Tris Coffin

Last updated

Tris Coffin
Tris Coffin in Dangerous Money (1946).jpg
Coffin in Dangerous Money (1946)
Born
Tristram Chockley Coffin

(1909-08-13)August 13, 1909
DiedMarch 26, 1990(1990-03-26) (aged 80)
Occupation(s)Film and television actor
Years active19391977
SpouseVera Duke [1] (m. 1948)

Tristram Chockley Coffin [2] (August 13, 1909 March 26, 1990) was a former film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s, usually in Westerns or other B-movie action-adventure productions.

Contents

Early years

Coffin's mother was actress Elizabeth Christie, and his uncle was writer Robert P. T. Coffin. [1]

Career

In 1940, Coffin appeared as Phillips in Chasing Trouble , a comedy espionage film. He is perhaps best known for his role as Jeff King in Republic Pictures' King of the Rocket Men (1949), the first of three serials starring the "Rocket Man" character. During the 1940s and into the early 1950s, Coffin appeared in other movie serials, including Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939), Jesse James Rides Again (1947), Bruce Gentry (1949), Pirates of the High Seas (1950), Mysterious Dr. Satan (1940), Sky Raiders (1941), Holt of the Secret Service (1941), Perils of Nyoka (1942), Federal Agents vs. the Underworld (1949), and Radar Patrol vs. Spy King (1950). [3]

In 1955, he joined Peter Graves, William Schallert, and Tyler McVey in the episode "The Man Who Tore Down the Wall" of NBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame . He had guest-starred in the series Adventures of Superman , sometimes playing a "good guy", sometimes a "bad guy". In 1954 he appeared as Principal Garwood in Stamp Day for Superman , which was produced by Superman, Inc. for The United States Department of the Treasury to promote the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds.

Coffin also had a role in the very first TV episode of The Lone Ranger , as Captain Dan Reid of the Texas Rangers, [4] the older brother of the man who would become The Lone Ranger after his brother and four other comrades were murdered by outlaws; he also appeared in the "Cannonball McKay" (1949) episode (1/16) as Marshall Jim Hanley. He also appeared as a guest star in the ABC Western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp , starring Hugh O'Brian in the title role.

Coffin played the role of Col. Willis Murdock on the ABC/Warner Brothers Western series Colt .45 in the 1960 episode "The Cause". On February 9, 1960, Coffin appeared as Grey Gordon in "The 10 percent Blues" of the ABC/WB crime drama Bourbon Street Beat with Andrew Duggan, Richard Long, and Van Williams. He also guest-starred on the ABC/WB Western series The Alaskans .

In an episode of Climax! , an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye , Coffin, playing a dead body, is said to have arisen during its live broadcast and walked off stage. The event was widely covered in the media of the day, later becoming an urban legend that was attributed to Peter Lorre in the Climax! series adaptation of Casino Royale. [5] Coffin also appeared in another episode of Climax!, "Escape From Fear", in 1955.

He also appeared in comedies, including episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies , Father Knows Best , Hey, Jeannie! , I Love Lucy , Batman , and Walter Brennan's The Real McCoys , and in the second season of The Abbott and Costello Show .

Personal life

Coffin married model Vera Duke ( née Veta Hetman) on January 6, 1948, in California. [1]

Coffin died of lung cancer on March 26, 1990, in Santa Monica, California, [2] at the age of 80. His ashes were scattered at sea.

Coffin was a Mormon. [6]

Partial filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hart (actor)</span> American actor

John Lewis Hart, also credited as John Hilton, was an American film and television actor. In his early career, Hart appeared mostly in westerns. Although Hart played mostly minor roles in some fairly well known films, he was probably best known for playing the character Hawkeye in the TV series Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans and replacing Clayton Moore in the television series The Lone Ranger for one season (1952–53).

<i>The Adventures of Superman</i> (radio series) Long-running radio serial

The Adventures of Superman is a long-running radio serial that originally aired from 1940 to 1951 featuring the DC Comics character Superman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Neill</span> American actress (1920–2016)

Noel Darleen Neill was an American actress, pin-up girl, and model. She played Lois Lane in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), as well as the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. She appeared in 80 films and television series in her career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Tyler</span> American actor (1903–1954)

Tom Tyler was an American actor known for his leading roles in low-budget Western films in the silent and sound eras, and for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the 1941 serial film The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Tyler also played Kharis in 1940's The Mummy's Hand, a popular Universal Studios monster film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Bardette</span> American actor (1902–1977)

Trevor Bardette was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of Adventures of Superman and as Newman Haynes Clanton, or Old Man Clanton, in 21 episodes of the ABC/Desilu western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Mohr</span> American actor (1914–1968)

Gerald Mohr was an American radio, film, and television character actor and frequent leading man, who appeared in more than 500 radio plays, 73 films, and over 100 television shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Seay</span> American actor (1914–1992)

James Seay was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials.

Lew Landers was an American independent film and television director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Corrigan</span> American actor (1900–1969)

Lloyd Corrigan was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually mysteries such as Daughter of the Dragon starring Anna May Wong, before dedicating himself more to acting in 1938. His short La Cucaracha won an Academy Award in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Doucette</span> American actor (1921–1994)

John Arthur Doucette was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he proved equally adept at portraying characters in Shakespearean plays, Westerns, and modern crime dramas. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his villainous roles as a movie and television "tough guy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don "Red" Barry</span> American actor (1912–1980)

Don Barry, also known as Red Barry, was an American film and television actor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the first Red Ryder in the highly successful 1940 film Adventures of Red Ryder with Noah Beery Sr.; the character was played in later films by "Wild Bill" Elliott and Allan Lane. Barry went on to bigger budget films following Red Ryder, but none reached his previous level of success. He played Red Doyle in the 1964 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Simple Simon".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert J. Wilke</span> American actor (1914–1989)

Robert Joseph Wilke was an American film and television actor noted primarily for his roles as villains, mostly in Westerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Andrews</span> American actor (1891–1969)

Stanley Martin Andrews was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program Little Orphan Annie and later as "The Old Ranger", the first host of the syndicated western anthology television series, Death Valley Days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Reed</span> American actor (1917–1980)

Marshall Jewel Reed was an American actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1943 and 1978. He was born in Englewood, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Ingram (actor)</span> American actor (1902-1969)

John Samuel Ingram was an American film and television actor. He appeared in many serials and Westerns between 1935 and 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth MacDonald (American actor)</span> American actor (1901–72)

Kenneth MacDonald was an American film actor. Born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made more than 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1972. His name is sometimes seen as Kenneth McDonald; his later roles sometimes credited him as Kenneth R. MacDonald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Moore (actor)</span> American actor (1908-1964)

Dennis Moore was an American actor who specialized in Western films and film serials.

George Magrill was an American film actor who appeared in more than 320 films between 1923 and 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Harvey (actor, born 1911)</span> American actor (1911–1963)

Don Carlos Harvey was an American television and film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Sande</span> American actor (1906–1971)

Walter Sande was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stansfield, Robert E. (January 26, 1958). "'How I Fixed Two of the '26 Men'". Hartford Courant. Connecticut, Hartford. p. TV Week - 2. Retrieved August 4, 2018 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. pp. 144–145. ISBN   9781476625997 . Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  3. Mayer, Geoff (2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. ISBN   9780786477623 . Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  4. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 619. ISBN   978-0-7864-6477-7.
  5. "Death Takes a Powder". Snopes. August 3, 2005. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  6. "Biographies: Latter-day Saint and/Or Utah Film Personalities: C" . Retrieved June 29, 2023.