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Richard Webb

Show Count: 1
Series Count: 0
Role: Old Time Radio Star
Old Time Radio
Born: September 9, 1915, Bloomington, Illinois, USA
Died: June 10, 1993, Van Nuys, California, USA

Richard Webb (September 9, 1915 – June 10, 1993) was a film, television and radio actor, originally from Bloomington, Illinois.

He appeared in more than fifty films, including many westerns and films noir including Out of the Past (1947), Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948), I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951) and Carson City (1952). Today, he may be best remembered as the star of the 1950s television series, Captain Midnight, based on a long-running radio program of the same name.

In 1954, Webb played the notorious gunfighter John Wesley Hardin in an episode of Jim Davis's Stories of the Century western anthology series. The segment shows Hardin shooting two Indians in the back, gunning down a sheriff in a saloon, and finally being outgunned himself by an El Paso officer attempting to arrest Hardin, then a lawyer, on a new murder warrant, possibly his 41st or 45th killing.

In 1958, Webb appeared in the episode "Wheel of Fortune" of the NBC western series, Jefferson Drum, starring Jeff Richads. That same year, he guest starred as agent James Foster in Bruce Gordon's short-lived NBC docudrama about the Cold War, Behind Closed Doors.

Webb in 1958 played the role of Rocky Norton in the episode "Dead Reckoning" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. Jason Robards, Sr., and Lee Van Cleef appear in this episode as Judge Hesby and Devery, respectively.

In 1959, Webb was cast as the fictitious Don Jagger, the deputy chief of the United States Border Patrol in the syndicated series, Border Patrol. In 1960, he was cast as Clay in the episode "Calico" of another ABC/WB western series, The Alaskans. That same year, he played imposter Henry Walker on CBS's Rawhide in the episode entitled "Incident of the Stargazer". He was also cast in an episode of the 1960 CBS sitcom, My Sister Eileen, with Elaine Stritch and Shirley Bonne.

In 1963, Webb played George C. Belter, the murdered owner of Spicy Bits, a gossip magazine, in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Velvet Claws." In 1965 he again played the murder victim, this time as Addison Powell in "The Case of the Impetuous Imp."

Webb played Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney on Star Trek: The Original Series — "Court Martial"

In the 1970s, Webb became a writer and published four books on psychic phenomena.

Hindered by a long-term respiratory illness, Webb died of a self-inflicted gunshot in Van Nuys, California.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia
Broadcast: 1st December 1948
Added: Dec 02 2007