Leif Erickson
Acting • Born 1911-10-27 – Died 1986-01-29
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leif Erickson (born William Wycliffe Anderson) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Erickson was born in Alameda, California, near San Francisco. He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act. Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns. Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he served as a military photographer, shooting film in combat zones, and as an instructor. He was shot down twice in the Pacific as well as receiving two Purple Hearts. Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Over four years service, he shot more than 200,000 feet of film for the Navy. Erickson's first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels. He would go on to appears in films such as The Snake Pit, Sorry, Wrong Number, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront, A Gathering of Eagles, Roustabout, The Carpetbaggers and Mirage. One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr's macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy. He appeared with Greta Garbo, as her brother in Conquest (1937). He played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat. His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977). Erickson appeared frequently on television; he was cast as Dr. Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey's Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. However, he is probably best known for The High Chaparral, which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971. He portrayed a rancher, Big John Cannon, determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache. Erickson guest-starred in several television series, including Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, Cannon, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files, and the 1977 series Hunter. His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984. Erickson was married to actress Frances Farmer from 1936 until 1942. The same day that his divorce from Farmer was finalized, June 12, 1942, he married actress Margaret Hayes. They divorced a month later. He married Ann Diamond in 1945. They had two children, William Leif Erickson (born 1946 - died 1971 in a car accident) and Susan Irene Erickson (born 1950). Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1986, aged 74 CLR
Filmography
140 credits
Roustabout
Movie • 1964
Joe Lean
On the Waterfront
Movie • 1954
Glover
Invaders from Mars
Movie • 1953
Mr. George MacLean
Conquest
Movie • 1937
Paul Lachinski
Sorry, Wrong Number
Movie • 1948
Fred Lord
The Gangster
Movie • 1947
Beaumont
The Fastest Gun Alive
Movie • 1956
Lou Glover
The Tall Target
Movie • 1951
Stranger
I Saw What You Did
Movie • 1965
Dave Mannering
Trouble Along the Way
Movie • 1953
Father Provincial aka Ed
Strait-Jacket
Movie • 1964
Bill Cutler
The Lady Gambles
Movie • 1949
Tony
Arabian Nights
Movie • 1942
Kamar (as Leif Erikson)
The Cimarron Kid
Movie • 1952
Marshal John Sutton
Blonde Savage
Movie • 1947
Steve Blake
The Big Broadcast of 1938
Movie • 1938
Bob Hayes
Three Secrets
Movie • 1950
Bill Chase
Joan of Arc
Movie • 1948
Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
The Snake Pit
Movie • 1948
Gordon
Tea and Sympathy
Movie • 1956
Bill Reynolds
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
Movie • 1952
Morgan
The Gay Intruders
Movie • 1948
Dr. Harold Matson
With a Song in My Heart
Movie • 1952
General (uncredited)
The Fleet's In
Movie • 1942
Jake
Kiss Them for Me
Movie • 1957
Eddie Turnbill
Mirage
Movie • 1965
The Major
Johnny Stool Pigeon
Movie • 1949
Pringle
Waikiki Wedding
Movie • 1937
Dr. Victor Quimby
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Movie • 1977
Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director
Drift Fence
Movie • 1936
Curley Prentice
Nothing but the Truth
Movie • 1941
Tommy Van Dusen
Night Monster
Movie • 1942
Laurie
Never Wave at a WAC
Movie • 1953
Sgt. Norbert 'Noisy' Jackson
A Gathering of Eagles
Movie • 1963
Gen. Hewitt
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
Movie • 1972
Amos Wetherall
Man and Boy
Movie • 1971
Sheriff Mossman
Star in the Dust
Movie • 1956
George Ballard
Dallas
Movie • 1950
U.S. Marshal Martin Weatherby
Winterhawk
Movie • 1975
Guthrie
A Perilous Journey
Movie • 1953
Richards
Istanbul
Movie • 1957
Charlie Boyle
Desert Gold
Movie • 1936
Glenn Kasedon
Stella
Movie • 1950
Fred Anderson Jr.
One Third of a Nation
Movie • 1939
Peter Cortlant
Mother Didn't Tell Me
Movie • 1950
Dr. Bruce Gordon
My Wife's Best Friend
Movie • 1952
Nicholas Reed
The New Healers
Movie • 1972
Dr. Victor Briggs
The Deadly Dream
Movie • 1971
Dr. Harold Malcolm
The Vintage
Movie • 1957
Louis Morel
Paris Model
Movie • 1953
Edgar Blevins
Terror in the Sky
Movie • 1971
Marty Treleavan
College Holiday
Movie • 1936
Dick Winters
Thrill of a Lifetime
Movie • 1937
Howard Nelson
Are Husbands Necessary?
Movie • 1942
Bill Stone
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Movie • 1941
Rodney 'Bo-Jo' Brown
Crisis
Movie • 1939
Narrator (voice)
The Carpetbaggers
Movie • 1964
Jonas Cord Sr.
Miss Tatlock's Millions
Movie • 1948
Dr. Mason
Show Boat
Movie • 1951
Pete
Born to the Saddle
Movie • 1953
Bob Marshall
Fort Algiers
Movie • 1953
Kalmani
The Showdown
Movie • 1950
Big Mart
Fourteen Hours
Movie • 1951
Bit Part (uncredited)
Ride a Crooked Mile
Movie • 1938
Johnny Simpkins
Once Upon a Horse...
Movie • 1958
Granville "Granny" Dix
Eagle Squadron
Movie • 1942
Johnny M. Coe
The Blonde from Singapore
Movie • 1941
Terry Prescott
Pardon My Sarong
Movie • 1942
Whaba
Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration
Movie • 1951
Pilate
Abduction
Movie • 1975
Prescott
Sailor Beware
Movie • 1952
Commander Lane
Captain Scarface
Movie • 1953
Sam
Force Five
Movie • 1975
Cal Newkirk
Girl of the Ozarks
Movie • 1936
Tom Bolton
Shootout at Big Sag
Movie • 1962
Sam Barbee
Twilight for the Gods
Movie • 1958
Harry Hutton
Reunion in Reno
Movie • 1951
B. Frederick Linaker
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping
Movie • 1973
William Henry Cameron
The Family Rico
Movie • 1972
Mike Lamont
Wanderer of the Wasteland
Movie • 1935
Lawrence
Nevada
Movie • 1935
Bill Ide
Carbine Williams
Movie • 1952
Feder
The Fantastic Journey
Movie • 1977
Ben Wallace
Air Tonic
Movie • 1933
Band Singer
One Coat of White
Movie • 1957
Ben Riggs
The Shape of the River
Movie • 1960
William Dean Howells
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Jason Hayes
The Rookies
TV • 1972
The Great Adventure
TV • 1963
Abel Parrish
Kraft Suspense Theatre
TV • 1963
General
The Streets of San Francisco
TV • 1972
Mannix
TV • 1967
The Mod Squad
TV • 1968
Medical Center
TV • 1969
Arrest and Trial
TV • 1963
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Virgil Powell
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
Charlie Wheatland
The Evil Touch
TV • 1973
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Man
Cannon
TV • 1971
Ironside
TV • 1967
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Wayne Phillips
Harry O
TV • 1974
Rawhide
TV • 1959
Frank Travis
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Aaron Burr
The High Chaparral
TV • 1967
Big John Cannon
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Brian Hendricks
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Peterson
The Fantastic Journey
TV • 1977
Ben Wallace
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Dan
Climax!
TV • 1954
Robert Eunson
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
The Sixth Sense
TV • 1972
Branded
TV • 1965
The Rebel
TV • 1959
Dave Blaine
The Rifleman
TV • 1958
The New Breed
TV • 1961
Dr. Eric Thor
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Jim Lewis
Inner Sanctum
TV • 1954
Medical Story
TV • 1975
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV • 1959
Andrew Middleton
The Magician
TV • 1973
Nicholas Olson
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Charlie Ryan
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Bill King
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Norman Conover
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Sam Sargent
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Cash Wilson
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Bill Sedley
The Great Adventure
TV • 1963
President Grover Cleveland
Bonanza
TV • 1959
Tom Caine
Climax!
TV • 1954
Richard Carmichael
Climax!
TV • 1954
Doug Randell
Climax!
TV • 1954
Richard Moore
Bambi
TV • 1948
Self (archive footage)
Wild Times
TV • 1980
John Tyree
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV • 1962
Paul White
The Rockford Files
TV • 1974
Carl Colton 'C.C.' Calloway
Bonanza
TV • 1959
Josh Tatum
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV • 1962
Doctor Hellyer