Percy Helton
| Percy Helton | |
|---|---|
Helton in Criss Cross (1949)
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| Born |
Percy Alfred Helton January 31, 1894 New York City, New York, USA |
| Died | September 11, 1971 (aged 77) Hollywood, California, USA |
| Occupation | character actor |
| Years active | 1915–1970 |
| Spouse(s) | Edna Roberta Eustace |
Percy Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American film and television character actor.
Percy Helton began acting as a young child at the age of two, appearing in his father's vaudeville act. He appeared in many Broadway plays as a child actor before joining the United States Army to serve in World War I with the American Expeditionary Forces. A male soprano, he subsequently sang professionally until an accident left him with a hoarse, raspy falsetto voice and breathy delivery, which altered his career to that of an actor in a wide range of films and TV programs in the 1950s and 1960s. Among them were three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Asa Cooperman in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Pathetic Patient". Helton appeared as the drunken Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street. He also appeared in Criss Cross (1949), The Set-Up (1949), Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He is a particular favorite of film noir fans, having co-starred in several classics of the genre (such as those listed above), reaching perhaps the apex of his career as the foolish neighbor who gets lured to his possible doom by the Amazonian Beverly Michaels in the 1953 Wicked Woman. He died at age 77, the year of his final film appearance, and was entombed at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
: http://newspaperarchive.com/portsmouth-herald/1931-10-27/
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