John Lupton
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John Rollin Lupton | |
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Lupton with daughter Rollin and Broken Arrow co-star Michael Ansara, 1957. | |
Born | August 23, 1928 |
Died | November 3, 1993 | (aged 65)
Alma mater | American Academy of Dramatic Arts |
Years active | 1951-1993 |
Spouses | Anne Sills (m. 1956; div. 1959)Dian Friml (m. 1969) |
Children | 1 |
John Rollin Lupton[1] (August 23, 1928 – November 3, 1993) was an American film and television actor.
Early years
[edit]Lupton was the son of Adelma and Dorothy (née Marsh) Lupton.[2] He developed an interest in drama while he was a student at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wisconsin.[3] He pursued acting via an apprenticeship with a stock theater company in New York, and after graduating he toured with the Strawbridge Children's Theater Company.[2]
Career
[edit]After graduating from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lupton acted with stock companies in Ocean City, New Jersey, and Saratoga Springs, New York. Lupton was signed as a contract player at MGM in Hollywood and made his first film appearance in On the Town in 1949.[2]
He co-starred in 1956 with Fess Parker in Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase. During the 1954-1955 television season, Lupton appeared as a college student in several episodes of the CBS sitcom, The Halls of Ivy. He also played Chris Lambert on the NBC series Fury (1955-1960),[4]: 373-374 Indian agent Tom Jeffords on the TV series Broken Arrow (1956-1958), and Frank on the ABC serial Never Too Young (1965-1966).[4]: 750 [4]
In 1959, Lupton was cast as a struggling writer in The Rebel Set. Also in 1959, he portrayed the historical Buffalo Bill Cody in the episode "The Grand Duke" on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days. The episode focuses on the friendship that developed when the skeptical Cody was assigned by the United States Army to escort The Grand Duke of Russia on a Western buffalo hunt. In 1961, Lupton was cast in another Death Valley Days episode, "South of Horror Flats", as Pinkerton agent Allen Hodges, who is hired by a ghost-plagued woman to take her and her fortune in gold to San Francisco.
In 1960, Lupton guest starred as Andrew Sykes in the episode "The Triple Cross" of the syndicated crime drama, U.S. Marshal. That same year, he appeared in a variety of programs, including Sea Hunt, Men into Space, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Gunsmoke as Ben Tolliver, another episode of Gunsmoke as Carl, Tales of Wells Fargo and Checkmate.
On April 25, 1961, Lupton played the role of Fred Powers in "Killers' Odds", an episode of NBC's Laramie. Series character Jess Harper (Robert Fuller) comes upon Powers, a stranger with a price on his head, although the charge is fraudulent because he had killed in self-defense. In 1961, Lupton was cast as Dr. John "Buzz" Neldrum in the episode "A Doctor Comes to Town" of the comedy-drama Window on Main Street, starring Robert Young as an author who returns to his hometown after the death of his wife and child. Lupton guest-starred as Amber in the 1961 episode "The Platinum Highway" of ABC's crime drama, Target: The Corruptors. He guest-starred in the 1965 episode "What Television Show Does Your Dog Watch?" of the CBS sitcom The Cara Williams Show. He also appeared on NBC's Daniel Boone.
Lupton later appeared in the 1965 biblical film The Greatest Story Ever Told as the speaker of the town of Capernaum, and as Jesse James in the 1966 cult horror Western, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter.
His later film career included roles in The Day of the Wolves (1971), The Astronaut (1972), Cool Breeze (1972), Napoleon and Samantha (1972), The Slams (1973), The Phantom of Hollywood (1974) and Airport 1975 (1974).
Other film appearances were in Disney's The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) as the race starter, The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper (1976), The Young Runaways (1978) and The Secret of Lost Valley (1980).
He was featured from 1967 to 1980 on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives in the pivotal role of Dr. Tom (Tommy) Horton Jr.
Walk of Fame
[edit]John Lupton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located on the west side of the 1700 block of Vine Street.[5]
Personal life
[edit]On April 7, 1956,[6] Lupton married Anne Sills, and they had a daughter, Rollin.[3] They divorced three years later, and on July 24, 1969, he wed Dian Friml in Las Vegas, Nevada,[7] to whom he was still married at the time of his death.
Death
[edit]Lupton died on November 3, 1993, aged 65.[1] His widow, Dian, died of cancer in 2005, aged 69.[8] He was cremated, with his family receiving his ashes.[1]
Filmography
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1951 | St. Benny the Dip | Seminary Student | Uncredited |
1952 | Shadow in the Sky | Clayton | |
1953 | Rogue's March | Lieutenant Jersey | |
1953 | The Story of Three Loves | Studious Young Ship Passenger | (segment "The Jealous Lover"), Uncredited |
1953 | Julius Caesar | Varro | |
1953 | Scandal at Scourie | Artemus | |
1953 | The Band Wagon | Jack, Prompter | Uncredited |
1953 | All the Brothers Were Valiant | Dick Morrell | |
1953 | Escape from Fort Bravo | Bailey | |
1954 | Dragonfly Squadron | Captain Woody Taylor | |
1954 | Prisoner of War | Lieutenant Peter Reilly | |
1955 | Battle Cry | Private / Corporal Marion 'Sister Mary' Hotchkiss | |
1955 | Seven Angry Men | Lieutenant Jeb Stuart | Uncredited |
1955 | Man with the Gun | Jeff Castle | |
1956 | Glory | Chad Chadburn | |
1956 | Diane | Regnault | |
1956 | The Great Locomotive Chase | William Pittenger | |
1956-58 | Broken Arrow | Indian Agent Tom Jeffords | 72 episodes |
1957 | Drango | Captain Marc Banning | |
1957 | Taming Sutton's Gal | Frank McClary | |
1958 | Gun Fever | Simon Weller | |
1959 | The Man in the Net | Brad Carey | |
1959 | The Rebel Set | Ray Miller | |
1959 | The Restless Gun | Season 2 Episode 23: "Ricochet" | |
1959 | Blood and Steel | Lieutenant Dave Jenson | |
1960 | Three Came to Kill | Hal Parker | |
1961 | The Clown and the Kid | Peter | |
1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Ralph Morrow | Season 7 Episode 32: "Victim Four" |
1964 | The Devil's Bedroom | Jim | |
1965 | The Greatest Story Ever Told | Speaker of Capernaum | |
1966 | Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter | Jesse James | |
1967 | Dragnet | Sergeant Carl Maxwell | Season 2 Episode 6: "The Senior Citizen" |
1971 | The Day of the Wolves | Hank | |
1972 | The Astronaut | Tom Masters | Television film |
1972 | Cool Breeze | Lieutenant Holster | |
1972 | Napoleon and Samantha | Pete | |
1972 | Private Parts | Second Policeman | |
1972 | Hit Man | Director Shooting Sherwood's TV Commercial | |
1973 | The World's Greatest Athlete | Race Starter | |
1973 | The Slams | Detective Sergeant | Uncredited |
1974 | Airport 1975 | Oringer | |
1976 | Midway | Officer Testing Electric Bomb Release | Uncredited |
1994 | Body Shot | Noah Goodman |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 461. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c Harris, Betty (August 27, 1958). "Star of 'Broken Arrow' Visits Muncie Relatives". Muncie Evening Press. Indiana, Muncie. p. 8. Retrieved August 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Interpretation of Owl, Pussy Cat Leads Actor to Starring TV Role". The Daily Herald. Utah, Provo. November 4, 1957. p. 20. Retrieved August 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
- ^ "John Lupton". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
- ^ California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959
- ^ Nevada, U.S., Marriage Index, 1956-2005
- ^ Obituary: Dian Lupton, legacy.com. Accessed June 13, 2024.
External links
[edit]- John Lupton at IMDb