Richard Whorf (June 4, 1906 – December 14, 1966) was an American actor, writer and film director.

Life and acting career

Whorf was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah (née Lee) Whorf. His older brother was

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager, then moved to Broadway at age 21, debuting there in ''The Banshee'' (1927). He played a famous painter who had resorted to drinking in the 1960 episode "The Illustrator" of ''

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 ...

'', starring Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford.

Directing career

He began his film directing career with the 1942

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

''March On, America'' and the 1944

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

'' Blonde Fever''. He directed a number of television programs in the 1950s and 1960s, including early episodes of ''

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 ...

'', the entire second season of ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seve ...

'', and 67 episodes of '' The Beverly Hillbillies''. He directed the short-lived series '' Border Patrol'' and the 1964–1965 ABC sitcom '' Mickey'', starring

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

. In the summer of 1960, he guest-starred in one episode of and directed other segments of the short-lived western series ''

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

'', and he helmed episodes of the 1961–1962 CBS sitcom '' Father of the Bride'', starring Leon Ames. Whorf directed the unsuccessful 1961 stage comedy ''Julia, Jake and Uncle Joe''.

Personal life

In 1929, Whorf married Margaret H. Smith. He was a brother of Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941), known for being a linguist, and John Whorf (1903–1959), an artist.

Partial filmography

As actor

* ''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

'' (1934) – Arthur Weldon * ''

Blues in the Night "Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun wi ...

'' (1941) – Jigger Pine * '' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) – Sam Harris * '' Juke Girl'' (1942) – Danny Frazier * '' Keeper of the Flame'' (1943) – Clive Kerndon * '' Assignment in Brittany'' (1943) – Jean Kerenor * ''

The Cross of Lorraine ''The Cross of Lorraine'' is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer war film about French Prisoner of war, prisoners of war escaping a German prison camp and joining the French Resistance. Directed by Tay Garnett, starring Jean-Pierre Aumont and Gene Kelly, ...

'' (1943) – François * '' The Impostor'' (1944, aka Strange Confession) – Lt. Varenne * '' Christmas Holiday'' (1944) – Simon Fenimore * '' Blonde Fever'' (1944) – Chef (uncredited) * '' Chain Lightning'' (1950) – Carl Troxell * '' The Groom Wore Spurs'' (1951) – Film Director Richard Whorf (uncredited)

As director

* '' Blonde Fever'' (1944) * '' The Hidden Eye'' (1945) * '' The Sailor Takes a Wife'' (1945) * '' Till the Clouds Roll By'' (1946) * '' It Happened in Brooklyn'' (1947) * '' Love from a Stranger'' (1947) * '' Luxury Liner'' (1948) * '' Champagne for Caesar'' (1950) * '' The Groom Wore Spurs'' (1951) * ''

'' (1958)

As producer

* '' The Burning Hills'' (1956) * '' Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend'' (1957) * '' Bombers B-52'' (1957)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whorf, Richard 1906 births 1966 deaths Male actors from Massachusetts American male film actors American male television actors American television directors Male actors from Los Angeles People from Winthrop, Massachusetts American costume designers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century American male actors American male stage actors Warner Bros. contract players Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players