Luke Halpin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Luke Halpin | |
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 Luke Halpin was an American child actor known for the TV series Flipper.
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| Born | April 4, 1947 Astoria, Queens, New York |
Luke Halpin (born, April 4, 1947, in Astoria, Queens, New York) is an American film and former TV child actor.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Luke A. Halpin was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City on April 4, 1947 to Helen and Eugene Halpin. He has one older brother, Eugene, Jr., and one older sister, Joan. When he was growing up, he also had a dog, Whisky.
[edit] Career
His acting career began when a music teacher, impressed by Halpin's "all-American" look, encouraged him to try out acting. Luke turned out to be a natural, and in 1955 he co-starred with Natalie Wood in an episode of Studio One entitled Miracle at Potter's Farm.
Numerous roles followed, and by his mid-teens, Halpin had already appeared on many of the major TV series of the day: Armstrong Circle Theatre, United States Steel Hour, Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Everglades, The Phil Silvers Show, The Defenders, Route 66, Naked City, and had a recurring role for six months on the soap opera Young Doctor Malone.
In addition to television, Halpin's early career also included several stage roles. He appeared with Mary Martin in both Annie Get Your Gun and Peter Pan, and made his Broadway debut in Take Me Along starring Jackie Gleason.
[edit] Flipper
The young TV/stage veteran got his most memorable role when he was picked to be Sandy Ricks in the 1962 (released 1963) feature Flipper. The successful film spawned a sequel, Flipper's New Adventure (1964), and a TV series which co-starred Brian Kelly as Porter Ricks. TV's Flipper ran for 88 episodes (1964-1967), and is still in syndication. The TV series made Halpin a popular teen idol among younger viewers. He was often featured in teen magazines, including Bravo, Teen Life, 16 Magazine, and the earliest issues of Tiger Beat.
[edit] Later work
Following the end of the Flipper series, Halpin appeared in feature films, including Island of the Lost (1967), If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), and Shock Waves (1977).
[edit] Current activity
Halpin currently works as a pilot and marine technician for a film production company.
