James Gregory (actor)

For other people with the same name, see James Gregory (disambiguation).

James Gregory
Gregory in 1948
Born	(1911-12-23)December 23, 1911 Bronx, New York, U.S.
Died	Sedona, Arizona, U.S.
Resting place	Sedona Community Cemetery
Years active	1939–2000
Spouse(s)	Ann Miltner (m. 1944; wid. 2002)

James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American character actor noted for his deep, gravelly voice and playing brash roles such as the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), the audacious General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and loudmouthed Inspector Frank Luger in Barney Miller (1975–1982).

Biography

Gregory was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, and reared in New Rochelle north of the city. In high school he was president of the Drama Club. He briefly worked on Wall Street as a runner in 1929 and thought of being a stockbroker, but, by 1935, had become a professional actor instead. In 1939, he made his Broadway debut in a production of Key Largo and worked in about twenty-five more Broadway productions over the next sixteen years. Gregory served three years in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps during World War II. His early acting work included Army training films; one such appearance is excerpted in The Atomic Café.

From 1959 to 1961, Gregory had his own series, a 1920s crime drama entitled The Lawless Years, which aired forty-five episodes on NBC. He played a New York City police detective named Barney Ruditsky. After his appearance as Sen. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate in 1962, Gregory starred in 1963 in the film PT 109 with Cliff Robertson.

He was also cast as Dean Martin's spy boss MacDonald, in the Matt Helm film series, and is fondly remembered for his role as Dr. Tristan Adams, the villainous director of the Tantalus IV Penal Colony on the Star Trek Original Series episode, "Dagger of the Mind". Another of his roles was playing the father of Scott Hayward in Elvis Presley's 1967 film Clambake.

Gregory was also a regular on the TV series "Barney Miller" as Deputy Inspector Frank Luger.

Gregory died of natural causes in Sedona, Arizona. He and his wife, the former Anne Miltner, are interred at the Sedona Community Cemetery.

Selected TV and filmography

• Naked City (1948)
• At This Moment (1954)
• Justice in "The Big Frame" (NBC, 1955)
• Studio One in Hollywood 7 episodes (1954-1958)
• The Scarlet Hour (1956)
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, CBS, as John Gregory in episode "The Perfect Crime (1957)
• Gun Glory (1957)
• Nightfall (1957)
• Onionhead (1958)
• Al Capone (1959)
• The Twilight Zone Episode 001 "Where Is Everybody?" (10/02/1959)
• Lux Playhouse as Johnny Warcheck in "Deathtrap" (1959)
• Laramie as Father Elliott in "Man Of God" (1959) and as Richards in "The Sometime Gambler" (1963)
• The DuPont Show with June Allyson as John Kramer in "I Hit And Ran" (CBS, 1960)
• Wagon Train as Ricky Bell in "The Ricky And Laura Bell Story" with June Lockhart as Laurie Bell (1960)
• General Electric Theater as Swandy Green in "Sarah's Laughter" (1960)
• X-15 (1961)
• The New Breed as Father Al in "Prime Target" (1961)
• The Untouchables as Walter Trager in "Jigsaw" (1961)
• Frontier Circus as Jacob Carno in "Depths Of Fear" (1961)
• The Twilight Zone Episode 069 "The Passersby" (10/06/1961)
• Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)
• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• Target: The Corruptors as Terran in "The Malignant Hearts" (1962)
• The Virginian, NBC, Season 1, Episode 12, 50 Days To Moosejaw (12/12/1962), joins the Shiloh hands for a cattle drive to Moose Jaw Canada and befriends a "greenhorn" (Brandon deWilde)
• Empire as Theron Haskell in "When The Gods Laugh" (1962)
• PT 109 (1963)
• Twilight of Honor (1959)
• Sam Benedict as John Paul Elcott in "Of Rusted Cannons And Fallen Sparrows" (1963)
• The Eleventh Hour NBC medical drama, as Eddie Forman in episode "Try To Keep Alive Until Next Tuesday" (1963)
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, CBS anthology series, as Fred in episode "The Dividing Wall" (1963)
• Rawhide as Owen Spencer in "Incident at Crooked Hat" (1963), as Mr. Brothers in "Incident of the Peyote Cup" (1964) and as Lash Whitcomb in "Six Weeks To Bent Fork" (1965)
• The Lieutenant as Sgt. Horace Capp in "A Very Private Affair" (1963) and "Capp's Lady" (1964)
• Breaking Point ABC medical drama as Malcolm in episode "Glass Flowers Never Drop Petals" (1964)
• The Defenders as Paul Tasso in "All The Silent Voices" (1964)
• A Distant Trumpet (1964)
• Bonanza (TV Series) "A Man To Admire" (1964)
• Gunsmoke in "Two Tall Men" (1965)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
• A Man Called Shenandoah as Jake Roberts in "The Last Diablo" (1965)
• The Big Valley "The Pursuit" (1966) as Simon Carter
• The Wild, Wild West (1965–1969) as Ulysses S. Grant
• F Troop "Too Many Cooks Spoil The Troop" (ABC, March, 29th, 1966)
• F Troop "Lieutenant O'Rourke , Front And Center" (ABC, April 26, 1966)
• The Silencers (1966)
• Hogan's Heroes Episode "Hogan Gives A Birthday Party". German General Biedenbender; a general who seems to know everything about Col. Hogan (Bob Crane) except his final trick.
• Murderers' Row (1966)
• The Fugitive Episode "Wine Is A Traitor" (1966)
• Star Trek: The Original Series "Dagger of the Mind" (1966) (TV series)
• The Virginian Episode "Without Mercy" (TV Series) 1967
• F Troop "Carpetbagging, Anyone?" (ABC, March 16, 1967)
• The Ambushers (1967)
• The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968)
• Clambake (1968)
• The Mod Squad - Episode "A Quiet Weekend in the Country" (1968)
• The Love God? (1969)
• Bonanza "Company of Forgotten Men" (1969)
• Beneath the Planet of the Apes as gorilla General Ursus (1970)
• Million Dollar Duck (1971)
• Shoot Out (1971)
• All in the Family- One episode "Edith Flips Her Wig" (1972) (TV)
• Ironside - One episode "Programmed for Panic" (1972) (TV) as TV show host
• Columbo: Short Fuse (1972) (TV)
• Mission: Impossible "The Bride" (1972) (TV series)
• Miracle On 34th Street (1973)(TV) as Deputy District Attorney Thomas Mara
• M*A*S*H "Iron Guts Kelly" (1974)(TV)
• Barney Miller (1975- 1982) as Inspector Frank Luger (TV series)
• The Strongest Man in the World (1975)
• The Bastard (1978)
• The Main Event (1979)
• The Flight of Dragons (1982, voice role)
• Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home! (1983)(TV)

External links

• Official website
• James Gregory at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• James Gregory at the Internet Movie Database
• James Gregory at Find a Grave