Myron Healey Explained

Myron Healey
Birth Name:Myron Daniel Healey
Birth Date:June 8, 1923
Birth Place:Petaluma, California, U.S.
Death Place:Simi Valley, California, U.S.
Occupation:Actor
Years Active:1943 - 1994
Spouse:
    Children:2

    Myron Daniel Healey (June 8, 1923  - December 21, 2005) 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.

    Early years

    Healey was born in Petaluma in Sonoma County, California,[1] the son of Dr. and Mrs. Robert D. Healey.[2] He served in World War II as an Air Corps navigator and bombardier, flying in B-26 Martin Marauders in the European Theatre. After the war he continued military duties, retiring in the early 1960s as a captain in the United States Air Force Reserve.

    Acting career

    Healey's film debut came in 1943 with Young Ideas.[3] Returning to film work after WWII, he played villains and henchmen in low-budget Western films. He also did some screenwriting. In the post-war period he was frequently seen in Westerns from Monogram Pictures, often starring Johnny Mack Brown, Jimmy Wakely and Whip Wilson.

    In the 1950s Healey moved to more "bad guy" roles in other films, including the Bomba and Jungle Jim series, crime dramas and more westerns. He portrayed the bandit Bob Dalton in an episode of the syndicated television series Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis. In 1955 he played a "good guy" for a change as Phyllis Coates' partner in the 1955 Republic Pictures serial Panther Girl of the Kongo.

    Earlier in 1952, Healey was cast in one of the first episodes of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by the "Old Ranger" (Stanley Andrews).

    Healey appeared seven times as Captain Bandcroft in The Adventures of Kit Carson (1951–55). He was cast twice in 1957-58 as Becker in two episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Colt .45 starring Wayde Preston, seven times (1950–57) in the long-running The Lone Ranger, and ten times (1952–55) in The Roy Rogers Show television series.

    Healey played the outlaw Johnny Ringo in the western television series Tombstone Territory, with Pat Conway as Sheriff Clay Hollister, in the episode "Johnny Ringo's Last Ride" with a teleplay by Sam Peckinpah. He appeared in an episode of the children's western series Buckskin, which aired on NBC from 1958 to 1959. He was a semi-regular on programs produced by Gene Autry's Flying A production company: Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, Jr., The Range Rider, and The Gene Autry Show. He also guest-starred on the crime drama with a modern Western setting, The Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield, and in the Western set in the 1840s, Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin. He also appeared in an episode of the second season of Zorro.

    Between 1960 and 1963, Healey appeared five times on the NBC western Laramie, starring John Smith and Robert Fuller. He appeared ten times on another NBC western, The Virginian, and four times on Laredo. He also made appearances on Gunsmoke.

    From 1959 to 1961, he played Major Peter Horry, top aide to Leslie Nielsen, in the miniseries Swamp Fox on Walt Disney Presents, based on the American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion.[4]

    In 1970 Healey appeared as Wardlow in the TV western "The Men From Shiloh" (the rebranded name of The Virginian) in the episode titled "Jenny".

    The television role that Healey may be best remembered is that of "Doc Holliday" in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp TV series which starred Hugh O'Brian. He played that role for one season when Douglas Fowley, the regular Doc Holliday on the series, was away on a movie job

    Collectively, Healey appeared in some 140 films, including 81 westerns and three serials. Among his non-western pictures, he appeared in at least two horror films: the Americanized version of the Japanese giant-monster movie Varan the Unbelievable (1958) and The Incredible Melting Man (1977).

    Death

    In 2005, Healey broke his hip in a fall and never recovered. He died at the age of 82 at a hospital near his home in Simi Valley, California.[3]

    Recognition

    In 2000, Healey received a Golden Boot Award for his contributions to Western films and television programs.[5]

    Selected filmography

    Feature films include:
    Other western appearances include:
    Non-western appearances include:

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Book: Lentz. Harris M. III. Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2005: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. 2006. McFarland. 9780786424894. 164. 28 February 2017. en.
    2. News: Myrton D. Healey In Picture At California. The Petaluma Argus-Courier. March 7, 1944. Petaluma, California. 8. Newspapers.com. February 27, 2017.
    3. Book: Mayer. Geoff. Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. 9 February 2017. McFarland. 9780786477623. 148–149. 28 February 2017. en.
    4. Book: Terrace. Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. 2011. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson, N.C.. 978-0-7864-6477-7. 1043. 2nd.
    5. Web site: The Golden Boot Awards. The Old Corral. 28 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170228013348/http://www.b-westerns.com/goldboot.htm. February 28, 2017.

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