Albert Popwell Explained

Albert Popwell
Birth Date:	15 July 1926
Birth Place:	New York City, United States
Death Place:	Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation:	Actor
Years Active:	1943–1995

Albert Popwell (July 15, 1926 – April 9, 1999) was an American stage, television and film actor with a career spanning six decades.^[1]

Born in New York City, Popwell started as a professional dancer before taking up a career in acting. Popwell made his professional debut on Broadway at age 16 in The Pirate.^[1]

Career

Popwell was featured on many television series,^[2] but is perhaps best known for his appearances in films opposite Clint Eastwood, with whom he appeared in five films, beginning with Coogan's Bluff (1968)^[1] and in the first four Dirty Harry films, playing a different character in each film.^[1] Popwell was the wounded bank robber at the receiving end of Eastwood's iconic "Do I feel lucky?" monologue from Dirty Harry (1971).^[3] He was a murderous pimp in Magnum Force (1973),^[2] appeared as militant Big Ed Mustapha in The Enforcer (1976)^[2] and as Harry's detective colleague Horace King in Sudden Impact (1983).^[1] In 1988, Popwell was offered a role in The Dead Pool, the last film in the series, but could not appear due to a scheduling conflict.

Popwell's final film role was with Sharon Stone in Scissors (1991).^[4]

Death

He died at age 72 in 1999, from complications following open heart surgery.^[1]

Selected filmography

• Journey to Shiloh (1968) – Samuel
• Night Gallery (1970, episode: "The Nature of the Enemy") – Reporter
• Coogan's Bluff (1968) – Wonderful Digby
• Dirty Harry (1971) - Bank Robber
• The Peace Killers (1971) – Blackjack
• Search (1972) – Griffin
• Glass Houses (1972) – Albert
• Fuzz (1972) – Lewis
• Cleopatra Jones (1973) – Matthew Johnson
• Charley Varrick (1973) – Percy Randolph
• Magnum Force (1973) – Pimp, J.J. Wilson
• The Single Girls (1974) – Morris
• Lost in the Stars (1974)
• Emergency! (1975, episode: "905-Wild") – Officer Les Taylor
• Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) – Matthew Johnson
• The Streets of San Francisco (1975, episode: "Poisoned Snow") – Nappy
• Sanford and Son (1976, episode: "Sanford and Gong") – Doctor Davis
• The Enforcer (1976) – Big Ed Mustapha
• The Buddy Holly Story (1978) – Eddie
• Wonder Woman (1978, episode: "The Deadly Dolphin") – Gaffer
• Butterflies in Heat (1979) – Ned
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979, episode: "Cosmic Whiz Kid") – Koren
• The Incredible Hulk (1980, episode: "Long Run Home") - Doctor
• The A-Team (1983, episode: "The Out-Of Towners") – Digger
• Sudden Impact (1983) – Horace King
• Magnum, P.I. (1986, episode: "Missing Melody") – David Crawford
• Who's That Girl (1987) – Parole Chairman
• The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989) – Jones
• Wild at Heart (1990) – Barkeeper at Zanzibar (scenes deleted)
• Scissors (1991) - Officer
• A Last Goodbye (1995) – O.C. Lee

Notes and References

1. Web site: The New York Times. Albert Popwell, Dancer and Actor, 72. April 26, 1999.
2. Web site: Albert Popwell Filmography. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305142247/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/57366/Albert-Popwell/filmography. dead. 2016-03-05. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. 2016.
3. Web site: Dirty Harry. American Film Institute.
4. Web site: Scissors Cast. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305124531/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/43180/Scissors/cast. dead. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. 2016. 2016-03-05.