John Archer (actor)

infobox actor
name=John Archer
birthdate=birth date|1915|5|8
birthplace=Osceola, Nebraska
deathdate=death date and age|1999|12|3|1915|5|8
deathplace=Redmond, Washington
occupation=Film, television, stage actor

John Archer (May 8, 1915 - December 3, 1999) was an American movie and television actor. Born Ralph Bowman in Osceola, Nebraska, Archer moved to California at the age of five. He attended Hollywood High School and the University of Southern California, where he studied cinematography with an eye on a job behind the camera.

When finding work in the field proved difficult, he drifted into acting, working as a radio announcer and actor (including one year in the starring role of Lamont Cranston in "The Shadow") appearing on Broadway in "The Day Before Spring", and in film in a number of movie serials for Universal and Republic under his birth name. In a radio contest sponsored by Jesse L. Lasky, he won the top prize, an RKO contract in the name of "John Archer." His screen credits include "Hello, Frisco, Hello", "Guadalcanal Diary", "White Heat", "Destination Moon", "Rock Around the Clock", "Ten Thousand Bedrooms", and "Blue Hawaii". In 1971, he was featured in Universal Pictures's movie How to Frame a Figg staring Don Knotts.

Archer appeared in dozens of television series, including "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "The Millionaire", "The Loretta Young Show", "Private Secretary", "The Bob Cummings Show", "Zane Grey Theater", "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet", "Sea Hunt", "Maverick", "The Twilight Zone", "Surfside 6", "77 Sunset Strip", "Wagon Train", "Hawaiian Eye", "McHale's Navy", "Perry Mason", "Bonanza", "Mannix", and "The Name of the Game".

Archer was married twice. His marriage to first wife, actress Marjorie Lord, lasted from 1941 - 1955; they had two children, including daughter Anne. He had two children with second wife Ann Leddy, as well, to whom he was married from 1956 until his death from lung cancer in Redmond, Washington.

External links

*imdb|0001893|John Archer
*amg name|2:2106|John Archer