Leif Erickson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Oct 27, 1911
- Died
- Jan 29, 1986 (aged 74)
- Place of birth
- Alameda, California, USA
- Credits
- 129
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leif Erickson (born William Wycliffe Anderson) was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Erickson was born in Alameda, California, near San Francisco. He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act. Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns.
Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he served as a military photographer, shooting film in combat zones, and as an instructor. He was shot down twice in the Pacific as well as receiving two Purple Hearts. Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Over four years service, he shot more than 200,000 feet of film for the Navy.
Erickson's first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels. He would go on to appears in films such as The Snake Pit, Sorry, Wrong Number, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront, A Gathering of Eagles, Roustabout, The Carpetbaggers and Mirage.
One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr's macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy. He appeared with Greta Garbo, as her brother in Conquest (1937). He played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat. His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977).
Erickson appeared frequently on television; he was cast as Dr. Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey's Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. However, he is probably best known for The High Chaparral, which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971. He portrayed a rancher, Big John Cannon, determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache. Erickson guest-starred in several television series, including Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, Cannon, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files, and the 1977 series Hunter. His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984.
Erickson was married to actress Frances Farmer from 1936 until 1942. The same day that his divorce from Farmer was finalized, June 12, 1942, he married actress Margaret Hayes. They divorced a month later. He married Ann Diamond in 1945. They had two children, William Leif Erickson (born 1946 - died 1971 in a car accident) and Susan Irene Erickson (born 1950).
Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1986, aged 74 CLR
Known for
On the Waterfront
1954Movie
Glover
Bonanza
1959TV
Tom Caine, Josh Tatum
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955TV
Wayne Phillips
Sorry, Wrong Number
1948Movie
Fred Lord
Invaders from Mars
1953Movie
Mr. George MacLean
Strait-Jacket
1964Movie
Bill Cutler
Filmography
Wild Times
1980TV
John Tyree
Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977Movie
Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director
The Fantastic Journey
1977Movie
Ben Wallace
The Fantastic Journey
1977TV
Ben Wallace
Winterhawk
1975Movie
Guthrie
Medical Story
1975TV
Dr. Taussing
Abduction
1975Movie
Prescott
Force Five
1975Movie
Cal Newkirk
The Rockford Files
1974TV
Carl Colton 'C.C.' Calloway
Harry O
1974TV
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping
1973Movie
William Henry Cameron
The Magician
1973TV
Nicholas Olson
The Evil Touch
1973TV
The Streets of San Francisco
1972TV
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1972Movie
Amos Wetherall
The Family Rico
1972Movie
Mike Lamont
The Rookies
1972TV
The New Healers
1972Movie
Dr. Victor Briggs
The Sixth Sense
1972TV
The Deadly Dream
1971Movie
Dr. Harold Malcolm
Terror in the Sky
1971Movie
Marty Treleavan
Cannon
1971TV
Man and Boy
1971Movie
Sheriff Mossman
Night Gallery
1970TV
Charlie Wheatland
Medical Center
1969TV
The Mod Squad
1968TV
Mannix
1967TV
The High Chaparral
1967TV
Big John Cannon
Ironside
1967TV
Mirage
1965Movie
The Major
I Saw What You Did
1965Movie
Dave Mannering
Branded
1965TV
Roustabout
1964Movie
Joe Lean
Daniel Boone
1964TV
Aaron Burr, Bill Sedley
The Carpetbaggers
1964Movie
Jonas Cord Sr.
Strait-Jacket
1964Movie
Bill Cutler
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963TV
General
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963TV
The Great Adventure
1963TV
Abel Parrish, President Grover Cleveland
Burke's Law
1963TV
Jason Hayes
Arrest and Trial
1963TV
A Gathering of Eagles
1963Movie
Gen. Hewitt
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962TV
Paul White, Doctor Hellyer
The Virginian
1962TV
Peterson, Charlie Ryan, Bill King
Shootout at Big Sag
1962Movie
Sam Barbee
The New Breed
1961TV
Dr. Eric Thor
The Shape of the River
1960Movie
William Dean Howells
The Rebel
1959TV
Dave Blaine
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959TV
Andrew Middleton
Bonanza
1959TV
Tom Caine, Josh Tatum
Rawhide
1959TV
Frank Travis
The Rifleman
1958TV
Once Upon a Horse...
1958Movie
Granville "Granny" Dix
Twilight for the Gods
1958Movie
Harry Hutton
Kiss Them for Me
1957Movie
Eddie Turnbill
Panic Button
1957Movie
Paul Henderson
The Vintage
1957Movie
Louis Morel
One Coat of White
1957Movie
Ben Riggs
Istanbul
1957Movie
Charlie Boyle
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956TV
Jim Lewis, Cash Wilson
Tea and Sympathy
1956Movie
Bill Reynolds
The Fastest Gun Alive
1956Movie
Lou Glover
Star in the Dust
1956Movie
George Ballard
Matinee Theater
1955TV
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955TV
Wayne Phillips
Gunsmoke
1955TV
Virgil Powell
The Millionaire
1955TV
Brian Hendricks, Norman Conover
Climax!
1954TV
Robert Eunson, Richard Carmichael, Doug Randell, Richard Moore
On the Waterfront
1954Movie
Glover
Inner Sanctum
1954TV
Paris Model
1953Movie
Edgar Blevins
Captain Scarface
1953Movie
Sam
Fort Algiers
1953Movie
Kalmani
Invaders from Mars
1953Movie
Mr. George MacLean
A Perilous Journey
1953Movie
Richards
Trouble Along the Way
1953Movie
Father Provincial aka Ed
Born to the Saddle
1953Movie
Bob Marshall
General Electric Theater
1953TV
Man
Never Wave at a WAC
1953Movie
Norbert 'Noisy' Jackson
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
1952Movie
Morgan
My Wife's Best Friend
1952Movie
Nicholas Reed
Carbine Williams
1952Movie
Feder
With a Song in My Heart
1952Movie
General (uncredited)
Sailor Beware
1952Movie
Commander Lane
The Cimarron Kid
1952Movie
Marshal John Sutton
Reunion in Reno
1951Movie
B. Frederick Linaker
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951TV
Dan, Sam Sargent
The Tall Target
1951Movie
Stranger
Show Boat
1951Movie
Pete
Fourteen Hours
1951Movie
Bit Part (uncredited)
Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration
1951Movie
Pilate
Dallas
1950Movie
U.S. Marshal Martin Weatherby
Three Secrets
1950Movie
Bill Chase
The Showdown
1950Movie
Big Mart
Stella
1950Movie
Fred Anderson Jr.
Mother Didn't Tell Me
1950Movie
Dr. Bruce Gordon
The Lady Gambles
1949Movie
Tony
Johnny Stool Pigeon
1949Movie
Pringle
Joan of Arc
1948Movie
Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Miss Tatlock's Millions
1948Movie
Dr. Mason
The Snake Pit
1948Movie
Gordon
Sorry, Wrong Number
1948Movie
Fred Lord
The Gay Intruders
1948Movie
Dr. Harold Matson
Bambi
1948TV
Self (archive footage)
The Gangster
1947Movie
Beaumont
Blonde Savage
1947Movie
Steve Blake
Arabian Nights
1942Movie
Kamar (as Leif Erikson)
Night Monster
1942Movie
Laurie
Pardon My Sarong
1942Movie
Whaba
Eagle Squadron
1942Movie
Johnny M. Coe
Are Husbands Necessary?
1942Movie
Bill Stone
The Fleet's In
1942Movie
Jake
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941Movie
Rodney 'Bo-Jo' Brown
The Blonde from Singapore
1941Movie
Terry Prescott
Nothing but the Truth
1941Movie
Tommy Van Dusen
Crisis
1939Movie
Narrator (voice)
One Third of a Nation
1939Movie
Peter Cortlant
Ride a Crooked Mile
1938Movie
Johnny Simpkins
The Big Broadcast of 1938
1938Movie
Bob Hayes
Thrill of a Lifetime
1937Movie
Howard Nelson
Conquest
1937Movie
Paul Lachinski
Waikiki Wedding
1937Movie
Dr. Victor Quimby
College Holiday
1936Movie
Dick Winters
Girl of the Ozarks
1936Movie
Tom Bolton
Desert Gold
1936Movie
Glenn Kasedon
Drift Fence
1936Movie
Curley Prentice
Nevada
1935Movie
Bill Ide
Wanderer of the Wasteland
1935Movie
Lawrence
Air Tonic
1933Movie
Band Singer