James Seay

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James Seay
JamesSeay.jpg
Seay in 1948
Born
James W. Seay

(1914-09-09)September 9, 1914
DiedOctober 10, 1992(1992-10-10) (aged 78)
Resting placeCalifornia
OccupationActor
Years active19391970
Spouse(s)Vivian Cohn
(m. 1942; div. 19??)
Mercedes Carmen Bole
(m. 19??; died 1992)

James Seay (September 9, 1914 October 10, 1992) was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials.

Contents

Early years

Seay demonstrated an interest in acting at an early age, as he and his mother regularly attended Saturday matinees of a stock theater company in Pasadena, California. After working for an insurance company, he became a student at the Pasadena Playhouse. [1]

Career

After a year at the Pasadena Playhouse, Seay spent the summer as leading man in a summer stock company at the Chapel Playhouse in Guilford, Connecticut. He returned to Pasadena and performed in two plays before he received a contract from Paramount He played a doctor in an "old folks home" in the film Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Among his many credits, Seay appeared in minor roles in a couple of episodes of Adventures of Superman television series: The Mind Machine (as a senator) and Jungle Devil (as an airplane pilot).

In the syndicated 1954-1955 television series Stories of the Century , Seay portrayed the Wyoming storekeeper James "Jim" Averill, companion of Cattle Kate Watson, both of whom were hanged in a dispute with cattlemen at the start of the Johnson County Range War.

Seay played corrupt district attorney Lucius Peck in the 1955 episode, "The Hangman Waits" on the western anthology series, Death Valley Days .

Seay appeared sixteen times as Judge Spicer on ABC's western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp . He was cast six times as a sheriff on the NBC children's western series, Fury . He also guest starred in the syndicated aviation adventure series, Whirlybirds , and on the westerns The Californians , The Tall Man , and The Rebel .

He appeared three times in 1958 and 1959 on CBS' Perry Mason : murder victim Ross Hollister in "The Case of the Cautious Coquette," Dr. Michael Harris in "The Case of the Curious Bride," and murderer Ralph Hibberly in "The Case of the Spurious Sister."

Seay was cast as Duke Tavener, an unscrupulous businessman who tries to force a woman to turn over her saloon/casino to him, in the 1958 episode "Gambler" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Cheyenne .

He appeared on CBS's The Twilight Zone as the sheriff in the episode "In His Image" and as Agent Bowton in The Andy Griffith Show Season 4 episode, "The Haunted House" and the Season 5 episode, "Prisoner of Love". In 1960 he appeared on Bat Masterson .

Seay made training films for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. [1]

Death

On October 10, 1992, Seay died in Laguna Beach, California.

Selected filmography

Selected Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1953 Death Valley Days Jim ButlerSeason 2, Episode 4, "Which Side of the Fence?"
1955 Death Valley Days District Attorney Lucius PeckEpisode, "The Hangman Waits"
1963 The Andy Griffith Show Agent BowtonSeason 4 episode, "The Haunted House" and the Season 5 episode, "Prisoner of Love".
1955-1961 The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Judge Spicer16 Episodes
1958 Cheyenne Duke TavenerEpisode "Gambler".
1964 Death Valley Days Sheriff BodenEpisode "The Bigger They Are"
1964 Death Valley Days Bert FletcherEpisode "Big John and the Rainmaker"
1964 Death Valley Days JakeEpisode "The Lucky Cow "
1964 Death Valley Days MarshalEpisode "The Left Hand Is Damned" (1964) ...
1965 Death Valley Days Herman EhrenbergEpisode "A City Is Born"
1966 Death Valley Days Alex McSweenEpisode "The Kid from Hell's Kitchen"
1967 Death Valley Days TeckEpisode "The Lone Grave"
1968 Death Valley Days Jim BergmannEpisode "The Secret of the Black Prince"
1968 Death Valley Days EditorEpisode "The World's Greatest Swimming Horse"
1970 Death Valley Days Joe GrimesEpisode "Clum's Constabulary"

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References

  1. 1 2 Goldrup, Tom and Jim (August 2012). The Encyclopedia of Feature Players of Hollywood, Volume 3. BearManor Media. Retrieved January 23, 2019.