Claude Akins

Claude Akins
Born	Claude Marion Akins May 25, 1926 Nelson, Georgia, U.S.
Died	January 27, 1994(1994-01-27) (aged 67) Altadena, California, U.S.
Other names	Claude Atkins
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1953–94

Claude Marion Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American actor with a long career on stage, screen and television. Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever (or less than clever) tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series B. J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spin-off series, with Ben Cooper appearing as Waverly.

Early years

Akins was born in Nelson, Georgia, and grew up in Bedford, Indiana. He was a 1949 graduate of Northwestern University, where he studied theatre^[1] and became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

Film career

As a film actor, Akins first appeared in 1953's From Here to Eternity. He appeared in 1954's The Caine Mutiny as a seaman and shipmate of Lee Marvin. He portrayed prisoner Joe Burdette in Rio Bravo (which also starred John Wayne, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, and Angie Dickinson), Naval Lt. Commander Farber in Don't Give Up the Ship (starring Jerry Lewis), Sgt Kolowicz in Merrill's Marauders, Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman in The Devil's Brigade, the Reverend Jeremiah Brown in the 1960 movie Inherit the Wind, outlaw Ben Lane in Comanche Station that same year, Seely Jones in A Distant Trumpet (1964), and the gorilla leader Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the last original Apes movie in 1973. He was reportedly chosen for this role partly because he did not need the body portion of the ape costume for he already looked like an ape. He had a small part in the movie The Sea Chase with John Wayne.

Television

In television, Akins had an early appearance in Adventures of Superman (episode number 69, "Peril by Sea"), playing a villainous co-conspirator. He guest-starred on an episode of CBS's I Love Lucy. He had numerous roles in Western series, including Frontier, Crusader, My Friend Flicka (three times), Boots and Saddles, Northwest Passage, The Restless Gun (four times), Sheriff of Cochise, State Trooper, Wagon Train (4 times), Overland Trail, Laramie (4 times), The Big Valley, Daniel Boone, The Legend of Jesse James, Death Valley Days, Zane Grey Theater (4 times), The Rifleman (3 times), Gunsmoke (10 times), Bonanza (4 times), and The Oregon Trail.

Akins was featured in two episodes of the original CBS series The Twilight Zone (i.e., "The Little People" and "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"), three episodes of Combat! (4th and 5th seasons), City Detective, Meet McGraw with Frank Lovejoy, and The Untouchables (3 episodes). In 1960, he and Marty Ingels appeared as themselves in the episode "Amateur Night" in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven, starring Skip Homeier; the show was set on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. Akins' other early appearances included a role as a policeman on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in "Place of Shadows" (1956) and "Reward to Finder" (1957). Akins played another television cop, good-natured Sheriff's Detective Phillip Dix, in the first season of the Perry Mason in "The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife" (Episode 1-26) that aired March 15, 1958.

Before his signature character Sheriff Lobo, Akins appeared as owner/operator trucker Sonny Pruitt in NBC's Movin' On, from 1974 to 1976 with Frank Converse. Akins starred in over 40 episodes of Movin'On plus a made for TV movie "In Tandem." Many remember him more for his rough and tumble Sonny Pruitt character than the bumbling Sheriff Lobo. He also played the owner of a small airstrip in the short-lived 1984 series The Master (episode title "Max") with Lee Van Cleef and Demi Moore. After becoming a recognizable name in the late 1970's, Akins did testimonial TV commercials for PoliGrip, Rollins Truck Leasing, and AAMCO.

Akins found work in the late 1980s lending his inimitable voice talents to the work safety instructional video series, Safety Shorts, in which he expounded the virtues of workplace safety to thousands of industrial employees, offering lessons on the importance of lockout/tagout procedures, personal protective equipment, and the MSDS documentation process. Akins also made a golfing video with Ron Masak titled Tom Kite and Friends.

Death

Akins died of cancer in Altadena, California on January 27, 1994. His remains were cremated.

Film credits

From Here to Eternity (1953) The Caine Mutiny (1954) The Sea Chase (1955) The Burning Hills (1956) Hot Summer Night (1957) The Defiant Ones (1958) Onionhead (1958) Rio Bravo (1959) Porgy and Bess (1959) Don't Give Up the Ship (1959) Comanche Station (1960) Inherit the Wind (1960) Claudelle Inglish (1961) Merrill's Marauders (1962) A Distant Trumpet (1964)

The Killers (1964) Return of the Seven (1966) Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) The Devil's Brigade (1968) A Man Called Sledge (1970) The Night Stalker (1972) Skyjacked (1972) Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) Timber Tramps (1973) Tentacoli (1977) The Baron and the Kid (1984) Monster in the Closet (1986) Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986) The Curse (1987) The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) (TV) (as Theodore Roosevelt) Incident at Victoria Falls (1991) (TV) (again as Theodore Roosevelt) Falling from Grace (1992) Seasons of the Heart (1993)

References

1. ^ Northwestern University Archives. Retrieved January 16, 2008

The Twilight Zone

External links

Biography portal

• Claude Akins at the Internet Movie Database
• Claude Akins at AllRovi
• Safety Shorts
• Claude Akins at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Akins, Claude
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 25, 1926
Place of birth	Nelson, Georgia, U.S.
Date of death	January 27, 1994
Place of death	Altadena, California, U.S.