John McIntire | |
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McIntire as Chris Hale in Wagon Train (1961)
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Born |
Spokane, Washington, U.S. |
June 27, 1907
Died | January 30, 1991 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
(aged 83)
Cause of death | Emphysema and lung cancer |
Resting place | Tobacco Valley Cemetery, Eureka, Montana, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Southern California |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1932–1989 |
Spouse(s) | Jeanette Nolan (m. 1935–1991; his death) |
Children | Holly McIntire Tim McIntire |
John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in sixty-five theatrical films and many more television series. McIntire is best known for replacing Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death, as the star of NBC-TV's Wagon Train. He played Christopher Hale, the leader of the wagon train (and successor to Bond's character, Seth Adams) from early 1961 to the series' end in 1965. He also replaced Charles Bickford, upon Bickford's death in 1967, as ranch owner Clay Grainger (brother of Bickford's character) on NBC-TV's The Virginian for four seasons.
John McIntire was born in Spokane, Washington and was of Irish descent. He grew up around ranchers, an experience that would later inspire his performances in dozens of film and television westerns. A graduate of USC, McIntire began acting in radio on Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher, where he met his future wife, Jeanette Nolan. McIntire worked on many episodes of Suspense from the early 1940s. He was the narrator for the radio program The March of Time. He was active in the theater, before he embarked on a lengthy film and television career as a character actor. He was already 40 when he made his big-screen debut in 1947, but went on to appear in some 65 films, often playing police chiefs, judges, eccentric loners or other western characters.
His films included the film noir classic The Asphalt Jungle (1950), the 1960 Hitchcock thriller Psycho and the 1960 drama Elmer Gantry starring Burt Lancaster, but some of his more memorable roles were in westerns such as the acclaimed The Far Country (1955), with James Stewart, and The Tin Star (1957) with Henry Fonda.