| Shepperd Strudwick | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jr. Shepperd Strudwick September 22, 1907 Hillsborough, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | January 15, 1983 (aged 75) New York, New York, United States |
| Years active | 1938–1982 |
| Spouse | Mary Jeffrey (1977-1983) (his death) Jane Straub (1958-?) (divorced) Margaret O Neill' (1947-?) (divorced) Helen Wynn (1936-?) (divorced) 1 child |
Shepperd Strudwick (born John Shepperd, September 22, 1907 – January 15, 1983) was an American actor of film, television, and stage.
Born in Hillsborough, North Carolina, he began his film career as the title (eponymous) character in the film Joaquin Murrieta (1938); he was credited as Sheppard Strudwick. He appeared as Yugoslav guerrilla leader Lt. Aleksa Petrovic, an aide to General Draza Mihailovich, in the 20th Century Fox war film Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas in 1943. He played Edgar Allan Poe in The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942) and appeared in Fighter Squadron (1948), The Red Pony (1949), and A Place in the Sun (1951), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Perhaps his most famous film role was that of Adam Stanton, the idealistic doctor who finally kills Willie Stark (played by Broderick Crawford) in the classic film All the King's Men (1949). Another notable role was Father Jean Massieu in Joan of Arc (1948), starring Ingrid Bergman as Joan.
Strudwick made many appearances on television, such as on The Twilight Zone, as Peter Selden in the 1960 episode "Nightmare as a Child" written by Rod Serling, and included several roles on the soap operas As the World Turns (Dr. Fields), Another World (Jim Matthews), One Life to Live (Victor Lord), and Love of Life (Timothy McCauley). In 1981, he starred as the voice of Homer in the National Radio Theater's Peabody Award-winning radio dramatization of The Odyssey.
His last appearance on celluloid was in 1981's Kent State, a TV movie. That same year, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor (Featured Role – Play) for the unsuccessful Broadway play To Grandmother's House We Go.
He was married to Mary Jeffrey from 1977 until his death. He had a son by a previous marriage. He died in New York, New York from cancer at the age of 75.