Herb Vigran

Herb Vigran
Born	Herbert (or Herburt) Vigran (1910-06-05)June 5, 1910 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 29, 1986(1986-11-29) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cancer
Resting place	Cremation
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1934–1986
Spouse(s)	Belle Mary Vigran (1952-1986) (his death)

Herbert "Herb" Vigran (June 5, 1910 – November 29, 1986) was a well-known American character actor in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1980s. Over his 50-year career, he made over 350 television and film appearances. (Note: The California Death Index lists Vigran's first name as Herburt, rather than Herbert,^[1] as do his obituaries in the Los Angeles Times^[2] and The New York Times.^[3]

Early years

Vigran was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, but his family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he was 16.^[4] He graduated with a law degree from Indiana University,^[5] but later chose to pursue acting.

Stage

Billed as Herbert Vigran, he appeared on Broadway in three plays from 1935 through 1938.^[6]

Radio

After starting out on Broadway, Vigran soon moved to Hollywood with no money^[4] and only the Broadway acting experience. In 1939, Vigran's agent helped him secure a lead in the radio drama Silver Theatre. The actor had a $5 recording made of the radio show and used it as a demo to get other jobs with his unique voice.^[4] He performed in radio shows with the likes of Jack Benny,^[7][8] Bob Hope, Lucille Ball and Jimmy Durante.^[9]

Television

He later had hundreds of television appearances on shows like Adventures of Superman (six episodes), Dragnet (11 episodes), I Love Lucy (four episodes), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (seven episodes), The Dick Van Dyke Show (three episodes), Perry Mason (two episodes), Dragnet 1967 (seven episodes), and The Brady Bunch (two episodes). Vigran had a recurring role as Judge Brooker in Gunsmoke between 1970-1975. He appeared in a number of I Love Lucy episodes, and in the 1954 episode titled Lucy Is Envious, Vigran is the promoter who hired Lucy and Ethel to dress up as "Women From Mars" for a publicity stunt.^[10][11] With his bushy eyebrows and balding pate, he was easily cast in a wide variety of middle-aged "everyman" roles: cops, small-time crooks, judges, jurors, bartenders, repairmen, neighbors, shopkeepers, etc.^[12]

Film

In the rock and roll movie Go, Johnny, Go (1959), Vigran played an assistant to promoter Alan Freed and performed dialogue scenes with rock legend Chuck Berry.^[13] He also provided the voice of "Whitney's boss" on the Arrowhead bottled-water television (animated) and radio commercials in the 1960s. He also played a small role (as a reporter) in Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux (1947).

Personal life

In 1952, Vigran married the former Belle Pasternack. The couple had two sons.^[4]

Vigran was active up until his death

Death

Vigran died of complications from cancer on November 29, 1986, in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife and two sons.^[2] He was cremated.

Theatre

Radio

Television

Films

Further reading

• Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. 

References

External links

• Herb Vigran at the Internet Movie Database
• Herb Vigran at the Internet Broadway Database
• Herb Vigran at Find a Grave