Tod Andrews (born Theodore Edwin Anderson; November 9, 1914 – November 7, 1972) was an American stage, screen, and television actor.

Early years

Tod Andrews was born as Theodore Edwin Anderson in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, to Henry Anderson and Lydia A. Anderson (''née'' Apodaca; later Silverman, who wed in

Pima, Arizona Pima is a town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 2,387, up from 1,989 in 2000. The estimated population in 2018 was 2,512. Pima is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

, on November 18, 1913. Tod and his sister, Gertrude Anderson Pierucci, were raised in southern California; both suffered untimely deaths, predeceasing their mother, Lydia.Aaker, Everett (2006), ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters'' (pp. 19-20), McFarland & Company, Inc. Andrews graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

and

Washington State College Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

Career

Stage

Andrews began his career as Michael Ames at the

Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

and moved to New York City to appear onstage. Andrews acted with the

Margo Jones Margo Jones (December 12, 1911 – July 24, 1955), nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", was an American stage director and producer, best known for launching the American regional theater movement and for introducing the theater-in-the-round concep ...

Company in New York City from 1944 to 1948, when he was spotted by

Joshua Logan Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American theatre and film director, playwright and screenwriter, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing ...

. When

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway theatre, Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image. Bo ...

left the title role in '' Mister Roberts'', Logan gave Andrews the part in the road production. On

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, Andrews played in ''

Summer and Smoke ''Summer and Smoke'' is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, completed in 1948. He began working on the play in 1945 as ''Chart of Anatomy'', derived from his short stories "Oriflamme" and "Yellow Bird", the latter still a wor ...

'' (1948-1949) and ''A Girl Can Tell''. Billed as Michael Ames, he was in ''Quiet, Please!'' (1940), ''

My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a My Sister Eileen (play), play, ...

'' (1940-1943), ''Storm Operation'' (1944), ''Mrs. Kimball Presents'' (1944), ''Public Relations'' (1944), and ''That Old Devil'' (1944).

Film

He returned to films in 1965, appearing as Captain Tuthill in

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

's World War II action blockbuster ''

In Harm's Way ''In Harm's Way'' is a 1965 American epic historical romantic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Patricia Neal, with a supporting cast featuring Henry Fonda in a lengthy cameo, Tom Try ...

''. In 1968, Andrews appeared on film in

Ted Post Theodore Ian Post (March 31, 1918 – August 20, 2013) was an American director of film and television. Highly prolific, Post directed numerous episodes of well-known television series including '' Rawhide'', ''Gunsmoke'', and ''The Twilight Zo ...

's ''

Hang 'Em High ''Hang 'Em High'' is a 1968 American revisionist Western film directed by Ted Post and written by Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching; Inger Stevens as a widow who ...

'' as a defense attorney. Two years later, he worked again with Post in ''

Beneath the Planet of the Apes ''Beneath the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1970 American science fiction film directed by Ted Post from a screenplay by Paul Dehn, based on a story by Dehn and Mort Abrahams. The film is the sequel to ''Planet of the Apes'' (1968) and the second ...

'', as

James Franciscus James Grover Franciscus (January 31, 1934 – July 8, 1991) was an American actor, known for his roles in feature films and in six television series: ''Mr. Novak'', ''Naked City (TV series), Naked City'', ''The Investigators (1961 TV series), T ...

's dying commanding officer, Colonel 'Skipper' Maddox. His final screen appearance was as a doctor in 1973's '' The Baby'', also directed by Post.

Television

Andrews' television performances included a starring role from 1957 to 1958 in the syndicated series of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, '' The Gray Ghost'', based on the heroic

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

John Singleton Mosby John Singleton Mosby (December 6, 1833 – May 30, 1916), also known by his nickname "Gray Ghost", was an American military officer who was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War. His command, the 43rd Battalion, Virginia ...

. In 1959, he starred in the 13-episode ''Counterthrust'', a syndicated series "in which he played a secret agent in the Far East battling Communism". Andrews did a screen test for the ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'' 1950s TV series playing Perry Mason opposite

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramas '' Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career inclu ...

as Hamilton Burger. This and other screen tests for that show were released on the Perry Mason 50th Anniversary 3-DVD set from 2008. Andrews was cast as Captain Lynn Parker in the 1960 episode, "Yankee Confederate," on the syndicated

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

, ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'', hosted by

Stanley Andrews Stanley Martin Andrews (born Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first host of ...

. In the story line, Parker is assigned by

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Ulysses Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as commanding general, Grant led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War ...

( Stan Jones) to infiltrate a

spy ring masterminded by Belle Waverly ( Elaine Devry).

Gavin MacLeod Gavin MacLeod ( ; born Allan George See; February 28, 1931 – May 29, 2021) was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's ''The Love ...

played Belle's fiancé, Dandy Martin, who shoots her to death because she developed romantic feelings for Captain Parker. He was cast in two episodes of the CBS sitcom, ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

'' and in the 1962 series finale, "The Hoax," of the ABC adventure series, '' Straightaway'', starring Brian Kelly and John Ashley. In 1962, he portrayed the part of Holt in the episode "The Devil and the Deep Blue" on CBS's ''

Rawhide Rawhide may refer to: *Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned * Whip made from rawhide Entertainment * ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe * ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...

''. In 1964, he appeared in " The Bewitchin' Pool", the last original broadcast episode of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. In 1973, Andrews played the

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in the made-for-TV political thriller, '' The President's Plane is Missing''.

Recognition

Andrews won a

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

in 1949 for his work in ''

''.

Personal life

Andrews was married three times, to Gloria Eleanor Folland, Alice Kirby Hooker, and Karolyn Rainwater. The first two marriages ended in divorce, and he was married to Rainwater when he died. In early August 1961 Tod Andrews (reference: Tod Andrews Takes Overdose, NY (AP) August 6, 1961) was hospitalized following a suicide attempt. According to an AP article published August 6, 1961, Tod Andrews was hospitalized at Lenox Hill Hospital after an overdose of sleeping pills. It was reported that he had phoned a friend to say he was going to kill himself and was subsequently found slumped in a chair in the apartment of a female friend. He was hospitalized on a Saturday in critical condition but taken off the critical list later the same day. On August 15, 1961, an article by Dorothy Kilgallen in Voice of Broadway noted that friends of Andrews were "still mystified about his headlined suicide attempt” as only hours earlier he had apparently been "having a cheerful time at Danny's Hideaway" talking about the "great year he had coming up on Broadway and in TV and announced his engagement to Valerie Veigal." (ref: Dorothy Kilgallen Voice of Broadway, in Olean Times Herald, Aug 15 1967 page 13)

Death

Andrews died of a heart attack on November 7, 1972, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, two days before his 58th birthday. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

. He was survived by, among others, his wife Karolyn, at least two children (some sources indicate three children), and his mother. Some sources indicate his father survived him as well but his father's year of death has not been established.

Filmography

Film

*''

Dive Bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

'' (1941) as Telephone Man (film debut, uncredited) *'' International Squadron'' (1941) as Michele Edmé *''

They Died with Their Boots On ''They Died with Their Boots On'' is a 1941 American biographical western war film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Arthur Kennedy. It was made and distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Hal B. Wal ...

'' (1941) as Cadet Brown (uncredited) *'' The Body Disappears'' (1941) as Bill *'' Dangerously They Live'' (1941) as Dr. Craig (uncredited) *''

Captains of the Clouds ''Captains of the Clouds'' ( ''Shadows of Their Wings'') is a 1942 American war film in Technicolor, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. It was produced by William Cagney (Cagney's brother), with Hal B. Wallis as executive pro ...

'' (1942) as Student Pilot *'' Bullet Scars'' (1942) as Joe Madison *''

The Male Animal ''The Male Animal'' is a 1942 American comedy-drama film produced by Warner Bros., starring Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie. The film was based on a hit 1940 Broadway play of the same name written by James Thurber and Ell ...

'' (1942) as Student (uncredited) *'' I Was Framed'' (1942) as Ken Marshall (Scott) *'' Murder in the Big House'' (1942) as Dapper Dan Malloy *''

Spy Ship A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship. Sp ...

'' (1942) as Gordon Morrel *''

Now, Voyager ''Now, Voyager'' is a 1942 American drama (film and television), drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Oli ...

'' (1942) as Dr. Dan Regan (uncredited) *'' Truck Busters'' (1943) as Dave Todd *''

Action in the North Atlantic ''Action in the North Atlantic'' is a 1943 American war film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Jerry Wald, directed by Lloyd Bacon, and adapted by John Howard Lawson from a story by Guy Gilpatric. The film stars Humphrey Bogart and R ...

'' (1943) as Ahearn (uncredited) *'' Heaven Can Wait'' (1943) as Jack Van Cleve *''

Voodoo Man ''Voodoo Man'' is a 1944 American horror film directed by William Beaudine, and starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco. Plot Nicholas runs an isolated gas station in the countryside. One night, he gives a young woman driver dir ...

'' (1944) as Ralph Dawson *'' Return of the Ape Man'' (1944) as Steve Rogers *'' The Last Ride'' (1944) as Fritz Hummel *'' Outrage'' (1950) as Rev. Bruce Ferguson *'' Between Heaven and Hell'' (1956) as Lt. Ray Mosby *'' From Hell It Came'' (1957) as Dr. William Arnold *''

'' (1965) as Captain Tuthill *''

'' (1968) as Defense Attorney *''

'' (1970) as Skipper *'' The Baby'' (1973) as Doctor *'' The President's Plane Is Missing'' (1973,TV) (final film)

Television

* '' The Gray Ghost'' (1957-1958) as Maj. John Mosby/The Gray Ghost * ''

One Step Beyond One Step Beyond may refer to: Music * ''One Step Beyond'' (Dungeon album) or the title song, 2004 * ''One Step Beyond'' (Jackie McLean album), 1963 * '' One Step Beyond...'', an album by Madness, or the title song (see below), 1979 * ''One Ste ...

'' (1959) as Lt. Cmdr. Stacey * ''

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

'' (1960-1962) as George Harris/Dr. James Low * ''

'' (1960-1968) as Captain Lynn Parker/ William C. Ralston * ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American private detective crime drama television series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each epis ...

'' (1961) as Jim Breck * ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' (1961) as Myles Cody * ''

Frontier Circus ''Frontier Circus'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961, until Sep ...

'' (1961) as Jeff Andrews * ''

'' (1961-1968) as Ralph Case/Mr. Franklin * ''

'' (1962) as Holt * ''

'' (1964) as Gil Sharewood * '' The F.B.I.'' (1969) as Ed Franklin * ''

Bright Promise ''Bright Promise'' is an American daytime soap opera that ran on NBC from September 29, 1969 to March 31, 1972. Synopsis The show revolved around students and faculty at the fictional Bancroft College, located in the community of Bancroft, some ...

'' (1969) as Dean Henry Pierce #1 * '' The Bold Ones: The Lawyers'' (1970) as Ted Hollister * '' Ironside'' (1970) as Man * ''

Ghost Story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

'' (1972) as Andrew Burgess * ''

Banacek ''Banacek'' is an American detective television series starring George Peppard that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974. The series was part of the rotating '' NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie'' anthology. It alternated in its time slot with several othe ...

'' (1972) as Graves (last appearance)

References

External links

* *
Tod Andrews profile
Answers.com; accessed September 21, 2017.

MovieTome.com; accessed September 21, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Tod 1914 births 1972 deaths Male actors from California Male actors from New York (state) American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City 20th-century American male actors