Acting
James Westerfield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James A. Westerfield (22 March 1913 – 20 September 1971) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, to candy-maker Brasher Omier Westerfield and his wife Dora Elizabeth Bailey, he was raised in Detroit, Michigan. (A news story in the June 12, 1949, issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle calls the information in the preceding sentence into question. It describes Westerfield as "the son of a famous producer-director" and says that he was "a youngster in Denver, Col.") He became interested in theatre as a young man and in the 1930s joined Gilmor Brown's famed Pasadena Community Playhouse, appearing in dozens of plays. He played in numerous films following his debut in 1940, then went to New York City and appeared on Broadway, winning two New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for his supporting roles in The Madwoman of Chaillot and Detective Story. He then returned to Hollywood and made more than 40 more films. Westerfield maintained an interest in the theatre. He directed more than 50 musicals in a summer-musical tent he owned in Danbury, Connecticut, and was the original stage director and producer for the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. He directed three seasons of "Theatre Under the Stars" in Vancouver, British Columbia, and appeared in musical roles with the Detroit Civic Light Opera, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and the San Francisco Civic Light Opera. On film, Westerfield had roles in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), On The Waterfront (1954), Lucy Gallant (1955), the 1957 Budd Boetticher-directed Western Decision at Sundown starring Randolph Scott, Cowboy (1958), a repeating role in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Man's Favorite Sport (1964), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Hang 'Em High (1968) and True Grit (1969). Westerfield had many roles on television, including seven episodes as John Murrel from 1963 to 1964 on ABC's The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, starring child actor Kurt Russell in the title role. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Sheriff Bert Elmore in the 1957 episode, "The Case of the Angry Mourner." He also appeared in an episode of The Lone Ranger in 1954 entitled "Texas Draw." Westerfield's other appearances were on such series as The Rifleman, The Californians, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Alaskans, The Rebel, Straightaway, Going My Way, The Asphalt Jungle, Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show, Daniel Boone, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Gunsmoke. He played the circus leader, Dr. Marvello, in an episode of Lost in Space "Space Circus" (1966). Westerfield as a young man was a roommate of fellow Pasadena Playhouse actor George Reeves. The two remained close friends until Reeves's death in 1959. Westerfield was married to Alice G. Fay (an actress under the name Fay Tracey), who, along with his mother, survived him. Westerfield died from a heart attack in Woodlands Hills, California, at the age of fifty-eight.
Filmography
Dead Aim
Film · 1975
Set This Town on Fire
Film · 1973
The Boy Who Stole the Elephant
Film · 1970
True Grit
Film · 1969
Bartleby
Film · 1969
Smith!
Film · 1969
The Love God?
Film · 1969
Hang 'em High
Film · 1968
A Man Called Gannon
Film · 1968
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Film · 1968
Blue
Film · 1968
The Outcasts
Series · 1968
Mayberry R.F.D.
Series · 1968
Mannix
Series · 1967
Judd, for the Defense
Series · 1967
Scalplock
Film · 1966
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Film · 1966
The Time Tunnel
Series · 1966
The Sons of Katie Elder
Film · 1965
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Film · 1965
That Funny Feeling
Film · 1965
Green Acres
Series · 1965
Lost in Space
Series · 1965
The Big Valley
Series · 1965
The Wild Wild West
Series · 1965
Man's Favorite Sport?
Film · 1964
Bikini Beach
Film · 1964
Bewitched
Series · 1964
Daniel Boone
Series · 1964
Profiles in Courage
Series · 1964
Daniel Boone
Series · 1964
Son of Flubber
Film · 1963
The Great Adventure
Series · 1963
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
Series · 1963
The Dakotas
Series · 1963
Birdman of Alcatraz
Film · 1962
The Beverly Hillbillies
Series · 1962
Going My Way
Series · 1962
The Lucy Show
Series · 1962
Homicidal
Film · 1961
The Absent-Minded Professor
Film · 1961
Alcatraz Express
Film · 1961
Straightaway
Series · 1961
The Asphalt Jungle
Series · 1961
Wild River
Film · 1960
The Plunderers
Film · 1960
The Andy Griffith Show
Series · 1960
My Three Sons
Series · 1960
The Tall Man
Series · 1960
Thriller
Series · 1960
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Film · 1959
The Shaggy Dog
Film · 1959
The Hangman
Film · 1959
The Twilight Zone
Series · 1959
Rawhide
Series · 1959
The Alaskans
Series · 1959
The Rebel
Series · 1959
Law of the Plainsman
Series · 1959
Johnny Ringo
Series · 1959
Tightrope
Series · 1959
Rawhide
Series · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
The Proud Rebel
Film · 1958
Old Man
Film · 1958
Cowboy
Film · 1958
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Series · 1958
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Series · 1958
The Rifleman
Series · 1958
Bat Masterson
Series · 1958
The Texan
Series · 1958
Decision at Sundown
Film · 1957
Jungle Heat
Film · 1957
The Helen Morgan Story
Film · 1957
Trackdown
Series · 1957
Perry Mason
Series · 1957
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Series · 1957
The Walter Winchell File
Series · 1957
Maverick
Series · 1957
Perry Mason
Series · 1957
Away All Boats
Film · 1956
Three Brave Men
Film · 1956
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
Series · 1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Series · 1956
State Trooper
Series · 1956
Man with the Gun
Film · 1955
The Cobweb
Film · 1955
The Scarlet Coat
Film · 1955
The Violent Men
Film · 1955
Chief Crazy Horse
Film · 1955
Lucy Gallant
Film · 1955
Gunsmoke
Series · 1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Series · 1955
Gunsmoke
Series · 1955
Gunsmoke
Series · 1955
Gunsmoke
Series · 1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Series · 1955
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Series · 1955
On the Waterfront
Film · 1954
The Human Jungle
Film · 1954
Three Hours to Kill
Film · 1954
Lassie
Series · 1954
Inner Sanctum
Series · 1954
The Bachelor Party
Film · 1953
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Film · 1951
Casey, Crime Photographer
Series · 1951
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Film · 1950
Side Street
Film · 1950
Studio One
Series · 1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Series · 1948
Studio One
Series · 1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Series · 1948
The Chase
Film · 1946
Undercurrent
Film · 1946
Around the World
Film · 1943
The Pride of the Yankees
Film · 1942
The Magnificent Ambersons
Film · 1942
About Face
Film · 1942
Highway West
Film · 1941
The Howards of Virginia
Film · 1940