Addison Richards

Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than 300 films between 1933 and his death in 1964.

Biography Richards was a native of Zanesville, Ohio; his grandfather was a mayor of Zanesville. Following his father's death, the family moved to California. Richards graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Washington State College.

Stage and screen In 1931 Addison Richards joined the Pasadena Playhouse as actor and associate director. He entered motion pictures in 1933. Warner Bros. signed him to a nonexclusive five-year contract in 1934, and he appeared steadily in that studio's feature films. His dignified, businesslike demeanor established him as a character actor, and he almost always played professional men of authority: doctors, attorneys, judges, executives, military officers, legislators, prison wardens, etc. Richards became such a fixture at Warners that he can often be seen in the studio's annual blooper reels of the late 1930s (Breakdowns of 1937, etc.).

While working at Warners he accepted roles offered by other studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and RKO Radio Pictures. Later he also worked at Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures. Today's audiences may recognize him from the James Cagney feature G Men; the Andy Hardy series (as neighbor Polly Benedict's father); the Mae West-W. C. Fields collaboration My Little Chickadee; the Charlie Chan mysteries Charlie Chan in Panama and The Shanghai Cobra; the western Badlands of Dakota, in which he played George Armstrong Custer; the Laurel and Hardy feature A-Haunting We Will Go; the Charlie Chaplin production Monsieur Verdoux; and the Bowery Boys comedy High Society.

In 1956, Richards appeared as Doc Jennings in The Fastest Gun Alive starring Glenn Ford, and as the marshal in The Broken Star.

Television Like many veteran screen actors, Richards began working in television, eventually becoming so busy that he slowed his motion-picture work to only one or two features a year. He was cast in many television series, including the syndicated 1950s crime drama, Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield. He appeared in six episodes in different roles on the NBC anthology series, The Loretta Young Show (1955-61). Richards played the role of Evanson in the 1957 episode "Venus of Park Avenue" on the CBS crime drama, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. He appeared in different roles in two episodes of the CBS crime drama Checkmate (1961), and appeared in the "Mi's Citizenship" episode of the NBC family drama National Velvet (1962). Richards appeared in the 1959 series The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun, and in two episodes of Cimarron City. In 1960 and 1961, he appeared as Doc Landy in eight episodes of the Deputy, with Henry Fonda and Allen Case. In 1961 was in The Tall Man

Personal life and death Richards met Vivian Eccles, daughter of businessman David Eccles, in late 1929, marrying a year later and later had one child, daughter Ann.

Richards died of a heart attack. His interment is at Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont, California. A news story in the March 26, 1964 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Selected filmography

Riot Squad (1933) as Diamonds Jareck Lone Cowboy (1933) as Dobe Jones Let's Be Ritzy (1934) as Lieutenant Spaulding The Love Captive (1934) as Dr. Collins Such Women Are Dangerous (1934) as Delange Handy Andy (1934) as McKechnie (uncredited) Our Daily Bread (1934) as Louie Beyond the Law (1934) as Morgan The Girl from Missouri (1934) as Yacht Captain Hawkins (uncredited) British Agent (1934) as Colonel Zwaboda (uncredited) The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) as Judge Markham A Lost Lady (1934) as State Attorney (uncredited) The St. Louis Kid (1934) as Mr. Brown Gentlemen Are Born (1934) as Martinson Babbitt (1934) as District Attorney 365 Nights in Hollywood (1934) as Assistant District Attorney (uncredited) The White Cockatoo (1935) as David Lorn Society Doctor (1935) as Harrigan Home on the Range (1935) as Beady Sweet Music (1935) as Mr. Thomas A Dog of Flanders (1935) as Herr Herden Black Fury (1935) as Government Man (uncredited) Eight Bells (1935) as Tracey G Men (1935) as Bruce J. Gregory Alias Mary Dow (1935) as Martin Dinky (1935) as District Attorney Front Page Woman (1935) as District Attorney The Crusades (1935) as Sentry (uncredited) Here Comes the Band (1935) as Colonel Wallace Little Big Shot (1935) as Hank Gibbs Freckles (1935) as Jack Carter The Eagle's Brood (1935) as Big Henry Frisco Kid (1935) as Coleman The Walking Dead (1936) as Prison Warden Trailin' West (1936) as Curley Thorne The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936) as Frank Locke China Clipper (1936) as Mr. B.C. Hill Ready, Willing and Able (1937) as Edward McNeil The Singing Marine (1937) as Mr. Fowler Smart Blonde (1937) as Fitz Mularkey White Bondage (1937) as Kip Gillis Black Legion (1937) as Prosecuting Attorney Boys Town (1938) as Judge Valley of the Giants (1938) as Hewitt Flight to Fame (1938) as Colonel King Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939) as Mr. Benedict Exile Express (1939) as Purnell Geronimo (1939) as Frederick Allison Inside Information (1939) as Gerald Banford Man from Montreal (1939) as Captain Owens, R.C.M.P. Whispering Enemies (1939) as Red Barrett Mystery of the White Room (1939) as Dr. Finley Morton The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940) as Stanley Young South to Karanga (1940) as Edmund Daniels My Little Chickadee (1940) as Judge (uncredited) The Man from Dakota (1940) as Confederate Provost Marshal Northwest Passage (1940) as Lieutenant Crofton Charlie Chan in Panama (1940) as Godley Edison, the Man (1940) as Mr. Johnson Ski Patrol (1940) as James Burton, Speaker Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940) as Mr. Benedict Flight Command (1940) as Vice Admiral Western Union (1941) as Captain Harlow Forbidden Passage (1941, Short) as Frank J. Maxwell Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941) as Benedict Her First Beau (1941) as Dr. Tom Wood I Wanted Wings (1941) as Flight Surgeon The Great Lie (1941) as Mr. Talbot Mutiny in the Arctic (1941) as Ferguson Men of Boys Town (1941) as Judge Texas (1941) as Matt Lashan Secret Agent of Japan (1942) as Remsen A-Haunting We Will Go (1942) as Attorney Malcolm Kilgore Flying Tigers (1942) as Colonel Lindsay The Pride of the Yankees (1942) as Coach Underground Agent (1942) as George Martin Adventures of the Flying Cadets (1943) as Jack Hill Air Force (1943) as Major Daniels The Mad Ghoul (1943) as Gavigan Mystery Broadcast (1943) as Bill Burton A Guy Named Joe (1943) as Major Corbett The Mystery of the 13th Guest (1943) as Jim, District Attorney The Fighting Seabees (1944) as Captain Joyce The Mummy's Curse (1944) as Major Pat Walsh Are These Our Parents? (1944) as Clint Davis Black Market Babies (1945) as District Attorney Hamilton The Adventures of Rusty (1945) as Dr. Banning, Psychiatrist The Shanghai Cobra (1945) as John Adams Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946) as Mr. Benedict Queen Esther: A Story from the Bible (1947) as Haman Rustlers (1949) as Frank Abbott Henry, the Rainmaker (1949) as Steve Richards Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) as Captain Weightman The Watchdogs (1954) as starring role in an industrial film for Packard The Ten Commandments (1956) as Fan Bearer Reprisal! (1956) as Judge (uncredited) Last of the Badmen (1957) as Dillon The Deerslayer (1957) Gunsight Ridge (1957) as Sheriff Tom Jones Perry Mason (1957) (Season 1 Episode 7: "The Case of the Angry Mourner") as Attorney George Lansing The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958) as Colonel Ford The Californians (1958) (Season 2 Episode 9: "Dangerous Journey") as Thomas Durkin Lassie (1958) (Season 5 Episode 16: "The Christmas Story") as Dr. Watkins Rawhide (1959) (Season 1 Episode 14: "Incident of the Dog Days") as Jed Blaine The Oregon Trail (1959) as President James K. Polk (uncredited) Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 6 Episode 7: "Outlaw in Town") as Judge All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) as Mr. McDowall (uncredited) Inherit the Wind (1960) as Townsman (uncredited) The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) as Harris (uncredited) The Facts of Life (1960) as Larry's Boss (uncredited) Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6, Episode 33: "A Secret Life") as Mr. Johnson Frontier Uprising (1961) as Commander Kimball Operation Eichmann (1961) as The Stranger (uncredited) The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961) as Doc Devlin The Flight That Disappeared (1961) as The Sage Perry Mason (1961) (Season 5 Episode 8: "The Case of the Travelling Treasure") as Smith Rawhide (1961) (Season 3 Episode 18: "Incident of the Running Iron") as Frank Miller Bonanza (1961) (Season 3 Episode 10: "The Horse Breaker") as Dr. Paul Kay Rawhide (1962) (Season 4 Episode 19: "The Greedy Town") as Judge Wainwright Saintly Sinners (1962) as Monsignor Craig Bonanza (1963) (Season 4 Episode 23: "A Stranger Passed This Way") as Dr. Hickman Bonanza (1963) (Season 4 Episode 28: "My Brother's Keeper") as Dr. Hickman The Raiders (1963) as Huntington Lawford Rawhide (1964) (Season 6 Episode 25: "Incident of the Banker") as Mr. Connell For Those Who Think Young (1964) as Dean Watkins