James Gregory (actor)

{{For|other people with the same name|James Gregory (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = James Gregory

| image = Gregory, James.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Gregory in 1948

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|12|23|mf=y}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2002|9|16|1911|12|23|mf=y}}

| death_place = Sedona, Arizona, U.S.

| resting_place =

| years_active = 1939–1998

| spouse = Ann Miltner

}}

James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002){{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/76412%7C77726/James-Gregory/#overview |title=James Gregory |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=September 19, 2023}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-19-me-gregory19-story.html |title=James Gregory, 90; Veteran Player of Cops and Generals in Movies and Television |first=Myrna |last=Oliver |date=September 19, 2002 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413191103/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-19-me-gregory19-story.html |archive-date=April 13, 2019 |access-date=September 18, 2023}} was an American character actor who played roles such as Schaffer in Al Capone (1959), the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), the audacious General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), and crusty Inspector Frank Luger in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982).

Career

In 1939, he made his Broadway debut in a production of Key Largo.{{cite web |title=James Gregory |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/james-gregory-43070 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201105025915/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/james-gregory-43070 |archive-date=November 5, 2020 |access-date=November 5, 2020 |url-status=live }}

He served from 1941 to 1946 in the United States Navy[https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=607950&binder=true Navy profile], navy.togetherweserved.com. Accessed August 6, 2023. and the United States Marine Corps during World War II. His early acting work included army training films; one such appearance is excerpted in The Atomic Café (1982). He also worked in radio, including a year (1955–1956) on 21st Precinct.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

Gregory was the lead in The Lawless Years, a 1920s-era crime drama which aired 45 episodes on NBC. In the series, which ran from 1959 to 1961, he played NYPD Detective Barney Ruditsky.{{r|etvs|page1=588}}

After his appearance as the McCarthyistic Senator Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Gregory starred in the film PT 109 (1963) with Cliff Robertson. He played Dean Martin's spy boss MacDonald, in the Matt Helm film series; in the original Star Trek series in the episode "Dagger of the Mind" (1966), as Dr. Tristan Adams; and in the Elvis Presley film Clambake (1967). In the pilot movie for the 1968 Hawaii Five-O series, Gregory became the first actor to portray State Department official Jonathan Kaye, a recurring character on the series.

Gregory portrayed Nick Hannigan on Detective School.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=255|edition=2nd}} He was a semiregular on the TV series Barney Miller as Deputy Inspector Frank Luger. His final acting credit was in a 1986 episode of Mr. Belvedere.

Personal life and death

Gregory was married to Ann Miltner for 58 years. He died of natural causes on September 16, 2002, in Sedona, Arizona, aged 90.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/19/arts/james-gregory-actor-90.html |title=James Gregory -- Actor, 90 |date=September 19, 2002 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=September 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527211316/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/19/arts/james-gregory-actor-90.html |archive-date=May 27, 2015}}

Selected TV and filmography

The Naked City (1948) as Patrolman Albert Hicks (uncredited)
The Frogmen (1951) as Chief Petty Officer Lane (uncredited)
Studio One in Hollywood (1954–1958, TV series) as Mr. Bales / James Metcalf / Mr. Black / Private Alan Pomeroy / Corey / George Monzo / Gasman
The Scarlet Hour (1956) as Ralph Nevins
Nightfall (1956) as Ben Fraser
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 2 Episode 24: "The Cream of the Jest") as Wayne Campbell
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 3 Episode 3: "The Perfect Crime") as John Gregory
The Young Stranger (1957) as Police Sergeant Shipley
The Big Caper (1957) as Flood
Gun Glory (1957) as Grimsell
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) (Season 3 Episode 33: "Post Mortem") as Mr. Wescott
Underwater Warrior (1958) as Lieutenant William Arnold, MD
Onionhead (1958) as Lieutenant Commander Fox (or the Skipper)
The Twilight Zone (1959–1961, TV series) as Air Force General / Confederate Sergeant
Lux Playhouse (1959, TV series) as Johnny Warcheck
Al Capone (1959) as Sergeant Schaefler
Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (1959) as Father Burton
Laramie (1959–1963, TV series) as Richards / Father Elliott
Wagon Train (1960, TV series) as Ricky Bell
The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1960, TV series) as John Kramer
General Electric Theater as Swandy Green in "Sarah's Laughter" (1960, TV episode) as Sandy Green
Frontier Circus (1961, TV series) as Jacob Carno
The New Breed (1961, TV series) as Father Al
The Untouchables (1961, TV series) as Walter Trager
X-15 (1961) as Tom Deparma
Target: The Corruptors (1962, TV series) as Terran
The Virginian (1962, TV series) as Slim Jessup
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) as Brad Byrd
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) as Senator John Yerkes Iselin
Empire (1962, TV series) as Theron Haskell
Sam Benedict (1963, TV Series) as John Paul Elcott
The Eleventh Hour (1963, TV series) as Eddie Forman
PT 109 (1963) as Commander C.R. Ritchie
Twilight of Honor (1963) as Norris Bixby
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 2 Episode 9: "The Dividing Wall") as Fred Kruger
Rawhide (1963–1965, TV series) as Lash Whitcomb / Mister Brothers / Owen Spencer
The Lieutenant (1963–1964, TV series) as Sergeant Horace 'Biff' Capp / Sergeant Horace Capp
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) as Colonel Edgar Pyser
Breaking Point (1964, TV series) as Malcolm
The Defenders (1964, TV series) as Paul Tasso
A Distant Trumpet (1964) as Major General Alexander Upton Quaint
Quick Before It Melts (1964) as Vice Admiral
Bonanza (1964–1969, TV series) as Sergeant Mike Russell / Mulvaney / Whitney Parker
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) as Morgan Hastings
Gunsmoke (1965–1968, TV series) as John Scanlon / Judge Calvin Strom / Wes Martin
The Wild, Wild West (1965, TV series) as Ulysses S. Grant
A Rage to Live (1965) as Dr. O'Brien
A Man Called Shenandoah (1966, TV series) as Jake Roberts
The Big Valley four episodes: "Pursuit" and "Ambush" as Simon Carter, "The Challenge" as Senator Jim Bannard, and "The Other Face of Justice" as Harry Bodine
F Troop (1966–1967, TV series) as Major Duncan / Big Jim Parker
The Silencers (1966) as MacDonald
Hogan's Heroes (1966, TV series) as German General Biedenbender
The Fugitive (1966, TV series) as Pete Crandall
Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) – Dr. Tristan Adams in S1:E9, "Dagger of the Mind"
Murderers' Row (1966) as MacDonald
My Three Sons (1967, TV series) as Cappy Engstrom
The Virginian (1967, TV series) as Cal Young
Clambake (1967) as Duster Hayward
The Ambushers (1967) as MacDonald
The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968) as General Homer Prentiss
The Mod Squad (1968, TV series) as Gus Williams
The Love God? (1969) as Darrell Evans Hughes
Hawaii-Five-O (1969) as Jonathan Kaye and Mike Finney
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) as General Ursus
The Hawaiians (1970) as Dr. Whipple Sr. (uncredited)
Million Dollar Duck (1971) as Rutledge
Shoot Out (1971) as Sam Foley
The Late Liz (1971) as Sam Burns
Ironside (1972, TV series) as TV show host
Columbo (1972, TV Series) as David Buckner
Columbo (1972, TV Series) as Coach Rizzo / David L. Buckner
Mission: Impossible "The Bride" (1972, TV series) as Joe Corvin
All in the Family (1972, TV Series) as William R. Kirkwood
Search "Operation Iceman" (1972, TV series) as Ambassador Gordon Essex
Miracle On 34th Street (1973, TV movie) as Deputy District Attorney Thomas Mara
M*A*S*H (1974, TV series) as Lieutenant General Robert 'Iron Guts' Kelly
The Partridge Family (1974, TV series) "Danny Drops Out" as Claude Tubbles
The F.B.I. (1974, TV Series) as Frank Bonner
Emergency! (1975, TV Series) as Brackett's Father
Barney Miller (1975–1982, TV series) as Deputy Inspector Frank Luger (66 episodes)
The Strongest Man in the World (1975) as Chief Blair
Sanford and Son (1976) as Commander
The Bastard (1978, TV movie) as Will Campbell
The Main Event (1979) as Gough
The Comeback Kid (1980, TV movie) as Scotty
The Great American Traffic Jam (1980, TV movie) as General Caruthers
The Flight of Dragons (1982) as Bryagh / Smrgol (voice)
Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home! (1983, TV movie) as Dan Peters
Mr. Belvedere (1986, TV series) as Mr. Sparks (final appearance)