Mort Mills

Mort Mills
Born January 11, 1919(1919-01-11)
New York City
Died June 6, 1993(1993-06-06) (aged 74)
Ventura, California
Occupation Actor
Years active 1952-1973
Spouse Betty (1956 - 1992; 1 child)
Mary (? - ?) (divorced; 2 children)

Mort Mills (January 11, 1919 – June 6, 1993) was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 200 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1957-1959 he had a recurring co-starring role as Marshal Frank Tallman in Man Without a Gun. Other recurring roles were as Sergeant Ben Landro in the Perry Mason series and Sheriff Fred Madden in The Big Valley. In 1958, he guest starred as a particularly greedy bounty hunter who clashes with Steve McQueen's character of Josh Randall in the CBS western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive.

Contents

Biography

Though Mills did an enormous amount of television work, he also found consistent work in motion pictures. He played the highway patrolman who pursues Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho (1960). Shortly thereafter he worked again with Hitchcock, playing a farmer in Torn Curtain (1966).[1][2] Mills also appeared opposite Charlton Heston in Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958).[3]

In 1955, he appeared as Samuel Mason on ABC's Disneyland miniseries Davy Crockett, starring Fess Parker. From 1957-1959, Mills co-starred with Rex Reason (born 1928) in the syndicated western series Man Without a Gun.[4] He portrayed Marshal Frank Tillman. Reason played his friend, Adam MacLean, editor of the Yellowstone Sentinel newspaper. In the 1965 Three Stooges film The Outlaws Is Coming he played Trigger Mortis.[5]

Mills was a regular as police Lieutenant Bob Malone in Howard Duff's NBC-Four Star Television series, Dante (1960–1961), set at a San Francisco, California, nightclub called "Dante's Inferno".

His cousin, Mary Treen, was a film actress.

Acting roles

Starring in his own TV series

Recurring role in a series

The Case of the Difficult Detour (1961)
The Case of the Pathetic Patient (1961)
The Case of the Brazen Bequest (1961)
The Case of the Crippled Cougar (1962)
The Case of the Playboy Pugilist (1962)
The Case of the Fickle Filly (1962)
The Case of the Golden Venom (1965)
also The Case of the Slandered Submarine (1960) Barry Scott
The Murdered Party (1965)
Earthquake! (1965)
My Son, My Son (1965)
The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner (1965)
The Young Marauders (1965)
Hazard (1966)

Multiple appearances on a television series

Crossed and Double Crossed (1952) Barfly
Sudden Silence (1956) The Deputy
Sky Sign (1954) Carver
Marriage by Mail (1954) Professor
Arroyo Millionaire's Castle (1955) Sheriff Tom Roscoe
Cisco and the Tappers (1955) Bart Stevens
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1955) Samuel Mason
Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race (1955) Samuel Mason
Texas John Slaughter: Ambush in Laredo (1958)
Star in the Dust (1956) Mike
Johnny Bravo (1956) Ben Taggart
Incident at Dawson Flats (1961) Sherriff Graves
  • The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure
Never Say Die (1956) Policeman
The Tower's Secret (1956) Policeman
The Final Search (1956) Policeman
Gun in His Hand (1956) Joe Kirby
End of a Gun (1957) 1st Brother
No Handcuffs (1956) August Brake
How to Die for Nothing (1956) Howard Bulow
Born to Hang (1957) Robie
Murder Warrant (1959) Jake Harbin
Take Her, She's Cheap (1964) Loren Billings
Death Train (1967) Jack Maple
Black Moment (1957) Halley
Legacy of a Hero (1957) Connell
Time of Decision (1957) Bart Miller
Man on the Run (1957) Pete Bostwick
The Scar (1961) Foreman
The San Saba Incident (1957) Ike Collins
Bad Judgment (1959) Rafe Borden
The Vultures (1957) Sam Watts
The Fanatic (1960) Odie Cairns
The Bounty (1958) Clark Daimler
Eight Cent Reward (1958) Harmon Stone
Railroaded (1959) Ed Bruner
The Healing Woman (1959) Tom Summers
Most Beautiful Woman (1960) Frank
The Jesse Cowan Story (1958) Bob Cowan
The Clay Shelby Story (1964) Sgt. Bragan
The Jarbo Pierce Story (1965) Grant
The Sister (1958) Joshua Snipe
Jealous Man (1962) Owens
Day of Reckoning (1958) Red Scanlon
Benefit of the Doubt (1961) McGaven
The Long Ride Back (1958) Jacob Stint
Apache Treasure (1960) Hickins
Man Wanted (1958) Smiley
Journey to Provision (1960) Sheriff Len Gogarty
Vendetta (1959) Carl Morgan
Day of the Dragon (1961) Gordon
The Miracle Maker (1962) Thorne
Song in the Dark (1963) Deputy Sheriff Jeff Sykes
Joe Cartwright, Detective (1967) Perkins
The Dutch Schultz Story (1959) Lulu Rosenkrantz
Takeover (1962) Woody O'Mara
The Bounty Hunter (1959) Jeff Briscoe
The Trading Post (1960) Robson
Men of Defiance (1960)
Rimrock (1961) Rink Banners
The Last Journey (1961) Damon Johntry
War Hero (1962) Obie Loomis
By the Deep Six (1960) Martin
The Remounts (1961) Griz
The Marker (1961) Mingo
In Darkness, Waiting: Pt 1 and Pt 2 (1965) Victor Prelling
Smoke Screen (1963) Ranger Ritter
Moon Child (1965) George Mangus
Conspiracy of Silence (1965) Murchison
Duel at Shiloh (1963) Deputy Bender
Another's Footsteps (1964) Garrett
Show Me a Hero (1965) Bert Devlin
The King's Shilling (1967) Andrew Hubbard
Flag of Truce (1968) General Grosscup
The Frame (1967) Al Souchek
The Seal (1967) William Conway
Two Thousand (1972) Marshall
Girl in the Night (1967) Mike Hennessey
The Machismo Bag (1969) Lieutenant Rambau
A Town in Terror: Pt 1 & Pt 2 (1969) Ben Adams
You Can Get Killed Out There (1968) Al
War of Nerves (1970) Hijacker

Single episode television appearances

Theatrical film

References

  1. ^ Spoto, Donald (1999). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Da Capo Press. p. 577. ISBN 978-0306809323. 
  2. ^ Walker, Michael (2006). Hitchcock's Motifs. Amsterdam University Press. p. 455. ISBN 978-9053567722. 
  3. ^ Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; Ursini, James; Porfirio, Robert (2010). The Film Noir Encyclopedia. Overlook Hardcover. p. 190. ISBN 978-1590201442. 
  4. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. p. 733. ISBN 978-0345497734. 
  5. ^ Cox, Stephen; Terry, Jim (2006). One Fine Stooge: Larry Fine's Frizzy Life In Pictures. Cumberland House Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-1581823639. 

External links