John Dehner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Dehner, born Staten Island N.Y.(1915-1992), was an American actor in radio, television and films, playing countless roles, usually as a mildly comical villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and TV shows.
[edit] Radio
He played Paladin in a radio version of Have Gun — Will Travel, the only time a show started on TV and later turned up on radio instead of the other way around.
On CBS radio in 1958, he starred in Frontier Gentleman, a radio Western series that opened with a trumpet theme by Jerry Goldsmith and this introduction:
- Herewith, an Englishman's account of life and death in the West. As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colorful and unusual accounts. But as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the new territories. Now, starring John Dehner, this is the story of J. B. Kendall, Frontier Gentleman...
Written and directed by Antony Ellis, the short-lived series followed the adventures of journalist Kendall as he roamed the Western United States in search of stories for the Times.
[edit] Television and films
Two memorable performances were on the television series Maverick (1957) opposite James Garner in the episodes "Shady Deal At Sunny Acres" ("...if you can't trust your banker, whom can you trust?") and "Greenbacks, Unlimited." Dehner also played Pat Garrett in Gore Vidal's The Left-Handed Gun, opposite Paul Newman as Billy the Kid. Another film role for Dehner came in 1952's Scaramouche as Doutreval of Dijon. He also played the non-singing role of Mr. Bascombe, the mill owner and intended robbery victim, in the 1956 film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel.
In 1961 John Dehner starred in an episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Jungle" as an engineer who has had an African curse placed on him - in which he refuses to believe - until the end. He later appeared in the fifth-season episode "Mr. Garrity and the Graves."
From 1971-73 he played the part of Sy Bennett, Doris' boss on the Doris Day Show. One of his last appearances was as the sympathetic judge in the Glenn Close - Jeff Bridges courtroom thriller Jagged Edge.
