Charles Richard Garland Jr. (July 7, 1927 – May 24, 1969) was an American film, stage and television actor. He was known for playing the recurring role of Constable Clay Horton in CBS's television series ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another ...

'' from 1954 to 1956.

Life and career

Garland was born in

Mineral Wells, Texas Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,788 at the 2010 census (14,644 in Palo Pinto and 2144 in Parker). The city is named for mineral wells in the area, which were highly pop ...

. He began his career in 1951, first appearing in the stage play '' Dark of the Moon'' at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extend ...

. Garland made his film debut in 1951 in the film ''

Week-End with Father ''Week-End with Father'' is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Van Heflin, Patricia Neal and Gigi Perreau. Plot Their children are leaving New York City for summer camp, so Brad Stubbs wishes his two daughters goodb ...

''. He then made an appearance in the 1952 film ''

The Cimarron Kid ''The Cimarron Kid'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Audie Murphy and Beverly Tyler. Plot Bill Doolin (Audie Murphy) is released from jail and is going home on the train when it is held up by his boy ...

''. Garland played Big Jim Moore in the film. In the same year, he appeared in the films ''

The Battle at Apache Pass ''The Battle at Apache Pass'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by George Sherman. The stars are John Lund as United States Army Maj. Colton and Jeff Chandler (in brownface) repeating the role of Apache chief Cochise, whom he had pl ...

'', '' Red Ball Express'', '' Scarlet Angel'', ''

Untamed Frontier ''Untamed Frontier'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Hugo Fregonese and starring Joseph Cotten, Shelley Winters and Scott Brady. The film, featuring the working title of ''The Untamed'' featured the feature film debuts of Suzan Bal ...

'', '' Son of Ali Baba'', and '' Torpedo Alley''. Later film appearances included '' Forever Female'' (1953), '' The Desperado'' (1954), '' The Man from Bitter Ridge'' (1955), '' Friendly Persuasion'' (1956), '' My Gun Is Quick'' (1957), '' 13 Fighting Men'' (1960), '' Panic in Year Zero!'' (1962), and '' Mutiny in Outer Space'' (1965). His final credit was from the 1966 film '' The Chase''. Garland made his television debut in the

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

series '' My Little Margie'' in 1953. He also made appearances in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

television series ''

The Adventures of Kit Carson ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'' is an American Western that aired from 1951 to 1955. The show ran for four seasons and consisted of 104 episodes over four years. The original air date was Saturday, August 11, 1951. It concluded on January 22, 19 ...

''. He made guest-starring in television programs including ''

The Deputy ''The Deputy, a Christian tragedy'' (German: ''Der Stellvertreter. Ein christliches Trauerspiel''), also published in English as ''The Representative '', is a controversial 1963 play by Rolf Hochhuth which portrayed Pope Pius XII as having fail ...

'', ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was on ...

'', ''

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' is the first Western television series written for adults, premiering four days before ''Gunsmoke'' on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western ''Cheyenne''. The series is loosely bas ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

26 Men ''26 Men'' is a syndicated American Western television series about the Arizona Rangers, a law-enforcement group limited to 26 active members. By March 1958, the program was carried on 158 stations in the United States. The program was also broadc ...

'', ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the w ...

'', ''

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 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'' and '' The Virginian''.

Personal life

In 1951 Garland married the actress

Beverly Garland Beverly Lucy Garland (née Fessenden; October 17, 1926 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress. Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action or science-fiction movie ...

. They were divorced in 1953.

Death

Garland began to drink heavily in the late 1950s. He died in May 1969 of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, at the age of 41. His body was used in a medical school as a

laboratory specimen Need In medicine, a laboratory specimen is a biological specimen of a medical patient's tissue, fluids, or other material used for laboratory analysis to assist in differential diagnosis or staging of a disease process. For example, to detect bre ...

References

External links

* * *
Rotten Tomatoes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Richard 1927 births 1969 deaths People from Mineral Wells, Texas Male actors from Texas Alcohol-related deaths in California American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors