Leif Erickson

Biography

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

Joe Lean

Roustabout

Glover

On the Waterfront

Mr. George MacLean

Invaders from Mars

Paul Lachinski

Conquest

Fred Lord

Sorry, Wrong Number

Beaumont

The Gangster

Lou Glover

The Fastest Gun Alive

Stranger

The Tall Target

Dave Mannering

I Saw What You Did

Father Provincial aka Ed

Trouble Along the Way

Bill Cutler

Strait-Jacket

Tony

The Lady Gambles

Kamar (as Leif Erikson)

Arabian Nights

Marshal John Sutton

The Cimarron Kid

Steve Blake

Blonde Savage

Bob Hayes

The Big Broadcast of 1938

Bill Chase

Three Secrets

Dunois, Bastard of Orleans

Joan of Arc

Gordon

The Snake Pit

Bill Reynolds

Tea and Sympathy

Morgan

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd

Dr. Harold Matson

The Gay Intruders

General aboard plane

With a Song in My Heart

Jake

The Fleet's In

Eddie Turnbill

Kiss Them for Me

The Major

Mirage

Pringle

Johnny Stool Pigeon

Dr. Victor Quimby

Waikiki Wedding

Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director

Twilight's Last Gleaming

Curley Prentice

Drift Fence

Tommy Van Dusen

Nothing But the Truth

Laurie

Night Monster

Sgt. Norbert 'Noisy' Jackson

Never Wave at a WAC

Gen. Hewitt

A Gathering of Eagles

Amos Wetherall

The Daughters of Joshua Cabe

Sheriff Mossman

Man and Boy

George Ballard

Star in the Dust

U.S. Marshal Martin Weatherby

Dallas

Guthrie

Winterhawk

Richards

A Perilous Journey

Charlie Boyle

Istanbul

Glenn Kasedon

Desert Gold

Fred Anderson Jr.

Stella

Peter Cortlant

One Third of a Nation

Dr. Bruce Gordon

Mother Didn't Tell Me

Nicholas Reed

My Wife's Best Friend

Dr. Victor Briggs

The New Healers

Dr. Harold Malcolm

The Deadly Dream

Louis Morel

The Vintage

Edgar Blevins

Paris Model

Marty Treleavan

Terror in the Sky

Dick Winters

College Holiday

Howard Nelson

Thrill of a Lifetime

Bill Stone

Are Husbands Necessary?

Rodney 'Bo-Jo' Brown

H.M. Pulham, Esq.

Narrator (voice)

Crisis

Jonas Cord Senior

The Carpetbaggers

Dr. Mason

Miss Tatlock's Millions

Pete

Show Boat

Bob Marshall

Born to the Saddle

Kalmani

Fort Algiers

Big Mart

The Showdown

Bit Part (uncredited)

Fourteen Hours

Johnny Simpkins

Ride a Crooked Mile

Granville "Granny" Dix

Once Upon a Horse...

Johnny M. Coe

Eagle Squadron

Terry Prescott

The Blonde from Singapore

Whaba

Pardon My Sarong

Pilate

Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration

Prescott

Abduction

Commander Lane

Sailor Beware

Sam

Captain Scarface

Cal Newkirk

Force Five

Tom Bolton

Girl of the Ozarks

Sam Barbee

Shootout at Big Sag

Harry Hutton

Twilight for the Gods

B. Frederick Linaker

Reunion in Reno

William Henry Cameron

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping

Mike Lamont

The Family Rico

Lawrence

Wanderer of the Wasteland

Bill Ide

Nevada

Feder

Carbine Williams

Ben Wallace

The Fantastic Journey

Band Singer

Air Tonic