Barney Phillips
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Barney Phillips | |
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Born | Bernard Philip Ofner October 20, 1913 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
Died | August 17, 1982 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Film, television actors |
Years active | 1937–1982 |
Spouse(s) | Marie A. Davis (19??–1982) |
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Barney Phillips (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982) was an American film and television actor.
Contents |
[edit] Biography and career
He was born Bernard Philip Ofner in St. Louis, Missouri, to Henry Ofner, a commercial salesman for the leather industry, and Leona Frank Ofner, a naturalized citizen of German origin, who went by the nickname Lonnie.[1] Phillips grew up and was educated in St. Louis, then moved to Los Angeles, California after graduating from college in 1935.
Interested in acting, he was able to get a small part in an independently-produced Grade B western called Black Aces in 1937, but his show business career then languished. Phillips enlisted in the US Army in July 1941 under his real name[2], serving in the signal corps during WWII.
Following the war, he was able to get small parts in several films during 1949-1952, before getting a regular role on the NBC television version of Dragnet, as Sgt Ed Jacobs. Thereafter he was a prolific character actor in both films and television series throughout the 1950s and 1960's. He remained active in television during the 1970s and up to a few months before his death in 1982.
Phillips was generally a guest star or featured player, but did have a number of recurring character roles in television, and one stint as a series regular for The Betty White Show (1977-78). However, his best known role is likely to be as a surprising diner counterman in a well-known episode of The Twilight Zone called "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?".
[edit] Filmography (partial)
- Black Aces (1937) ...as Jake Stoddard
- The Judge (1949) ...as Reporter
- Little Egypt (1951) ...as Reporter
- My Six Convicts (1952) ...as Baker foreman
- Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952) ...as Pvt Murphy
- Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952) ...as Workman
- Ruby Gentry (1952) ...as Dr Saul Manfred
- Eight Iron Men (1952) ...as Capt Trelawney
- A Blueprint for Murder (1953) ...as Capt Pringle
- I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) ...as Det Sgt Donovan
[edit] Television credits (partial)
- Dragnet: series regular (1952) as Sgt Ed Jacobs
- Peter Gunn: "The Blind Pianist" (1958) ...as Stephen Ware
- Hawaiian Eye: "I Wed Three Wives" (1960) ...as Henry Bunker
- The Twilight Zone: "The Purple Testament" (1960) ...as Capt E. L. Gunther
- The Twilight Zone: "A Thing about Machines" (1960) ...as TV Repairman
- The Twilight Zone: "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" (1961) ...as Haley the Bartender
- The Twilight Zone: "Miniature" (1963) ...as Diemel