Smoki Whitfield | |
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 Publicity Photo of Smoki Whitfield | |
| Born | Robert Jordan Whitfield August 3, 1918 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Died | November 11, 1967 (aged 49) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Education | University of Oregon |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Eileen Jackson |
| Children | 2 |
Smoki Whitfield (born Robert Whitfield, and sometimes credited as Jordan Whitfield; August 3, 1918 - November 11, 1967) was an African American actor, comedian, and musician. [1] [2] [3]
Smoki was born in Pittsburgh to John and Effie (Walker) Whitfield. He attended the University of Oregon, where he was a star athlete and made appearances in school plays. [4] [5] [6] [7]
In the 1940s, he began a career as a character actor in Hollywood. He appeared in a third of the dozen Bomba, the Jungle Boy films. Over the next few decades, he amassed more than 50 on-screen credits. In the 1950s, he worked as a manager and MC at a number of Hawaiian nightclubs. [8] [9] He later worked at the Top Banana Club in North Hollywood. [10]
In the 1959-1960 Walt Disney Studios miniseries The Swamp Fox , Whitfield played Oscar Marion, opposite Leslie Nielsen's Francis Marion. Oscar Marion was Francis Marion's man-servant, slave and friend. Whitfield sang the series' theme song, adding new verses in each of the eight installments to chronicle the characters' latest adventures. [11] Sadly, he was given no on-screen credit for his significant role in the series.
Whitfield died in 1967 of a heart attack in North Hollywood after a lengthy illness. He was survived by his wife, Eileen Jackson, and two sons. [12]
Carver Dana Andrews was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts into the 1980s. He is best known for his portrayal of obsessed police detective Mark McPherson in the noir Laura (1944) and his critically acclaimed performance as World War II veteran Fred Derry in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was a British actor. He is best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman Giles French in the CBS-TV sitcom Family Affair (1966–1971). He was also known for playing the Wazir in the film Kismet (1955) and Dr. Carl Hyatt in the CBS-TV series Checkmate (1960–1962).
George Henry Sanders was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous characters. He is remembered for his roles as wicked Jack Favell in Rebecca (1940), Scott ffolliott in Foreign Correspondent, The Saran of Gaza in Samson and Delilah, theater critic Addison DeWitt in All About Eve, Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1952), King Richard the Lionheart in King Richard and the Crusaders (1954), Mr. Freeze in a two-part episode of Batman (1966), and the voice of Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book (1967). He also starred as Simon Templar, in 5 of the 8 films in The Saint series (1939–1941), and as a suave Saint-like crimefighter in the first 4 of the 16 The Falcon films (1941–1942).
James Rudolph O'Malley was an English character actor and singer who appeared in many American films and television programmes from the 1940s to 1982, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley. He also appeared on the Broadway stage in Ten Little Indians (1944) and Dial M for Murder (1954).
Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series Have Gun – Will Travel.
Juanita Moore was an American film, television, and stage actress.
Richard Egan was an American actor. After beginning his career in 1949, he subsequently won a Golden Globe Award for his performances in the films The Glory Brigade (1953) and The Kid from Left Field (1953). He went on to star in many films such as Underwater! (1955), Seven Cities of Gold (1955), The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), Love Me Tender (1956), Tension at Table Rock (1956), A Summer Place (1959), Esther and the King (1960) and The 300 Spartans (1962).
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
Herman August Wilhelm Katt, known professionally as Bill Williams, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the titular character in the western series The Adventures of Kit Carson, which aired in syndication from 1951 to 1955.
Timothy Daniel Considine was an American actor, writer, photographer, and automotive historian. He was best known for his acting roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Nellie Elizabeth "Irish" McCalla was an American film and television actress and artist best known as the title star of the 1950s television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. She co-starred with actor Chris Drake. McCalla was also a "Vargas Girl" model for pin-up girl artist Alberto Vargas.
Oscar Marion was an American militiaman during the American Revolutionary War enslaved by Francis Marion. In December 2006, Oscar Marion was recognized as an "African American Patriot" in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. A proclamation signed by President George W. Bush expressed the appreciation of a "grateful nation" for Oscar Marion's "devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country in the Armed Forces of the United States."
Bomba, the Jungle Boy is a series of American boys' adventure books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym Roy Rockwood. and published by Cupples and Leon in the first half of the 20th century, in imitation of the successful Tarzan series.
Charles Hugh Roberson was an American actor and stuntman.
Myron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spanning more than half a century.
Robin Hughes was a British film and television actor.
Norman "Rusty" Wescoatt was an American supporting actor who appeared in over 80 films between 1947 and 1965.
Robert C. Foulk was an American television and film character actor who portrayed Sheriff H. Miller in the CBS series Lassie from 1958 to 1962.
Bomba, the Jungle Boy is a 1949 American adventure film directed by Ford Beebe, based on the first of the Bomba series of juvenile adventure books. It was the first in a 12-film series featuring Bomba, a sort of teenage Tarzan, played by Johnny Sheffield, who as a child had played "Boy" in several previous Tarzan films.
Lord of the Jungle is a 1955 American adventure film directed by Ford Beebe and starring Johnny Sheffield. It is the 12th and final film in the Bomba, the Jungle Boy series, which were based on the Bomba series of juvenile adventure books. It was also Sheffield's final film. He died in 2010.
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