Philip Bourneuf (January 7, 1908 - March 23, 1979) was an American character actor who had a long stage career before appearing in films.

Early years

The son of engineer Ambrose Bourneuf and his wife, the former Josephine Comeau, Bourneuf was born in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. He grew up in

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. It is situate ...

. As a high school student, he performed in vaudeville and with local stock theater companies.

Career

Bourneuf's obituary in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' noted, "Mr. Bourneuf was included in the small circle of distinguished actors who appeared in the original casts of the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

, a group founded by

Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway theatre, Broadway star by age 21, in 1926 she left Broadway behind to found the Fourteenth St ...

Margaret Webster Margaret Webster (March 15, 1905 – November 13, 1972) was an American-British theater actress, theatrical producer, producer and theatre direction, director. Critic George Jean Nathan described her as "the best director of the plays of Sha ...

, and

Cheryl Crawford Cheryl Crawford (September 24, 1902 – October 7, 1986) was an American theatre producer and director. Biography Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation in 1925, she moved to New York City a ...

." In the 1930s, Boruneuf acted as part of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal ...

. A founding member of the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

, one of Bourneuf's more memorable roles was as the district attorney who maneuvers the apparently innocent

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir and later in Western films. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigio ...

into the electric chair in ''

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of t ...

'' (1956). His last screen role was in the 1976 television mini-series '' Captains and the Kings''. Bourneuf made three guest appearances on '' Perry Mason''. In 1960, he played Asa Culver in "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor." In 1963 he played murder victim Edgar Thorne in "The Case of the Lawful Lazarus," and in 1965 he played defendant Victor Montalvo in "The Case of the Golden Girls." He also appeared in other television series like ''

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 ...

'', '' Dr. Kildare'' 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 ...

'' (in the 1956 S3E1's "Legal Revenge", playing injured and bedridden murderer George Basset; later that season he played Kelly in S3E23’s “Wild West”).

Personal life

Bourneuf was married to actress Frances Reid from 1940 until their divorce in 1973. They had no children.

Death

On March 23, 1979, Bourneuf was found dead in his apartment in Santa Monica, California, at age 71.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * 1908 births 1979 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Male actors from Massachusetts Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Entertainers from Somerville, Massachusetts Male actors from Santa Monica, California 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers Federal Theatre Project people People of Acadian Nova Scotian descent {{US-screen-actor-1900s-stub