Milburn Stone
Known for: Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series Gunsmoke. Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the former Laura Belfield. There, he graduated from Burrton High School, where he was active in the drama club, played basketball, and sang in a barbershop quartet. His brother, Joe, was a writer who was the author of scripts for three episodes of Gunsmoke. In 1919, Stone debuted on stage in a Kansas tent show. He ventured into vaudeville in the late 1920s, and in 1930, he was half of the Stone and Strain song-and-dance act. His Broadway credits include Around the Corner (1936) and Jayhawker (1934). In the 1930s, Stone came to Los Angeles, California, to launch his own screen career. He was featured in the "Tailspin Tommy" adventure serial for Monogram Pictures. In 1940, he appeared with Marjorie Reynolds, Tristram Coffin, and I. Stanford Jolley in the comedy espionage film Chasing Trouble. That same year, he co-starred with Roy Rogers in the film Colorado in the role of Rogers' brother-gone-wrong. Stone appeared uncredited in the 1939 film Blackwell's Island. Stone played Dr. Blake in the 1943 film Gung Ho! and a liberal-minded warden in Monogram Pictures' Prison Mutiny in 1943. Signed by Universal Pictures in 1943, in the film Captive Wild Woman (1943), Jungle Woman (1943), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death [Captain Pat Vickery], (1944), he became a familiar face in its features and serials. In 1955, one of CBS Radio's hit series, the Western Gunsmoke, was adapted for television and recast with experienced screen actors. Howard McNear, the radio Doc Adams, was replaced by Stone, who gave the role a harder edge consistent with his screen portrayals. He stayed with Gunsmoke through its entire television run, with the exception of 7 episodes in 1971, when Stone required heart surgery and Pat Hingle replaced him as Dr. Chapman. Stone appeared in 604 episodes through 1975, often shown sparring in a friendly manner with co-stars Dennis Weaver and Ken Curtis, who played, respectively, Chester Goode and Festus Haggen. In June 1980, Stone died of a heart attack in La Jolla. He was survived by his second wife, the former Jane Garrison, a native of Hutchinson, Kansas, who died in 2002. Stone had a surviving daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason (born circa 1926) of Costa Mesa, California, from his first marriage of 12 years to Ellen Morrison, formerly of Delphos, Kansas, who died in 1937. He was buried at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. In 1968, Stone received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama for his work on Gunsmoke. For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn Stone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1981, Stone was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. After his death, he left a legacy for the performing arts in Cecil County in northeastern Maryland, by way of the Milburn Stone Theatre in North East, Maryland.
Filmography
Series
Dragnet
1951
Series
Climax!
Mr. Dale
1954
Series
Gunsmoke
Doc
1955
Series
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
Series
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Self
1969
Series
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self
1973
Series
Racket Squad
1951
Film
Flying Leathernecks
Fleet CIC Radio Operator (uncredited)
1951
Film
The Savage
Cpl. Martin
1952
Film
Operation Pacific
Ground Control Officer (uncredited)
1951
Film
Invisible Agent
German Sergeant (uncredited)
1942
Film
White Feather
Commissioner Trenton
1955
Film
Young Mr. Lincoln
Stephen A. Douglas (uncredited)
1939
Film
Lillian Russell
Jack - Reporter
1940
Film
Second Chance
Edward Dawson (uncredited)
1953
Film
Jungle Woman
Fred Mason
1944
Film
Johnny Apollo
Reporter (uncredited)
1940
Film
Snow Dog
Dr. F. J. McKenzie
1950
Film
Pickup on South Street
Detective Winoki
1953
Film
Reap the Wild Wind
Lieutenant Farragut
1942
Film
Sky Patrol
Skeeter Milligan
1939
Film
Arrowhead
Sandy MacKinnon
1953
Blazing Barriers
Joe Waters
1937
Film
Framed
Mathew Mattison
1940
Film
Invaders from Mars
Army Capt. Roth
1953
Film
Stunt Pilot
'Skeeter' Milligan
1939
Film
Roadblock
Ray Egan
1951
Film
Chasing Trouble
Pat Callahan
1940
Film
The Long Gray Line
Captain John J. Pershing
1955
Film
Destroyer
Radioman (uncredited)
1943
Film
Rendezvous
Carter's Aide (uncredited)
1935
Film
Tail Spin
Kansas City Mechanic (Uncredited)
1939
Film
The Private War of Major Benson
Maj. Gen. Wilton J. Ramsey
1955
Film
When Tomorrow Comes
Head Busboy (uncredited)
1939
Film
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Capt. Pat Vickery
1943
Film
Phantom Lady
District Attorney (voice) (uncredited)
1944
Film
Pacific Rendezvous
Hotel Desk Clerk
1942
Film
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
Self
1979
Film
The Racket
Member of Craig's Team (uncredited)
1951
Film
Gung Ho!
Cmdr. Blake
1943
Film
Branded
Dawson
1950
Film
Black Tuesday
Father Slocum
1954
Film
Buck Privates Come Home
Announcer
1947
Film
Colorado
Don Burke - alias Capt. Donald Mason
1940
Film
Made for Each Other
Newark Official (uncredited)
1939
Film
The Atomic City
Insp. Harold Mann
1952
Film
Blind Alley
Nick
1939
Film
Fighting Mad
Cardigan
1939
Film
China Clipper
Radio Operator
1936
Film
Wings Over Honolulu
Telephone Operator
1937
Film
The Siege at Red River
Sgt. Benjamin 'Benjy' Guderman
1954
Film
Inside Job
District Attorney Sutton
1946
Film
Strange Conquest
Bert Morrow
1946
Film
Youth on Parole
Ratty
1937
Film
Eyes in the Night
Detective Pete (Uncredited)
1942
Film
Silent Witness
Racketeer Joe Manson
1943
Film
Keep 'Em Slugging
Duke Redman
1943
Film
The Sun Shines Bright
Horace K. Maydew
1953
Film
Smoke Signal
Sergeant Miles
1955
Film
The Great Train Robbery
Duke Logan
1941
Film
The Fireball
Jeff Davis
1950
Film
Murder with Pictures
Operator (uncredited)
1936
Frisco Lil
1942
Film
The Princess Comes Across
American Reporter (uncredited)
1936
Film
Little Giant
Prof. Watkins (uncredited) (voice)
1946
Film
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Krebs - 2d hurt worker
1939
Film
Corvette K-225
Canadian Captain
1943
Film
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass
Abe Jones
1949
Film
Enemy Agent
Meeker
1940
Film
Tropic Fury
Thomas E. Snell
1939
Film
Strange Confession
Stevens
1945
Film
Sky Dragon
Pilot Tim Norton
1949
Film
Public Deb No. 1
Reporter
1940
Film
Buyer Beware
Fredericks (uncredited)
1940
Film
The Accusing Finger
Convict
1936
Film
No Man of Her Own
Plainclothesman
1950
Film
The Master Key
Agent Tom Brant
1945
Film
Weird Woman
1944
Film
Killer McCoy
Henchman (uncredited)
1947
Film
Blackwell's Island
Max (uncredited)
1939
Film
Crashing Thru
Delos Harrington
1939
Film
The Green Promise
Rev. Benton
1949
Train to Alcatraz
Bart Kanin
1948
Film
The Frozen Ghost
George Keene
1945
Film
Drango
Col. Bracken
1957
Film
Music for Madame
Detective (Uncredited)
1937
Film
The Phantom Cowboy
Stan Borden
1941
Film
Moon Over Las Vegas
Jim Bradley
1944
Film
Atlantic Flight
Henry Wadsworth Schultz
1937
Film
On Stage Everybody
Fitzgerald
1945
Film
Captive Wild Woman
Fred Mason
1943
Film
Give Us Wings
Tex Austin
1940
Film
The Wildcatter
Ed
1937
Film
The Mad Ghoul
Sgt. Macklin
1943
Film
An Angel from Texas
'Pooch' Davis
1940
Film
Rubber Racketeers
Angel
1942
Film
She Gets Her Man
'Tommy Gun' Tucker
1945
Film
The Spider Woman Strikes Back
Mr. Moore
1946
Film
The Great Alaskan Mystery
Jim Hudson
1944
Film
Heading for Heaven
Elwood Harding
1947
Film
Wives Under Suspicion
Kirk
1938
Film
Two in a Crowd
Kennedy (uncredited)
1936
Film
They Gave Him a Gun
Defense Attorney (uncredited)
1937
Film
Federal Bullets
Tommy Thompson, Federal Agent
1937
Film
You Can't Beat the Law
Frank Sanders
1943
Film
Smooth as Silk
John Kimble (District Attorney)
1946
Film
Port of Missing Girls
Jim Benton
1938
Film
The 13th Man
Jimmy Moran
1937
Film
The Royal Mounted Rides Again
Brad Taggart
1945
Film
The Big Guy
Publicity man (uncredited)
1939
Film
Mystery Plane
Skeeter Milligan
1939
Film
Michigan Kid
Lanny Slade
1947
Film
The Scarlet Horseman
Narrator
1946
American Portrait
George
1940
Film
Police Bullets
Johnny Reilly
1942
Film
Society Smugglers
Peter Garfield
1939
Film
The Beautiful Cheat
Lucius Haven
1945
Film
King of the Turf
Taylor
1939
Film
Killer Dill
Maboose
1947
Film
Cheers of the Crowd
Reporter (uncredited)
1935
Film
Twilight on the Prairie
Gainsworth
1944
Film
Enemy Bacteria
Doctor
1945
Film
No Hands on the Clock
FBI Agent
1941
Film
California Frontier
Mal Halstead
1938
Film
The Judge
Martin Strang
1949
Film
Get Going
Mr. Tuttle
1943
Film
A Doctor's Diary
Fred Clark
1937
Film
The Great Plane Robbery
Krebber
1940
Film
Sinners in Paradise
T.L. Honeyman
1938
Film
Mr. Boggs Steps Out
Burns
1938
Film
The Man in Blue
Henchman 'Dutch'
1937
Film
Behind Southern Lines
1952
Film
The Three Mesquiteers
John
1936
Film
The Daltons Ride Again
Parker W. Graham
1945
Film
Danger Woman
Gerald King
1946
Prices Unlimited
1944
Film
Swing Out, Sister
Tim Colby
1945
Film
Little Miss Big
Father Lennergan
1946
Swing It Professor
Lou Morgan
1937
Film
Charlie McCarthy, Detective
Joe Felton
1939
Film
Death Valley Outlaws
Jeff
1941
Film
Danger Flight
Skeeter
1939
Film
I'll Remember April
Willie Winchester
1945
Film
Hi, Good Lookin'!
Bill Eaton
1944
Film
Hi, Good Lookin'!
Gib Dickson
1944
Film
Her Adventurous Night
Cop #1
1946
Film
Paroled from the Big House
Commissioner Downey
1938