Frank Emmons Overton (March 12, 1918April 24, 1967) was an American actor. He was best known for the roles of Major Harvey Stovall in '' 12 O'Clock High'' (1964-1967), Sheriff Heck Tate in ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

'' (1962), and General Bogan in ''

Fail Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inheren ...

'' (1964).

Early life

Overton was born in

Babylon, New York The Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Its population was 218,223 as of the 2020 census. Parts of Jones Beach Island, Captree Island and Fire Island are in the southernmost part of the town. It borde ...

on March 12, 1918.

Career

Overton's acting career began on the stage in New York City. His

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 ...

credits include ''The Desperate Hours'' (1954), ''The Trip to Bountiful'' (1953), ''Truckline Cafe'' (1945), and ''Jacobowsky and the Colonel'' (1943). Overton appeared in numerous

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

s during the early 1950s and through the late 1960s. In 1959, he appeared in an 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 ...

'' with

Gig Young Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come Fill the Cup'' ...

, called " Walking Distance". Overton also appeared in the episode titled " Mute" as Sheriff Harry Wheeler with Ann Jillian. He played the father of Joe's terminally ill fiancee (Brooke Hayward) in ''

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 ...

'' Season 3 Episode 19 "The Storm". Other TV work included '' The Fugitive'' in 1963. He played Sheriff Heck Tate in the 1962 film ''

''. In 1964, he played General Bogan in the film ''

''. Overton appeared in an episode of the 1961

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

series ''

The Asphalt Jungle ''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 American heist film noir directed and cowritten by John Huston and starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire and Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest role ...

''. He made two guest appearances on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

courtroom drama series ''

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 ...

'' in diverse roles. In 1961, he played a priest, Father Paul, in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee", and in 1963 he played Deputy D.A. Nelson Taylor in "The Case of the Bluffing Blast". Overton played Major Harvey Stovall in the TV series '' 12 O'Clock High''. Overton also played a significant role in the movie ''

Wild River A wild river (United States, Australia, & New Zealand) or heritage river (Canada) is a :river or a Drainage basin, river system designated by a government to be protected and kept "relatively untouched by development and are therefore in near n ...

'', where he appeared as the jilted fiancé of

Lee Remick Lee Ann Remick (; December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film ''Days of Wine and Roses (film), Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962) and was nominated fo ...

. One of his last TV roles was that of Elias Sandoval in ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''s "

This Side of Paradise ''This Side of Paradise'' is the 1920 debut novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is a handsome middle-class stu ...

", which originally aired in March 1967, just one month before his death at age 49.

Personal life and death

In 1962, Overton married actress Phyllis Hill in Los Angeles. Overton died after a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1967 in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of downtown Los Angeles. Throughout January 2025, the majority of Pacific Palisades was severely affec ...

. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Overton, Frank 1918 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from New York (state) People from Babylon, New York