Jesse Pearson (born Bobby Wayne Pearson; August 18, 1930December 5, 1979) was an American actor, singer, director, and writer.

Career

After releasing two singles on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

with little success, Pearson was heard by composer

Charles Strouse Charles Louis Strouse (June 7, 1928 – May 15, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause (musical), Applause'', and ''Annie (musical), Annie''. Backgrou ...

, who recommended him for the national tour of the musical ''

Bye Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The play's book was influenced by El ...

''. When

Dick Gautier Richard Gautier ( Go- tee- AY) (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series ''Get Smart'', and Robin Hood in the TV comedy series '' When Things ...

, the original actor playing Conrad Birdie, fell ill, Pearson took the role of the rock idol inspired by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. He repeated his characterization in the 1963 film version, ''

''. That same year (1963), he made two unsuccessful singles for RCA records. One of them, "One Last Kiss", was a song from the movie. This was followed by a performance in the

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006), known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-born American actor. He was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of th ...

comedy ''

Advance to the Rear ''Advance to the Rear'' is a light-hearted 1964 American Western comedy film set in the American Civil War. Directed by George Marshall, and starring Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, and Melvyn Douglas. The film is based on the 1957 novel ''Company o ...

'' (1964), but as he had no more film offers, he turned to television, appearing in shows such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

McHale's Navy ''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network. The series was filmed i ...

'', '' The Great Adventure'' and ''

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 ...

''. In the next decade, Pearson narrated the film ''

The Norseman ''The Norseman'' is a 1978 American adventure film starring Lee Majors and directed, produced and written by Charles B. Pierce. Plot An 11th-century Viking prince sails to North America to find his father, who was captured by Native Americans d ...

'' (1978), a Viking saga starring

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. He portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley on the American television Western series '' The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin on the American television sc ...

and

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...

. As expressions of sexuality became culturally more free, Pearson wrote two adult films, ''Pro-Ball Cheerleader (1979) and The Legend of Lady Blue'' (1978), which he also directed, both under the name, A. Fabritzi. Pearson was also the narrator of many albums, including

Rod McKuen Rodney Marvin McKuen ( ; ; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and composer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide ...

's ''The Sea'' (1967) and ''Home to the Sea'' (1968), as recorded by the San Sebastian Strings; as well as ''The Body Electric'' and ''The Body Electric-2'', two LPs based on poems by Walt Whitman, with music by McKuen, released in the early 1970s; the album tribute to songwriter-singer

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

, ''We Ain't Down Yet'' (1976); and two religious albums by

Jaime Mendoza-Nava Jaime Mendoza-Nava (December 1, 1925 – May 31, 2005) was a Bolivian-American composer and conductor. Early life and work Mendoza-Nava was born in La Paz, Bolivia. He studied at The Juilliard School and Madrid Royal Conservatory, the Sorbonne, ...

: ''And Jesus Said...'' and ''Meditation in Psalms'', also in 1976. Pearson also recorded the album ''The Glory of Love'' for RCA Victor, which remains unreleased to this day.

Death

Pearson was diagnosed with cancer and moved to

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

, to be near his mother, dying there at age 49 on December 5, 1979.

References

External links

*
Rod McKuen on Jesse Pearson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Jesse 1930 births 1979 deaths American male film actors American male screenwriters Male actors from Oklahoma People from Monroe, Louisiana 20th-century American male actors Deaths from cancer in Louisiana Film directors from Louisiana Screenwriters from Oklahoma Screenwriters from Louisiana 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters