Richard Derr
{{short description|American actor}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Richard Derr
| image = Richard Derr.jpg
| caption = Derr {{circa|1940s}}
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|6|15}}
| birth_place = Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1992|5|8|1917|6|15}}
| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
| resting_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1941–1983
| spouse =
| children =
}}
Richard Derr (June 15, 1917{{Citation needed |date=September 2022}} – May 8, 1992) was an American actor who worked with stage, movie, and television drama, performing in both supporting and main roles.{{cite news |title=Richard Derr, 74, A Longtime Actor On Stage and Film |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/15/obituaries/richard-derr-74-a-longtime-actor-on-stage-and-film.html |access-date=September 4, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=May 15, 1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804002935/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/15/obituaries/richard-derr-74-a-longtime-actor-on-stage-and-film.html |archive-date=August 4, 2022}}
Early years
Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Derr graduated from Norristown High School in 1933. While he worked as a bank clerk, he acted with a little theater group in Norristown.{{cite web|title=Richard Derr Papers 1929-1983|url=http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/derr.xml|website=Arizona Archives Online|publisher=Arizona State University|access-date=25 May 2017}}
Stage
Derr was a life member of The Actors Studio,.{{cite book|first=David |last=Garfield|title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-02-542650-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/278 278]|chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980}} He had several main roles for stage drama. In 1955, he sang in the main role for the Broadway musical Plain and Fancy. His other Broadway credits include Dial M for Murder (1952), Invitation to a March (1960), Maybe Tuesday (1957), A Phoenix Too Frequent (1949), and The Closing Door (1949).{{cite web|title=("Richard Derr" search results)|url=http://www.playbill.com/searchpage/search?shows=on&people=on&theatres=on&q=Richard+Derr&qasset=00000150-ac84-d16d-a550-ecbe0b430000|website=Playbill Vault|publisher=Playbill|access-date=25 May 2017}}
Movies
For movies, Derr was primarily a character actor. However, he had the main role in George Pal's 1951 science fiction movie from Paramount Pictures, When Worlds Collide. Derr later had the main role in The Invisible Avenger (1958), a movie based on the radio show and pulp magazine character The Shadow. The character also served as the basis for two television pilot episodes, neither of which was developed into a series.{{cite book|last1=Shimeld|first1=Thomas J.|title=Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow|date=2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786490059|page=86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYlHgkDINlEC&dq=%22Richard+Derr%22+actor&pg=PA86|access-date=25 May 2017|language=en}}
Television
During the 1950s, most of Derr's work was done for television. On November 21, 1950, he co-featured in "The Perfect Type" on Armstrong Circle Theatre.{{cite news |title=Television Highlights of the Week |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77015039/the-boston-globe/ |access-date=May 4, 2021 |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 19, 1950 |page=20-A|via = Newspapers.com}} In 1959, he was the host of Fanfare, a summer dramatic anthology series by NBC-TV.{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle F.|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|date=2009|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780307483201|page=457|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Richard+Derr%22+actor&pg=PA457|access-date=25 May 2017|language=en}}
In 1965, he played the role of Dr. Dwyer in the three-part serial, "The Adventures of Gallegher" for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and later made appearances in Barnaby Jones, in two episodes of Star Trek, and in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man Book II.
Military service
Derr served in the Army Transport Service for three years during World War II.{{cite news|title=Hollywood Actor Visiting Brother|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11245499/wilkesbarre_times_leader_the_evening/|work=The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News|date=December 21, 1946|location=Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = May 25, 2017}} {{Open access}}
Real estate
Death
On May 8, 1992, at the age of 75, Derr died of pancreatic cancer in Santa Monica, California.{{cite book|last1=Willis|first1=John|title=Screen World 1993: Comprehensive Pictorial and Statistical Record of the 1992 Movie Season|date=2000|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9781557831750|page=264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZQ-amN0wTkC&dq=%22Richard+Derr%22+actor&pg=PA264|access-date=25 May 2017|language=en}}
Partial filmography
- Charlie Chan in Rio (1941) as Ken Reynolds
- Man at Large (1941) as Max, posing as Colonel Von Rohn
- A Gentleman at Heart (1942) as Stewart Haines
- Sex Hygiene (1942 short) as Soldier
- Castle in the Desert (1942) as Carl Detheridge
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1942) as Roger Blake
- Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) as Chester
- Just Off Broadway (1942) as John Logan
- Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942) as Gunnar Korstad
- Tonight We Raid Calais (1943) as German Captain (uncredited)
- Cry "Havoc" (1943) as Marine with Thermometer (uncredited)
- An American Romance (1944) in an undetermined role (uncredited)
- The Secret Heart (1946) as Larry Addams
- The Bride Goes Wild (1948) as Bruce Kope Johnson
- Luxury Liner (1948) as Charles G.K. Worton
- Joan of Arc (1948) as Jean de Metz (a knight)
- Guilty of Treason (1950) as Soviet Col. Aleksandr Melnikov
- When Worlds Collide (1951) as David Randall
- Something to Live For (1952) as Tony Collins
- Invisible Avenger (1958) as Lamont Cranston
- Terror Is a Man (1959) as William Fitzgerald
- An American Dream (1966) as Jack Hale (uncredited)
- Rosie! (1967) as Lawyer
- Three in the Attic (1968) as Mr. Clinton
- Topaz (1969) as U.S. Embassy Official in Copenhagen (uncredited)
- Adam at 6 A.M. (1970) as Mr. Gaines
- The Morning After (1974) as Dr. Tillman
- The Drowning Pool (1975) as James Devereaux
- SST: Death Flight (1977) as Governor Stensky
- American Gigolo (1980) as Mr. Williams
- Firefox (1982) as Admiral Curtin
Television
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Star Trek: The Original Series | Admiral Fitzgerald | S3:E16, "Mark of Gideon" |
References
{{Portal|Biography|Pennsylvania|Film|Television|Theater}}
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0220566}}
- {{IBDB name|37901}}
- [http://thethunderchild.com/Movies/1951/WhenWorldsCollide/WhenWorldsCollide.html Richard Derr biography]
- Richard Derr biography at [http://queen.spaceports.com/List%20of%20Suspects_3_Derr.html Ellery Queen a website on deduction]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derr, Richard}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California
Category:Male actors from Pennsylvania