Crahan Denton

Crahan Denton (pronunciation: "kran"; born Arthur Crahan Denton; March 20, 1914 – December 4, 1966) was an American stage, film and television actor. One of his most famous film roles was in To Kill a Mockingbird, in which he portrayed Walter Cunningham, a client of the main character, lawyer Atticus Finch. Walter is the leader of a mob that attempts to lynch another one of Finch's clients.

He had a number of roles in Broadway plays and won an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Performances in Supporting Roles for 1954-1955 for his work in Bus Stop (1955). He and his parents later moved to Piedmont, California, surrounded by the city of Oakland. He moved to New York City, where he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. In his acting career, Denton used his middle name "Crahan", an Irish surname in his family, as his first name.

Career Denton was active in Little Theater productions during his time as a student at the University of California, Berkeley.

From 1945 until his death in 1966, Denton also starred in many films, including The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959; with Steve McQueen in his first leading film role), The Parent Trap (1961), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and Bus Riley's Back in Town.

During May 1952, he starred as Abraham Lincoln in an episode of American Inventory that was a preview of a pilot for a proposed series. He also performed as a guest star in many television series, including Bonanza (1961 episode "The Secret"), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke (as “Clint”, a homicidal cold blooded outlaw in the S7E11 episode “Apprentice Doc” & as “”Walker”, a murderer whose guilt eats away at him in the S8E24 episode “Blind Man’s Bluff”), Have Gun Will Travel with Richard Boone, The Fugitive with David Janssen, and The Donna Reed Show (1962 episode "Once Upon a Timepiece"). In 1960, he co-starred in an unsold pilot titled, Mountain Man, about a Rocky Mountain fur trading station in the 1840s. Denton made two guest appearances on the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason.

Personal life Denton married Eleanor Brown in 1955 in New York City.

Recognition and honors Denton won an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Performances in Supporting Roles for 1954-1955 for his work in Bus Stop (1955).

Filmography Title| Notes Crime, Inc. 1945 Vannie Denton Uncredited The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery 1959 John Egan The Young One 1960 Jackson Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1961 Monty, the Sheriff Season 6 Episode 23: "Incident in a Small Jail" Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1961 Harry Beggs Season 6 Episode 35: "Coming Home" The Parent Trap 1961 Hecky Walk on the Wild Side 1962 Bit Part Uncredited Birdman of Alcatraz1962 Kramer To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 Walter Cunningham Sr. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 1963 Sheriff Walter Watson Season 1 Episode 24: "The Star Juror" Hud 1963 Jesse Captain Newman, M.D. 1963 Major Snowden Bus Riley's Back in Town 1965 Spencer