Tod Andrews

This article is about the American actor. For the Irish political activist, see Todd Andrews.

Tod Andrews (November 10, 1914 - November 7, 1972) was an American actor on the stage, screen, and television. Born in New York, he was raised in California. He studied acting and journalism at Washington State College.

Career

Andrews began his career at the Pasadena Playhouse and moved to New York City to appear onstage. After being discovered there by Jack L. Warner, head of Warner Brothers Studios, Andrews was offered a screen test, which led to a movie career. Andrews acted with the Margo Jones Company in New York City from 1944 to 1948, when he was spotted by Joshua Logan. When Henry Fonda left the title role in the Broadway play Mister Roberts, Logan gave Andrews the part.

His television performances included a starring role from 1957 to 1958 in the syndicated series of the American Civil War, The Gray Ghost, based on the heroic Confederate Colonel John Singleton Mosby.

In 1961, Andrews attempted suicide, just days before the opening of a new play titled A Whiff of Melancholy. After recovering, he returned to films in 1965, appearing as Captain Tuthill in Otto Preminger's World War II action blockbuster In Harm's Way. He was cast in two episodes of the CBS sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show and in the 1962 series finale, "The Hoax," of the ABC adventure series, Straightaway, starring Brian Kelly and John Ashley.

In 1962, he portrayed the part of Holt in the episode "The Devil and the Deep Blue" on CBS's Rawhide.

In 1968, Andrews appeared on film in Ted Post's Hang 'Em High as a defense attorney. Two years later, he worked again with Post in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, as James Franciscus's dying commanding officer, Colonel 'Skipper' Maddox. In 1973, Andrews played the President of the United States in the made-for-TV political thriller The President's Plane is Missing. His final screen appearance was as a doctor in the 1973 chiller The Baby, which was also directed by Post.

Death

Tod Andrews died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California in 1972, three days before his 58th birthday. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

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