Paul Birch (actor)
| Paul Birch | |
|---|---|
Birch in 1958
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| Born |
Paul Lowery Smith January 13, 1912 Atmore, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | May 24, 1969 (aged 57) St. George's, Grenada |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1945–1967 |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Farish Betsy Ross Smith |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Ned Luke (grandson) |
Paul Birch (born Paul Lowery Smith; January 13, 1912 – May 24, 1969) was an American actor. He was a veteran of 39 films, 50 stage dramas, and numerous television series, including the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951).
Birch was born Paul Lowery Smith in Atmore, Alabama. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
In the late 1950s, Birch starred, along with William Campbell, in the syndicated Canadian series Cannonball (1958), a half-hour drama/adventure show about truckers. He also was a regular in The Court of Last Resort on NBC in 1957-1958.
In the mid 1950s he appeared in magazine and TV ads as the first widely publicized "Cowboy" Marlboro Man. He played Grant and Lee many times, so Birch may have died young as they did making it only to 57.
In 1959, Birch was cast as Sergeant Major Carmody, with Doug McClure as Corporal Jenkins, in the episode "The Face of Courage" of the NBC western series, Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds. In the story line, amid the threat of Sioux attack, Carmody commanders the vessel, the Enterprise, while it is delivering military cargo to an Army outpost on the Missouri River. Joanna Moore appears in the episode as Kitty McGuire.
He appeared as President Grant in the 1960 episode "Mr. Simpson" of ABC's Black Saddle western series starring Peter Breck as Clay Culhane, a gunfighter-turned-lawyer. He also portrayed President Grant in two episodes of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.
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