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James Seay | |
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![]() Seay in 1948 | |
Born | James W. Seay September 9, 1914 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
Died | October 10, 1992 78) Laguna Beach, California, U.S. | (aged
Resting place | California |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1939–1970 |
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.
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]
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]
On October 10, 1992, Seay died in Laguna Beach, California.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1953 | Death Valley Days | Jim Butler | Season 2, Episode 4, "Which Side of the Fence?" |
1955 | Death Valley Days | District Attorney Lucius Peck | Episode, "The Hangman Waits" |
1963 | The Andy Griffith Show | Agent Bowton | Season 4 episode, "The Haunted House" and the Season 5 episode, "Prisoner of Love". |
1955-1961 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | Judge Spicer | 16 Episodes |
1958 | Cheyenne | Duke Tavener | Episode "Gambler". |
1964 | Death Valley Days | Sheriff Boden | Episode "The Bigger They Are" |
1964 | Death Valley Days | Bert Fletcher | Episode "Big John and the Rainmaker" |
1964 | Death Valley Days | Jake | Episode "The Lucky Cow " |
1964 | Death Valley Days | Marshal | Episode "The Left Hand Is Damned" (1964) ... |
1965 | Death Valley Days | Herman Ehrenberg | Episode "A City Is Born" |
1966 | Death Valley Days | Alex McSween | Episode "The Kid from Hell's Kitchen" |
1967 | Death Valley Days | Teck | Episode "The Lone Grave" |
1968 | Death Valley Days | Jim Bergmann | Episode "The Secret of the Black Prince" |
1968 | Death Valley Days | Editor | Episode "The World's Greatest Swimming Horse" |
1970 | Death Valley Days | Joe Grimes | Episode "Clum's Constabulary" |
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