Donald Mounger Collier (October 17, 1928 – September 13, 2021) was an American actor best known for
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
films and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
television shows such as ''
The High Chaparral
''The High Chaparral'' is an American Western action-adventure drama television series that aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971, starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions in association with NBC Produc ...
'', ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
,'' ''
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 ...
'', and
''Outlaws'' as Marshal Will Foreman.
Early years
Collier was born on October 17, 1928,
in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
on the
West Coast.
[ He worked as a geologist, a logging hand, a ranch hand, and a surveyor] and served in both the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
and the Merchant Marine. After his naval service, Collier worked as an extra in a few films before attending small Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
institution Hardin–Simmons College in Abilene, Texas
Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...
, on an athletic scholarship. He did not return to college after his freshman year, but he later studied geology
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
in Provo, Utah
Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...
.[
]
Career
For about three years, Collier enhanced his acting skills through work with a drama group headed by Estelle Harman. He found favor with directors and producers because his ranch-hand background enabled him to do his own fighting and horseback riding and driving a wagon with a team of horses without the use of stunt doubles..
On television in several series, Collier portrayed ranch hand Sam Butler in ''The High Chaparral
''The High Chaparral'' is an American Western action-adventure drama television series that aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971, starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions in association with NBC Produc ...
'' starring Leif Ericson
Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of I ...
, Cameron Mitchell, Henry Darrow, Mark Slade, Linda Cristal
Marta Victoria Moya Peggo Burges (24 February 1931 – 27 June 2020), known professionally as Linda Cristal (), was an Argentine–American actress. She appeared in a number of Western films during the 1950s, before winning a Golden Globe Awar ...
and Frank Silvera
Frank Alvin Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was a Jamaican-born American character actor and theatrical director.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Boston, Silvera dropped out of law school in 1934 after winning his first stage ...
, set on the desert ranch in the old old Southwest
The "Old Southwest" is an informal name for the southwestern frontier territories of the United States from the American Revolutionary War , through the early 1800s, at which point the US had acquired the Louisiana Territory, pushing the sout ...
and American frontier
The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the Geography of the United States, geography, History of the United States, history, Folklore of the United States, folklore, and Cultur ...
in the southern portion of the old Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...
, near the U.S.-Mexican border in Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
Indian country, deputy Will Foreman in ''Outlaws'', and William Tompkins in ''The Young Riders
''The Young Riders'' is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders (some of whom are young versions of legendary figures in Old West history) based ...
''.
He also appeared in the two extended World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
historical epic miniseries
In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
'' The Winds of War'' (1983), and its sequel '' War and Remembrance'' (1988-1989), televised during the 1980s
File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 335px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Space Shuttle Columbia, Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union, Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party of ...
, based on the two earlier war / political historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
novels of the same titles in 1971, followed by the second in 1978, by acclaimed author Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk ( ; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author. He published fifteen novels, many of them historical fiction such as ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1951), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize in fiction.
...
(1915-2019).
His more recent films also included several with star John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
: ''El Dorado
El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...
'' (1966), ''Tombstone
A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...
'' (1993), '' The War Wagon'' (1967), and '' The Undefeated'' (1969).
In the 1970s
File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...
, Collier also began making occasional television commercials, including one for Hubba Bubba bubble gum that had him portraying the amusing character, the 'Gum Fighter" for eight years. In addition to his work in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, he also some TV made commercials in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, where he was easily recognized because of his films / television roles.
Later in his career, Collier narrated '' The Desert Speaks'', a series of documentaries
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...
for the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
, appeared at Western festivals, and presented the one-man stage performance ''Confessions of an Acting Cowboy''.
The film documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
biography and films review ''Don Collier: Confessions of An Acting Cowboy'' was released as a video on DVD in 2020.
Personal life and death
Collier's marriage to Holly Hire, a casting director, ended with her death earlier in 2012. They had four children together. He died nine years after his wife from lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census.
Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the Virginia House of Burgesses after Boo ...
, on September 13, 2021, at the age of 92.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Don
1928 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from California
Male Western (genre) film actors
Western (genre) television actors
Male actors from Santa Monica, California
Deaths from lung cancer in Kentucky
Military personnel from California