Herbert Rudley (March 22, 1910 – September 9, 2006) was an American character actor who appeared on stage, films and on television.
Early life
Rudley was born in 1910 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and attended
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
. He left Temple after winning a scholarship to
Eva Le Gallienne's
Civic Repertory Theatre.
Stage
Rudley first appeared on stage in 1926 and had his
Broadway debut in 1931, appearing in ''Did I Say No''. Other Broadway credits include ''How Long Till Summer'' (1949), ''Sons and Soldiers'' (1942), ''
Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'' (1941), ''Eight O'Clock Tuesday'' (1940), ''Another Sun'' (1939), ''The World We Make'' (1939), ''The Eternal Road'' (1936), ''Battle Hymn'' (1935), ''Mother'' (1935), ''
The Threepenny Opera
''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...
'' (1932) and ''We, the People'' (1932). He also appeared in ''
Abe Lincoln in Illinois''.
Rudley and
Keenan Wynn
Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his wikt:stock-in-trade, stock-in-trade; though he rarely carried the leading actor, lead role, h ...
joined forces in the mid-1940s to create Players Production, a small theater venue in Los Angeles with the goal of presenting revivals of plays.
Rudley was also a playwright who, along with Fanya Lawrence, created the farce ''Adam Ate the Apple''.
Film
In 1940 Rudley appeared in the
film version of ''Abe Lincoln in Illinois''.
[ For the next four decades he appeared in dozens of supporting film roles, including '' The Seventh Cross'' (1944) and '']Rhapsody in Blue
''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...
'' (1945), a fictionalized biography of George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
in which he portrayed Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...
. He appeared in '' A Walk in the Sun'' (1945) as a 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 ...
U.S. Army sergeant who experiences a psychological breakdown in combat, ''Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
'' (1948) and '' The Young Lions'' (1958) in which he played an unsympathetic U.S. Army captain.
Rudley played a doctor who resuscitates a presumably executed convict in ''Decoy
A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''eenden kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to ...
'', and conversely played a nearly executed doctor who is thought dead and resuscitated by Basil Rathbone in '' The Black Sleep''.
Television
On television, Rudley appeared both in dramas, often as military men, and comedies. He appeared on seven episodes of the CBS series "You Are There" hosted by Walter Cronkite. He also appeared on ''My Friend Flicka
''My Friend Flicka'' is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his mustang horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by ''Thunderhead'' (1943) and ''Green Grass of Wyoming'' (1946). The ...
''.
In 1956, he played the lead character “Emmett Eagan” in the episode “The Man Who Would Be Marshall” on the TV Western ''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 ...
'' (S2E37).
In 1957, he appeared in the role of Sam Brennan in some early episodes of 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 ...
's western drama, '' The Californians'', set in the San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
gold rush of the 1850s. That same year he guest starred as “Emmett Egan”, a rich man who was bored with life so he tried to pay Matt Dillon to quit so he could become Marshall of Dodge City 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 ...
'' in “The Man Who Would Be Marshal” (S2E37).
He made four guest appearances on '' Perry Mason'' between 1958-1962 including the part of murderer George Durrell in 1958’s “The Case of the Prodigal Parent” and as Edward Nelson in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Gallant Grafter". He was one of only eleven actors to play all three pivotal roles in Perry Mason episodes—victim, defendant and murderer.
In 1959, he appeared as John McAuliffe on '' Border Patrol'' and as Col. Sam Percy on '' Maverick''. He guest starred twice as Jeremy Thorne in NBC's western series '' Laramie''. In the sixties he co-starred in two short-lived NBC half-hours, the drama, "Michael Shayne" with Richard Denning in 1960-61 and the Juliet Prowse comedy ''Mona McCluskey'' in 1965-66. In 1963, he appeared in two episodes of ''The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...
''. Also that year, he played the part of an overbearing father in "The All-Night Party" episode of ''Leave it to Beaver
''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers.
CBS first broadcast the show ...
''.
In 1973, Rudley guest starred in one episode of ''Griff
Griff may refer to:
People
* Griff (name), a list of people with the given name or surname
* Griff (singer), stage name of English singer and songwriter Sarah Faith Griffiths (born 2001)
* Nickname of Guy Griffiths (1915–1999), British Secon ...
''.
From 1967 through 1969 he co-starred as Herb Hubbard for two seasons on NBC-TV's '' The Mothers-in-Law'' with Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. In 1981, he made four appearances on ''Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
'' as Howard Barker, an attorney who represented J.R. Ewing in his divorce and child custody fight with his former wife, Sue Ellen.
Personal life
During the 1970's Rudley owned and operated a small gift shop in the Marina Del Rey shopping mall.
Rudley was first married to Ann Loring. They had a son, Stephen.[ ]
Death
Rudley died in 2006, aged 96, from a heart attack.
Filmography
References
Interviews
*''Scary Monsters Magazine'' (January 2008) no. 65 "The Black Sleep: An Interview With Herbert Rudley" Interview by Lawrence Fultz Jr.
*''Monster Bash Magazine'' (2006) no. 5 "On The Set of ''The Black Sleep''" Interview by Lawrence Fultz, Jr.
External links
Variety.com obituary
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudley, Herbert
1910 births
2006 deaths
Male actors from Philadelphia
American male stage actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Los Angeles
20th-century American male actors