Leif Erickson
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Leif Erickson (born William Wycliffe Anderson) was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Erickson was born in Alameda, California, near San Francisco. He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act. Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns.
Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he served as a military photographer, shooting film in combat zones, and as an instructor. He was shot down twice in the Pacific as well as receiving two Purple Hearts. Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Over four years service, he shot more than 200,000 feet of film for the Navy.
Erickson's first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels. He would go on to appears in films such as The Snake Pit, Sorry, Wrong Number, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront, A Gathering of Eagles, Roustabout, The Carpetbaggers and Mirage.
One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr's macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy. He appeared with Greta Garbo, as her brother in Conquest (1937). He played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat. His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977).
Erickson appeared frequently on television; he was cast as Dr. Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey's Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. However, he is probably best known for The High Chaparral, which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971. He portrayed a rancher, Big John Cannon, determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache. Erickson guest-starred in several television series, including Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, Cannon, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files, and the 1977 series Hunter. His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984.
Erickson was married to actress Frances Farmer from 1936 until 1942. The same day that his divorce from Farmer was finalized, June 12, 1942, he married actress Margaret Hayes. They divorced a month later. He married Ann Diamond in 1945. They had two children, William Leif Erickson (born 1946 - died 1971 in a car accident) and Susan Irene Erickson (born 1950).
Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1986, aged 74 CLR
Acted in
Wild Times
1980
as John Tyree
Hunter
1977
Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977
as Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director
The Fantastic Journey
1977
as Ben Wallace
Winterhawk
1975
as Guthrie
Medical Story
1975
Abduction
1975
as Prescott
Force Five
1975
as Cal Newkirk
The Rockford Files
1974
as Carl Colton 'C.C.' Calloway
Harry O
1974
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping
1973
as William Henry Cameron
The Magician
1973
as Nicholas Olson
The Evil Touch
1973
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1972
as Amos Wetherall
The Family Rico
1972
as Mike Lamont
The Rookies
1972
The New Healers
1972
as Dr. Victor Briggs
The Sixth Sense
1972
The Deadly Dream
1971
as Dr. Harold Malcolm
Terror in the Sky
1971
as Marty Treleavan
Cannon
1971
Man and Boy
1971
as Sheriff Mossman
Night Gallery
1970
as Charlie Wheatland
Medical Center
1969
The Mod Squad
1968
Mannix
1967
The High Chaparral
1967
as Big John Cannon
Ironside
1967
Mirage
1965
as The Major
I Saw What You Did
1965
as Dave Mannering
Branded
1965
Roustabout
1964
as Joe Lean
Daniel Boone
1964
as Aaron Burr
Daniel Boone
1964
as Bill Sedley
The Carpetbaggers
1964
as Jonas Cord Senior
Strait-Jacket
1964
as Bill Cutler
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963
as General
The Great Adventure
1963
as Abel Parrish
The Great Adventure
1963
as President Grover Cleveland
Burke's Law
1963
as Jason Hayes
Arrest and Trial
1963
A Gathering of Eagles
1963
as Gen. Hewitt
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as Paul White
The Virginian
1962
as Peterson
The Virginian
1962
as Charlie Ryan
The Virginian
1962
as Bill King
Shootout at Big Sag
1962
as Sam Barbee
The New Breed
1961
as Dr. Eric Thor
The Rebel
1959
as Dave Blaine
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Andrew Middleton
Bonanza
1959
as Tom Caine
Rawhide
1959
as Frank Travis
The Rifleman
1958
Once Upon a Horse...
1958
as Granville "Granny" Dix
Twilight for the Gods
1958
as Harry Hutton
Kiss Them for Me
1957
as Eddie Turnbill
The Vintage
1957
as Louis Morel
Istanbul
1957
as Charlie Boyle
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Jim Lewis
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Cash Wilson
Tea and Sympathy
1956
as Bill Reynolds
The Fastest Gun Alive
1956
as Lou Glover
Star in the Dust
1956
as George Ballard
Matinee Theater
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Wayne Phillips
Gunsmoke
1955
as Virgil Powell
The Millionaire
1955
as Brian Hendricks
The Millionaire
1955
as Norman Conover
Climax!
1954
as Robert Eunson
Climax!
1954
as Richard Carmichael
Climax!
1954
as Doug Randell
Climax!
1954
as Richard Moore
On the Waterfront
1954
as Glover
Inner Sanctum
1954
Paris Model
1953
as Edgar Blevins
Captain Scarface
1953
as Sam
Fort Algiers
1953
as Kalmani
Invaders from Mars
1953
as Mr. George MacLean
A Perilous Journey
1953
as Richards
Trouble Along the Way
1953
as Father Provincial aka Ed
Born to the Saddle
1953
as Bob Marshall
General Electric Theater
1953
as Man
Never Wave at a WAC
1953
as Sgt. Norbert 'Noisy' Jackson
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
1952
as Morgan
My Wife's Best Friend
1952
as Nicholas Reed
Carbine Williams
1952
as Feder
With a Song in My Heart
1952
as General aboard plane
Sailor Beware
1952
as Commander Lane
The Cimarron Kid
1952
as Marshal John Sutton
Reunion in Reno
1951
as B. Frederick Linaker
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Dan
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Sam Sargent
The Tall Target
1951
as Stranger
Show Boat
1951
as Pete
Fourteen Hours
1951
as Bit Part (uncredited)
Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration
1951
as Pilate
Dallas
1950
as U.S. Marshal Martin Weatherby
Three Secrets
1950
as Bill Chase
The Showdown
1950
as Big Mart
Stella
1950
as Fred Anderson Jr.
Mother Didn't Tell Me
1950
as Dr. Bruce Gordon
The Lady Gambles
1949
as Tony
Johnny Stool Pigeon
1949
as Pringle
Joan of Arc
1948
as Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Miss Tatlock's Millions
1948
as Dr. Mason
The Snake Pit
1948
as Gordon
Sorry, Wrong Number
1948
as Fred Lord
The Gay Intruders
1948
as Dr. Harold Matson
Bambi Awards
1948
as Self (archive footage)
The Gangster
1947
as Beaumont
Blonde Savage
1947
as Steve Blake
Arabian Nights
1942
as Kamar (as Leif Erikson)
Night Monster
1942
as Laurie
Pardon My Sarong
1942
as Whaba
Eagle Squadron
1942
as Johnny M. Coe
Are Husbands Necessary?
1942
as Bill Stone
The Fleet's In
1942
as Jake
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941
as Rodney 'Bo-Jo' Brown
The Blonde from Singapore
1941
as Terry Prescott
Nothing But the Truth
1941
as Tommy Van Dusen
Crisis
1939
as Narrator (voice)
One Third of a Nation
1939
as Peter Cortlant
Ride a Crooked Mile
1938
as Johnny Simpkins
The Big Broadcast of 1938
1938
as Bob Hayes
Thrill of a Lifetime
1937
as Howard Nelson
Conquest
1937
as Paul Lachinski
Waikiki Wedding
1937
as Dr. Victor Quimby
College Holiday
1936
as Dick Winters
Girl of the Ozarks
1936
as Tom Bolton
Desert Gold
1936
as Glenn Kasedon
Drift Fence
1936
as Curley Prentice
Nevada
1935
as Bill Ide
Wanderer of the Wasteland
1935
as Lawrence