Kenneth Tobey | |
---|---|
Born |
Oakland, California, U.S. |
March 23, 1917
Died | December 22, 2002 Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
(aged 85)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1943–1997 |
Spouse(s) |
June Hutton (1968-1972; divorced) Violet M. Coglan (Penny Parker (1951 - ?; 1 child) |
Children | Tina |
Kenneth Tobey (March 23, 1917 – December 22, 2002) was an American stage, television and film actor.
Born in Oakland, California, Tobey was headed for a law career when he first dabbled in acting at the University of California Little Theater. That experience led to a year-and-a-half of study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included fellow University of California at Berkeley alumni Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach, and Tony Randall. Throughout the 1940s, Tobey acted on Broadway and in stock; he made his film debut in a 1943 short, The Man of the Ferry. He made his Hollywood film debut in a Hopalong Cassidy western, and went on to appear in scores of features and on numerous television series. He was a sentry guard who was dressed down by General Savage (played by Gregory Peck) in Twelve O' Clock High. A brief comedy bit in I Was a Male War Bride caught the attention of director Howard Hawks, who promised to use Tobey in something more substantial.
In 1951, Tobey was cast in Hawks' production The Thing from Another World, playing Captain Patrick Hendry, a United States Air Force pilot and leader of the arctic polar station's dogged defense against the movie's title character, portrayed by James Arness. That role led to other science fiction film roles in the 1950s, usually cast in the role of a military man, particularly The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), and It Came from Beneath the Sea (1956). He played the sheriff in The Vampire (1957).