Kelton Garwood

Early life Kelton Bradford Garwood was born in Columbus, Ohio, the middle of three sons for William E. Garwood, a bank teller, and Marquise V. Trott. He was still in high school when he registered for the draft on his eighteenth birthday in 1946. The draft registrar recorded him as being , , with blue eyes and blonde hair.

Upon his discharge, Garwood enrolled at The Ohio State University, majoring in drama. He graduated in Spring 1952, by which time he had already acquired some professional stage experience. He performed in one week runs of My Sister Eileen, Light Up the Sky, All My Sons, and Guest in the House. He was granted a room and board scholarship to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the Summer of 1952. He specialized in theatrical fencing, studying with Eddie Lucia, an Olympic Coach. He then moved south to Baltimore where he spent the winter season with a troupe of players at the Hilltop Theatre-Parkway, performing in Stalag 17, Mister Roberts, Kiss and Tell with Margaret O'Brien, Ramshackle Inn with ZaSu Pitts, and several other plays.

Garwood returned to the Antioch Area Theater for the 1954 summer season, again serving in a dual capacity as actor and fencing master. He also performed with the Antioch players in a winter production of The Tempest at Cincinnati Music Hall, accompanied by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the American debut of incidental music for the play, composed by Jean Sibelius in 1925.

Further stage career His first starring stage role and longest-running stage performance was as Osceola in Florida Aflame from January thru April 1955. Garwood had auditioned for the part in New York City, for this outdoor production in a new amphitheater built in Philippe Park at Safety Harbor, Florida. This was not a pageant, but an actual drama by John Caldwell in which Garwood portrayed the tragic hero. A guest director at the festival, Jack Landau, cast Garwood for his Fall production of The Carefree Tree. This play by Aldyth Morris opened at the Phoenix Theatre in New York City on October 11, 1955; Farley Granger and Janice Rule starred, with Edith Meiser, Blanche Yurka, Alvin Ailey and Jerry Stiller in supporting roles. Garwood had a small feature part in this two-act play based on an ancient Chinese legend, his first Broadway performance.

From February thru April 1956 Garwood again performed in an outdoor drama, this time at the Suncoast Amphitheatre in Ruskin, Florida. Voice in the Wind by Kermit Hunter concerned events during the first two Seminole Wars; Garwood had a supporting role as the villain. and again the following summer of 1957.

Garwood's second Broadway performance came during January 1958, when The Chairs by Eugène Ionesco, staged by Tony Richardson, had its American debut at the Phoenix Theatre. It was part of a double-bill that included another one-act play by Ionecso, The Lesson; both were performed for a limited engagement of two weeks. Garwood played The Orator; his co-stars were Joan Plowright (The Old Woman) and Eli Wallach (The Old Man). while columnist Joan Hanauer felt they were "for people who like to be bothered and bewildered". Director Blake Edwards was so impressed that he arranged for Garwood to begin a film career, with a supporting role of Magician in the 1959 episode "Murder on the Midway" of the television series Peter Gunn. In The Twilight Zone, he guest-starred as the hobo in the episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit".

Personal life From 1958 until his death, Garwood was married to interior designer Janet Garwood and the couple had two sons, one of whom became professional golfer Doug Garwood.

Filmography A partial filmography follows.

Film

The Miracle of the Hills (1959) The Story of Ruth (1960) The Wizard of Baghdad (1961) Move Over, Darling (1963) The Sandpiper (1965) A Covenant with Death (1967) Big Daddy (1969) Return to Snowy River (1988)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1959 Peter Gunn Magician "Murder on the Midway" 1959-1960 Bourbon Street Beat. The Tramp "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" 1961 Gunsmoke Sam Jones "Colorado Sheriff" 1962 Gunsmoke Fred "The Hunger" 1965 Gunsmoke Vain (uncredited) "Seven Hours to Dawn" 1966-1972 Gunsmoke Percy Crump 9 episodes