Don Marshall

Donald James Marshall (May 2, 1936 – October 30, 2016) was an American actor best known for his role as Dan Erickson in the television show Land of the Giants.

Early life Marshall was born on May 2, 1936, to father Ernest Overton Marshall (1910–1992) and mother Alma Louise Marshall (née Williams 1912–1993) in San Diego. He lived with his father, mother, maternal grandmother Leola Williams, his two older sisters (Leola Marceline and Ernestine), and his twin brother (Douglas). While at college, he was a pole vaulter on the track team. Other TV series he appeared in were Tarzan (the series with Ron Ely), Dragnet 1967, and Ironside.

In 1968, he appeared as Ted Neumann, the recurring love interest of Julia Baker, in four episodes of the television series Julia, a series about an African-American widow raising her son on her own.

Land of the Giants As a result of appearing in Premiere in the episode "Braddock", the actor met Irwin Allen, leading to Marshall gaining his role in Land of the Giants, in which he performed alongside Gary Conway, Don Matheson, Kurt Kasznar, Stefan Arngrim, Deanna Lund, and Heather Young. This was also a first for an African-American male in the 1960s to be featured so prominently in science fiction. The only other African-American actors to be in such a position in the 1960s were Nichelle Nichols, known for her role as Lt. Uhura in the TV series Star Trek, and Greg Morris as electronics expert Barney Collier in Mission: Impossible, as well as Bill Cosby in I Spy (1965 TV Series).

On set, the actors had to perform many of their own stunts, and here Marshall's athleticism was an asset; he credited his previous football, track, and pole vaulting work with enabling him to do many of the stunts required. In one of the episodes, "Ghost Town", while diving over a fire, Marshall actually dislocated his shoulder and the next day had to shoot new scenes with his arm in a sling. Another episode, "Giants and All That Jazz", which featured former world champion boxer Sugar Ray Robinson as Biff Bowers and Mike Mazurki as Loach, had Marshall teaching Biff Bowers how to play the trumpet. This episode, which Marshall called "Beautiful", seems to have been a favorite of his and made him want to act rather than follow or figure out what dialogue to use or say. He also claimed that actors had a better time on the set when Irwin Allen was not present; when he was, it was very different and people would get uptight.

In later years, Marshall wrote a script for a sequel to the series called Escape from a Giant Land. In 2011, he was in Pioneers of Television as Pvt. Ernest Cameron in archival footage from the episode titled "To Set It Right" in 1964's The Lieutenant for PBS.

After he retired from acting, Marshall set up his own company called DJM Productions, Inc., which produced television commercials and documentary films. Marshall provided consultation on matters connected with his work and with racial issues, and received an award for "Outstanding Achievement in his field as a Black Achiever in the United States". He died on October 30, 2016, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, at the age of 80. Veteran actress BarBara Luna had reported his death on Facebook.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1962 The Interns Intern 1964 Shock Treatment Singer 1968 Sergeant Ryker Corporal Jenks 1972 The Thing with Two Heads Dr. Fred Williams Science fiction film directed by Lee Frost. 1973 Terminal Island A. J. Thomas Action–drama thriller film directed by Stephanie Rothman. 1974 Uptown Saturday Night Slim's Henchman #2 Action–comedy crime film directed by Sir Sidney Poitier. 1975 Hugo the Hippo

Television Year Title Role Notes 1963 Kraft Suspense Theatre Corporal Jenks Episodes: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Tom Jackson Season 2 Episode 8: "The Cadaver" 1964 CBS Repertoire Workshop Chris Logan Episode: "Great Gettin' Up Mornin'" (S 1:Ep 1–Pilot) The Lieutenant Private Ernest Cameron Episode: "To Set It Right" (S 1:Ep 21) Rawhide Private Goodlove Episode: "Incident at Seven Fingers" (S 6:Ep 30) The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Officer Healy Season 2 Episode 31: "Isabel" Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Episode: "The Turncoat" (S 2:Ep 4) 1965 The Rogues Chalo Episode: "The Diamond-Studded Pie" (S 1:Ep 20) The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Joe Chandler Season 3 Episode 28: "Night Fever" Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Lathrop Episode: "The War and Eric Kurtz" (S 2:Ep 17) Ben Casey Charles Stearns Episode: "A Nightingale Named Nathan" (S 5:Ep 3) Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Jerry Benton Episode: "The Admiral" (S 3:Ep 9) 1966 Daktari Luke Mission: Impossible The Police Officer Episode: "The Ransom (S 1:Ep 8) Twelve O'Clock High Sergeant Earl Conklin Episode: "Graveyard" (S 3:Ep 15) 1967 Star Trek Lieutenant Boma Episode: "The Galileo Seven" (S 1:Ep 16) Mr. Terrific Athlete Episode: "Stanley the Track Star" (S 1:Ep 14) Tarzan Kimini Episode: "The Fanatics" (S 2: Ep 7) Ironside Joe Masterson Episode: "Let My Brother Go" Dragnet Dave Roberts Episode: "The Shooting" (S 1:Ep 11) 1968 Premiere Gilmore Episode: "Braddock" (S 1:Ep 4) Dragnet Officer Dave Evans Episode: "Community Relations (DR-10)" (S 3:Ep 3) 1968–1970 Julia Ted Neumann Land of the Giants Dan Erickson Main role, 51 episodes 1970 Bewitched Keith Wilson Episode: "Sisters at Heart" (S 7:Ep 13) 1971 The Reluctant Heroes Private Carver LeMoyne Made-for-TV-Movie and war film directed by Robert Day. 1974 Police Story Chuck 1975 Justin Sullivan Episode: "The Execution" (S 2:Ep 18) 1976 Good Times FBI Agent Lloyd Episode: "The Investigation" (S 3:Ep 20) The Bionic Woman Captain Colter Episode: "The Vega Influence" (S 2"Ep 9) Rich Man, Poor Man Book II Reverend 1977 Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover Detective Vincent Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Ron Satlof. The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Flight Engineer Eddy Baker Episode: "The Strange Fate of Flight 608" (S 2: Ep 8) 1978 The Incredible Hulk Lee Episode: "The Hulk Breaks Las Vegas" (S 1:Ep 8) Rescue from Gilligan's Island FBI Man #1 Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Leslie H. Martinson. 1979 The Suicide's Wife Richard Wilkes Made-for-TV-Movie directed by John Newland. The Incredible Hulk Doctor Episodes: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Julio Episodes: 1980 The Incredible Hulk Willy Episode: "Deathmask" (S 3:Ep 20) 1981 Little House on the Prairie Caleb Ledoux Episode: "Dark Sage" (S 8:Ep 4) 1984 Capitol Senator Ed Lawrence #1 Finder of Lost Loves Doctor Jim Blair Episode: "Forgotten Melodies" (S 1:Ep 10) 1992 Highway Heartbreaker Concierge Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Paul Schneider. (final film role) 2011 Pioneers of Television Private Ernest Cameron Archival footage from the episode titled "To Set It Right" in 1964's The Lieutenant.