O.Z. Whitehead
American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company. Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.
Acted in
The Lion in Winter
1968
as Bishop of Durham
Summer Magic
1963
as Mr. Perkins
Panic in Year Zero!
1962
as Hogan
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
as Herbert Carruthers
Hazel
1961
Two Rode Together
1961
as Lt. Whitehead
The Horse Soldiers
1959
as Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins
The Last Hurrah
1958
as Norman Cass Jr.
Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!
1958
as Isaac Goodpasture
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Perry Mason
1957
as Harry Beacom
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Mr. Newton
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Simms
Gunsmoke
1955
as Hank Blenis
The Body Beautiful
1953
as Oscar Blunt
Cavalcade of America
1952
Beware, My Lovely
1952
as Mr. Franks
The San Francisco Story
1952
The San Francisco Story
1952
as Alfey
For Men Only
1952
as Prof. Bixby
FBI Girl
1951
as Chauncey
Journey Into Light
1951
as Lippy
Comin' Round the Mountain
1951
as Zeke
The Hoodlum
1951
as Breckenridge
The Scarf
1951
as Whoopie
Ma and Pa Kettle
1949
as Mr. Billings
Suspense
1949
as George Vance
Studio One
1948
as Peter Kovalesky
A Song Is Born
1948
as Professor Oddly
Road House
1948
as Arthur
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
1947
as Ninny Nat
My Brother Talks to Horses
1947
as Mr. Puddy
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
as Al Joad
The Scoundrel
1935
as Calhoun