcock Hour However he is probably best known for The High Chaparral which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971 He portrayed a rancher Big John Cannon determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache Erickson gueststarred in several television series including Rawhide Bonanza Gunsmoke Marcus Welby MD Medical Center Cannon The Rifleman The Rockford Files and the 1977 series Hunter His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984 Erickson was married to actress Frances Farmer from 1936 until 1942 The same day that his divorce from Farmer was finalized June 12 1942 he married actress Margaret Hayes They divorced a month later He married Ann Diamond in 1945 They had two children William Leif Erickson born 1946 died 1971 in a car accident and Susan Irene Erickson born 1950 Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola Florida on January 29 1986 aged 74 CLR