James Griffith Biography

James Griffith (February 13, 1916 - September 17, 1993) was an American character actor, musician and screenwriter.

Career

Born in Los Angeles, Griffith aspired to be a musician rather than an actor. Instead, he managed to find work in little theatres around Los Angeles, where the budding musician eased into a dual career of acting. He found success in the production They Can't Get You Down in 1939, but put his career on hold during World War II to serve with the United States Marine Corps. Following the war, Griffith switched from the stage to films when he appeared in the 1948 film noir picture Blonde Ice. From then on, he enjoyed a lengthy career of supporting and bit roles (sometimes uncredited) in westerns and detective films.

Though Griffith was generally cast as the outlaw in Western pictures, he managed to garner a few memorable "good guy" roles over his many years in Hollywood - Abraham Lincoln in both 1950's Stage to Tucson and 1955's Apache Ambush, sheriff Pat Garrett in 1954's The Law vs. Billy the Kid, John Wesley Hardin in a 1959 television episode of Maverick entitled "Duel at Sundown" featuring Clint Eastwood, and Davy Crockett in 1956's The First Texan.

In the role of Aaron Adams, the town barber, Griffith appeared in 1958 in twelve episodes of the CBS western series, Trackdown, starring Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman.

Griffith also had recurring roles in the syndicated series, Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield, and U.S. Marshal.

Griffith made more than seventy guest appearances on television shows, including eight episodes of Wagon Train, seven episodes of The Range Rider, seven episodes of The Lone Ranger, two episodes of Annie Oakley, four episodes of Cheyenne, three episodes of Buffalo Bill, Jr., six episodes of Gunsmoke, four episodes of Perry Mason, four episodes of Dragnet, three episodes (42, 43 and 108) of Batman, and two segments of Little House on the Prairie.

Throughout his acting career, Griffith continued to practice his original love of music, having performed in the Spike Jones band. he composed music for the 1958 film Bullwhip and the 1964 picture, Lorna, in which he also had a role and served as screenwriter. Griffith played the Reverend in Black in the opening, closing, and a few in the middle scenes of Lorna, starring Lorna Maitland in one of director Russ Meyer's black-and-white 'skin' movies before the height of Meyer's career in 1968 with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Griffith made his last onscreen appearance in a 1982 episode of CBS' Dallas.

Death

Griffith died of cancer in Avila Beach, California, on September 17, 1993.

Partial filmography

Gunsmoke Joe Kite 1 episode: "Kite's Reward" -

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1948	Every Girl Should Be Married	Insurance salesman	Uncredited
	Appointment with Murder	Detective
1949	Holiday Affair	Crowley's floorwalker	Uncredited
	Fighting Man of the Plains	a Quantrill raider	uncredited
	Search for Danger	Lt. Cooper
1950	Young Man with a Horn	Walt	Uncredited
1951	As Young as You Feel	Cashier	Uncredited
	The Lady Pays Off	Ronald
1952	Red Skies of Montana	Boise Peterson	Alternative title: Smoke Jumpers
1953	Kansas Pacific	Joe Farley, Railroad guard
1954	The Boy from Oklahoma	Joe Downey, Alderman
	The Law vs. Billy the Kid	Pat Garrett, Sheriff
1955	Count Three and Pray	Swallow	Alternative title: The Calico Pony
	Apache Ambush	President Abraham Lincoln
1956	Tribute to a Bad Man	Barjak
1956	Anything Goes	Paul Holiday
1957	Raintree County	Mr. Gray's searching companion	Uncredited
1958	Bullwhip	'Slow' Karp
1958	Seven Guns to Mesa	Papa Clellan
1959	The Big Fisherman	Beggar
1960	The Amazing Transparent Man	Maj. Paul Krenner
1961	Pocketful of Miracles	Briscoe	Uncredited
1962	How the West Was Won	Poker player with Cleve	Uncredited
1964	Advance to the Rear	Hugo Zattig	Alternative title: Company of Cowards?
1966	A Big Hand for the Little Lady	Mr. Stribling
1968	Day of the Evil Gun	Storekeeper - Hazenville
1969	Heaven with a Gun	Abraham Murdock (sheepherder)
1969	Seven in Darkness	Harlan Cabot
1976	Flood!	Charlie Davis
1977	Speedtrap	Wino
1980	The Legend of Sleepy Hollow	Squire Van Tassel
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	Hopalog Cassidy	Roscoe Hicks	1 episode
1953	Cavalcade of America	Abraham Lincoln	1 episode
1954	City Detective	Harry	1 episode
	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Raymond Andrews	1 episode
1955	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Kelso Dodge	3 episodes
1957	The Gray Ghost	Buddy	1 episode
	The Adventures of Jim Bowie	Jud Cameron	1 episode
1957-1962	Cheyenne	Assorted roles	5 episodes
1958	Frontier Justice	Taggert	1 episode
	Jefferson Drum	Troy Bendick	Episode: "Return"
1958	Official Detective	Det Fred Ball	Episode: "Body In The Trunk"
1958	The Walter Winchell File	Don Gue Watson	Episode: "A Thing of Beauty"
1959-1962	Laramie	Assorted roles	3 episodes
1959	Rescue 8	Ramases	1 episode
	Wichita Town	Vic Parker	1 episode
	Sheriff of Cochise	Deputy Tom Ferguson	series regular 1959-1960
1961	The Tall Man	Clint Latimer	"A Kind of Courage"
	Two Faces West	Les Hardy	1 episode
	The Lawless Years	Jonathan Willis	1 episode
1962	Empire	Pete Stroud	"A Place to Put a Life"
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Roland Jensen	1 episode
	The Tall Man	James Cutter	"Trial by Fury"
	Lawman	Heracles Snead	1 episode
1963	GE True	"The Moonshiners"	Stan Woolman
	Ben Casey	John Randall	"Suffer the Little Children"
	The Untouchables	Monk Lyselle	1 episode
1964	The Great Adventure	Harry Young	1 episode
	Slattery's People	Emmett Logan	"Question, Is Laura the Name of the Game?"
	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Gambler, Bagsley, and Snake	"The Day of the Toll Takers", "The Day of the Picnic", and "The Day of the Pretenders", respectively
1965	The Rouges	Bert	1 episode
	Laredo	Deke Pryor	1 episode
1966	F Troop	Sergeant Crawford	1 episode
	The Monroes	Henri "Fox" Bonnard	1 episode
1966	Batman	Trusty	2 episodes (43 and 44)
1967	Batman	Manx	1 episode (108)
1967	The Iron Horse	Howley	1 episode
	The Monkees	Marshall	1 episode
1969	The Guns of Will Sonnett	Major Cross	1 episode
	The Mod Squad	Bubba Johnson	1 episode
1971	The Bold Ones: The Senator	Channing	1 episode
1972	Kung Fu	Purdy	1 episode
1974	Kolchak: The Night Stalker	George M. Schwartz	1 episode
1975	The Six Million Dollar Man	Will Long	1 episode
	Barbary Coast	Eikel	1 episode
1976	The Quest	Donkin	1 episode
1977	Police Story	Travis Caulder	1 episode
1978	Fantasy Island	Hezekiah Pugh	1 episode
1979	B. J. and the Bear	Uncle Moss	2 episodes
1981	Hart to Hart	Prospector	1 episode
1982	Dallas	(Griffith's final role)	1 episode