John Bromfield

For Sir John Bromfield, Baronet, see Bromfield baronets.
John Bromfield

Bromfield as Frank Morgan.
Born Farron Bromfield
June 11, 1922
South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Died September 19, 2005 (aged 83)
Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Cause of death
 Renal failure
Resting place
 Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California
Occupation Actor and commercial fisherman
Years active 1948-1960
Spouse(s) Corinne Calvet (1948-1954) (divorced)
Larri Thomas (?-1959) (divorced)
Mary Bromfield (1962-2005) (his death)

John Bromfield (née Farron Bromfield) (June 11, 1922 – September 19, 2005) was an American film and television actor.

Biography

Bromfield was born in South Bend, Indiana. He played football and was a boxing champion in college.[1] He served in the United States Navy in World War II. In 1948, he twice harpooned a whale in the documentary film Harpoon. In 1948, he was cast as a detective in the film Sorry, Wrong Number, starring Burt Lancaster and Barbara Stanwyck for Paramount Pictures. In 1953, Bromfield appeared with Esther Williams in the film Easy to Love set in bathing suit attire in Cypress Gardens, Florida. In the middle 1950s, he appeared in westerns, such as NBC's Frontier anthology series in the role of a sheriff in the episode "The Hanging at Thunder Butte Creek". He also starred in horror films, including the 1955 3D production Revenge of the Creature, one of the Creature from the Black Lagoon sequels.

In 1956, Bromfield was cast as law enforcement officer Frank Morgan in the syndicated western-themed crime drama series, Sheriff of Cochise, later retitled by studio boss Desi Arnaz, Sr., as U.S. Marshal. The real sheriff of Cochise County at the time, Jack Howard, visited the set when the program began and made Bromfield an honorary deputy. Bromfield once told The Los Angeles Times: "About 40 million see 'Sheriff of Cochise' or 'U.S. Marshal' every week. I'd have to do about twenty-five pictures, major pictures, over a span of eight or nine years for enough people to see me in the theater who see me in one week on 'U.S. Marshal'. ... The show is seen all over the world. Television is a fabulous medium."[2]

The series was actually created by his co-star Stan Jones, who appeared in twenty-four segments as Deputy Harry Olson. Sheriff of Cochise featured numerous younger actors who later became well known in the industry: Dan Blocker, Peter Breck, Charles Bronson, Mike Connors, David Janssen, Stacy Keach, Sr., Michael Landon, Jack Lord, Gavin MacLeod, Doug McClure, Ross Martin, Martin Milner, Roger Smith, Lee Van Cleef, and child actor Johnny Crawford.[2]

In 1960, Bromfield retired from acting to produce sports shows and work as a commercial fisherman off Newport Beach, California. Bromfield was divorced from actresses Corinne Calvet (1925–2001) and Larri Thomas (1932-2013). He died at the age of eighty-three of renal failure in Palm Desert, California, having been survived by his third wife of forty-three years, Mary Bromfield.

Firearms

See also

References

  1. ↑ Abbott, Peter (January 1957). "What's New from Coast to Coast". TV Radio Mirror 47 (2): 5. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., September 26, 2005, p. B 4

External links