James Westerfield
Known for: Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James A. Westerfield (22 March 1913 – 20 September 1971) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, to candy-maker Brasher Omier Westerfield and his wife Dora Elizabeth Bailey, he was raised in Detroit, Michigan. (A news story in the June 12, 1949, issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle calls the information in the preceding sentence into question. It describes Westerfield as "the son of a famous producer-director" and says that he was "a youngster in Denver, Col.") He became interested in theatre as a young man and in the 1930s joined Gilmor Brown's famed Pasadena Community Playhouse, appearing in dozens of plays. He played in numerous films following his debut in 1940, then went to New York City and appeared on Broadway, winning two New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for his supporting roles in The Madwoman of Chaillot and Detective Story. He then returned to Hollywood and made more than 40 more films. Westerfield maintained an interest in the theatre. He directed more than 50 musicals in a summer-musical tent he owned in Danbury, Connecticut, and was the original stage director and producer for the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. He directed three seasons of "Theatre Under the Stars" in Vancouver, British Columbia, and appeared in musical roles with the Detroit Civic Light Opera, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and the San Francisco Civic Light Opera. On film, Westerfield had roles in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), On The Waterfront (1954), Lucy Gallant (1955), the 1957 Budd Boetticher-directed Western Decision at Sundown starring Randolph Scott, Cowboy (1958), a repeating role in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Man's Favorite Sport (1964), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Hang 'Em High (1968) and True Grit (1969). Westerfield had many roles on television, including seven episodes as John Murrel from 1963 to 1964 on ABC's The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, starring child actor Kurt Russell in the title role. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Sheriff Bert Elmore in the 1957 episode, "The Case of the Angry Mourner." He also appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger in 1954 entitled "Texas Draw." Westerfield's other appearances were on such series as The Rifleman, The Californians, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Alaskans, The Rebel, Straightaway, Going My Way, The Asphalt Jungle, Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show, Daniel Boone, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Gunsmoke. He played the circus leader, Dr. Marvello, in an episode of Lost in Space "Space Circus" (1966). Westerfield as a young man was a roommate of fellow Pasadena Playhouse actor George Reeves. The two remained close friends until Reeves's death in 1959. Westerfield was married to Alice G. Fay (an actress under the name Fay Tracey), who, along with his mother, survived him. Westerfield died from a heart attack in Woodlands Hills, California, at the age of fifty-eight.
Filmography
Series
Perry Mason
Sheriff Elmore
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Roger Quigley
1957
Series
Lassie
1954
Series
The Rifleman
1958
Series
The Andy Griffith Show
Uncle Ollie
1960
Series
Bonanza
Arthur Blackwell
1959
Series
Maverick
1957
Series
Bewitched
1964
Series
Mannix
1967
Series
The Wild Wild West
McAvity
1965
Series
The Twilight Zone
Anthony O'Toole
1959
Series
Daniel Boone
Hand
1964
Series
Daniel Boone
Simon Girty
1964
Series
Rawhide
Matt Lucas
1959
Series
Rawhide
Mort Henry
1959
Series
The Lucy Show
Weitzman
1962
Series
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
Series
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Bert Farrow
1956
Series
My Three Sons
1960
Series
Gunsmoke
Rance Bradley
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Harry Duggan
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Cleed
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Franks
1955
Series
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Dr. Langland
1958
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
H.T. Carmichael
1948
Series
Thriller
Al Matthews
1960
Series
The Big Valley
Jeb Lassiter
1965
Series
Green Acres
1965
Series
Studio One
Captain James Reagan
1948
Series
Studio One
Bilgeboy / Jimmy Scaggs
1948
Series
Lost in Space
Dr. Marvello
1965
Series
Mayberry R.F.D.
Sheriff Matson
1968
Series
Bat Masterson
Shapley Howell
1958
Series
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
McAllister
1957
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Commissioner Cummings
1955
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Pops Lafferty
1955
Series
The Rebel
Suee
1959
Series
The Time Tunnel
Sheriff
1966
Series
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Series
The Texan
1958
Series
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Mapes
1955
State Trooper
1956
Series
Trackdown
1957
Series
Judd, for the Defense
1967
Series
Johnny Ringo
Aben Burke
1959
Series
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956
Film
True Grit
Judge Parker
1969
Series
The Tall Man
1960
Series
The Great Adventure
Attorney Thomas Green
1963
Film
Hang 'em High
Prisoner
1968
Film
On the Waterfront
Big Mac
1954
Series
Law of the Plainsman
Joshua Jones
1959
Series
Inner Sanctum
1954
Series
The Alaskans
1959
Series
Going My Way
1962
Series
Tightrope
1959
Series
The Dakotas
1963
Series
The Outcasts
1968
Profiles in Courage
Sen. Samuel Pomeroy
1964
Series
The Walter Winchell File
1957
Casey, Crime Photographer
1951
Series
Straightaway
1961
Series
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
John Murrel
1963
Film
The Sons of Katie Elder
Mr. Vennar
1965
Series
The Asphalt Jungle
1961
Film
The Absent-Minded Professor
Officer Hanson
1961
Film
Birdman of Alcatraz
Jess Younger
1962
Film
The Magnificent Ambersons
Policeman at Accident (uncredited)
1942
Series
General Electric Theater
Bartender
1953
Series
General Electric Theater
The General
1953
Film
The Pride of the Yankees
Spectator (uncredited)
1942
Film
Away All Boats
1956
Film
Chief Crazy Horse
Caleb Mantz
1955
Film
The Shaggy Dog
Officer Hanson
1959
Film
Wild River
Cal Garth
1960
Film
The Hangman
Herb Loftus
1959
Film
The Violent Men
Sheriff Magruder
1955
Film
The Proud Rebel
Birm Bates
1958
Film
The Cobweb
James Petlee
1955
Film
Undercurrent
Henry Gilson
1946
Film
Bikini Beach
Cop #2
1964
Film
Son of Flubber
Officer Hanson
1963
Film
Homicidal
Alfred S. Adrims
1961
Film
Man's Favorite Sport?
Policeman
1964
Film
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Reverend Howard
1959
Film
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Harvey (Zoo Attendant) (uncredited)
1950
Film
Cowboy
Mike Adams
1958
Film
Smith!
Sheriff
1969
Film
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Jack Balter
1966
Film
Man with the Gun
Mr. Zender
1955
Film
The Love God?
Rev. Wilkerson
1969
Film
The Chase
Job the Butler
1946
Film
Decision at Sundown
Otis, the Bartender
1957
Film
Three Hours to Kill
Sam Minor
1954
Film
Side Street
Charlie (policeman)
1950
Film
About Face
Soldier with Daisy (uncredited)
1942
Film
Blue
Abe Parker
1968
Film
Lucy Gallant
Harry Wilson
1955
Film
The Boy Who Stole the Elephant
Sheriff Berry
1970
Alcatraz Express
1961
Film
That Funny Feeling
Officer Brokaw
1965
Film
The Howards of Virginia
Backwoodsman
1940
Film
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Capt. Boyle
1968
Film
The Scarlet Coat
Col. Jameson
1955
Film
Scalplock
Nehemiah
1966
Film
Highway West
Swede, Trucker at Cafe
1941
Film
A Man Called Gannon
Amos
1968
Film
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Joe London
1951
Film
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Charley Mardis
1965
Film
The Plunderers
Mike Baron
1960
Film
The Human Jungle
Marty Harrison
1954
Film
Old Man
Warden
1958
Film
Three Brave Men
Chief O'Reilly
1956
Film
Around the World
Bashful Marine
1943
Film
The Helen Morgan Story
Frank Piggin
1957
Film
Set This Town on Fire
Cark Rickter
1973
Film
Jungle Heat
Harvey Mathews
1957
Film
Dead Aim
John Applebee
1971
Film
Bartleby
The Lawyer
1969
The Bachelor Party
Bookkeeper
1953