Kenneth E. Lynch (July 15, 1910 – February 13, 1990) was an American radio, film, and television actor with more than 180 credits to his name. He was generally known for portraying law enforcement officers and detectives. He may have been best known for his starring role as "the Lieutenant" on Dumont detective series '' The Plainclothesman'' (1949–1954), on which his face was never seen, and for his co-starring role as Sergeant Grover on '' McCloud''.

Early life

Kenneth Englehart Lynch was born on July 15, 1910, in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, the only child of Bertha Dietzel and Charles William Lynch. His father was a native of

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' ...

, who started his career as a coffee salesman, and then became a

creamery A creamery or cheese factory is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has ...

owner in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. His mother was from

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, a third generation

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

. The middle name, Englehart, a mark of his German ancestry, was his maternal grandmother's maiden name.

Career

Lynch made his acting career on radio series. In 1940, on '' The Bishop and the Gargoyle'', he played the Gargoyle, an ex-convict who helped the Bishop solve crimes.Frank Buxton and Bill Owen, ''The Big Broadcast'', page 39, The Viking Press, 1972 From 1942 to 1946, he was the voice of Tank Tanker, the mechanic, who aides the title character in '' Hop Harrigan''. He had roles on three daytime radio soap operas. Lynch played Victor on ''

Backstage Wife ''Backstage Wife'' is an American soap opera radio program that details the travails of Mary Noble, a girl from a small town in Iowa who came to New York seeking her future. Personnel Vivian Fridell had the title role from 1935 until the early ...

'', Buck on '' Portia Faces Life'', and Slim Stark on ''A Woman of America''. In 1950, Lynch starred in ''One Thousand Dollars Reward'', a rare crime drama, where after the crime play had ended, the host would place a telephone call to a random listener, who would then try to solve the mystery. Lynch also appeared on the radio shows '' The Falcon'', '' 21st Precinct'', and ''

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 ...

''. Later, in 1952, he played both Christopher Gard and Steve Lacey in '' Cafe Istanbul'' on CBS radio. From 1949 to 1954, Lynch starred in '' The Plainclothesman'' on the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 838–839. In his role of the lieutenant on that program, he did not appear on camera, giving the impression that viewers saw things through his eyes. He appeared in numerous television series. He made three guest appearances on '' Perry Mason'', including the role of Wallace Lang in "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop" in 1959, Robert Hayden in "The Case of the Irate Inventor" in 1960 and Customs Inspector Wendel in "The Case of the Floating Stones" in 1963. Some of the other series in which Lynch appeared are ''

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American detective fiction, private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens (actor), Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, lounge singer Edie Hart. The series was broadcast by NBC from Sept ...

'', ''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'', '' Have Gun - Will Travel'' ("Love of a Bad Woman"), ''

'' (“Bureaucrat” & “The Patsy”), ''

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 ...

'' ("Cyanide Touch"), woman"), ''

'' ("Born To Hang"), '' The Asphalt Jungle'', '' Straightaway'', ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It f ...

'', '' The Fugitive'', ''

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 ...

'', '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'', '' Blue Light'', ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pe ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' (" The Devil in the Dark") Season 1, Episode 25 as Chief Engineer Vanderberg in 1967, '' Maverick'', ''

All In The Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' (in the famous episode, " Archie and the Lockup", where he played Guard Callaghan), ''

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 ...

'' (" Mr. Denton on Doomsday"), ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'', and ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western (genre), Western, spy film, spy, and science fiction on television, science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 19 ...

''. In 1960 Lynch appeared as Al Killmer in the TV western series '' Lawman'' in the episode titled "The Escape of Joe Killmer." He played The Freighter in S8 E26 "The Jarbo Pierce Story" on "Wagon Train", 1965. Between 1972 and 1977, he made 16 guest appearances on '' McCloud'', performing as a police sergeant and later a detective named Grover on the series. He previously appeared in 12 episodes of ''

'', 10 episodes of '' The F.B.I.'', nine episodes of ''

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 ...

'', and six episodes in both '' The Virginian'' and '' Gomer Pyle, USMC''. Among the feature films in which he appeared are '' I Married a Monster from Outer Space'', ''

North By Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...

'', '' The Lawbreakers'', '' Pork Chop Hill'', ''

Anatomy of a Murder ''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American legal drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under ...

'' and '' Tora! Tora! Tora!''. He appeared in ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...

'' as Dr Horning in episode 22, "Experiment in Terra" (1979). Lynch's last credited performance was in the role of Rear Admiral Talbot Gray in the 1983 seven-part

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''.

Flower business

Even though Lynch still had a very successful career as an actor by the 1970s, he began looking for another, more steady source of income. He explained in a 1975 newspaper interview: "In acting you just can't predict the jobs that will come along. If you could, you could budget." With such income uncertainty in mind as he grew older, Lynch bought a flower shop in

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

a "few years" before the noted interview. He began studying

floriculture Floriculture (from ) is the study of the efficient production of the plants that produce showy, colorful flowers and foliage for human enjoyment in human environments. It is a commercially successful branch of horticulture and agriculture found ...

, taking courses in the art of floral arranging and design, and then providing flowers for local weddings, receptions, and other events. According to Lynch, his many years of experience performing on decorated sets for movies and television series proved to be a benefit to him in his new business. "Actually," he observed, "servicing a wedding is like ordering flowers for a studio set".

Death

Lynch died at age 79 from a virus on February 13, 1990, in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

. He was buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in

Mission Hills, Los Angeles Mission Hills is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. It is near the northern junction of the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5 (California), I-5) and the Interstate 405 (California), San Diego Freewa ...

Filmography

Film

*'' When Willie Comes Marching Home'' (1950) - (uncredited) *'' Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958) – Frank (uncredited) *'' Young and Wild'' (1958) – David Whitman *'' The Bonnie Parker Story'' (1958) – Cook *'' Man or Gun'' (1958) – Buckstorm Corley *'' Voice in the Mirror'' (1958) – Frank, Bartender *'' I Married a Monster from Outer Space'' (1958) – Dr. Wayne *'' Unwed Mother'' (1958) – Ray Curtis *'' Paratroop Command'' (1959) – Lieutenant Ed *'' Pork Chop Hill'' (1959) – Major General Trudeau *''

'' (1959) – Detective Sergeant James Durgo *'' The Legend of Tom Dooley'' (1959) – Father *''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...

'' (1959) – Officer Charlie *''

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'' is a 1957 play by William Inge about family conflicts during the early 1920s in a small Oklahoma town. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 1958 and was made into a film of the same name in 1 ...

'' (1960) – Harry Ralston *'' Seven Ways from Sundown'' (1960) – Graves *'' Portrait of a Mobster'' (1961) – Lieutenant D. Corbin *'' The Honeymoon Machine'' (1961) – Captain James Angle *'' Walk on the Wild Side'' (1962) – Frank Bonito *'' Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962) – Proprietor (uncredited) *'' Dead Ringer'' (1964) – Captain Johnson *'' Apache Rifles'' (1964) – Hodges *'' Dear Heart'' (1964) – The Masher *'' Mister Buddwing'' (1966) – Dan *''

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

'' (1967) – Joe Laswell *'' P.J.'' (1968) – Thorson *'' Never a Dull Moment'' (1968) – Police Lieutenant (uncredited) *'' Tora! Tora! Tora!'' (1970) – Rear Admiral John H. Newton (uncredited) *'' Across 110th Street'' (1972) – Tailor Shop Patrolman *''Bard Charleston Charlie'' (1973) – Sheriff Harve Koontz *'' Willie Dynamite'' (1974) – Judge #1 *'' W'' (1974) – Guard

Television

* ''

'' (1958) – Episode "The Patsy" as Cowboy Fly Ho * ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'' (1958) (Season 4 Episode 7: "Man with a Problem") as Police Lieutenant * Perry Mason (1959) "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop" as Wallace Lang * '' The Andy Griffith Show '' (1960) (Season 1 Episode 2 ( Manhunt) as Captain Barker state police * '' The Andy Griffith Show '' (1960) (Season 2 Episode 18 ( Jailbreak ) as Mr. Horton state police * ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' (1971) "The Patsy" as Jail Guard Callahan. * ''

'' (1971) "Archie in the Lock-Up" as Guard Callahan. * ''

'' (1973) "Everybody Tells The Truth" as Bob the Repairman * ‘’

‘’ (1967) “ The Devil in the Dark” as Chief Engineer Vanderberg

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Ken 1910 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male television actors American male radio actors Male actors from Albany, New York American people of German descent Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery Western (genre) television actors