John Harkins was an American stage, film, and television actor.

Career

Born in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, Harkins began acting professionally in the mid-1950s on the Broadway stage

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

. After appearing in productions of The Terrible Swift Sword, Good as Gold, Mother Courage and Her Children

Mother Courage and Her Children

Mother Courage and Her Children is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin...

, he made his television debut in a 1965 episode of The Trials of O'Brien

The Trials of O'Brien

The Trials of O'Brien was a 1965 television series starring Peter Falk as a seedy Shakespeare-quoting lawyer and featuring Elaine Stritch as his secretary and Joanna Barnes as his ex-wife. Falk often said that he actually liked this financially unsuccessful series much better than his later...

. The next year, Harkins made his film debut in The Three Sisters, opposite Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...

 and Geraldine Page

Geraldine Page

Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...

. From 1967 to 1970, he appeared in various roles on Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...

, and appeared in guest roles on Harry O, and had roles in several television movies. In 1975, Harkins had a recurring role on the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 sitcom

Situation comedy

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 Doc

Doc (1975 TV series)

Doc is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from September 1975 to October 1976.-Synopsis:Doc starred Barnard Hughes as Dr. Joe Bogert, an elderly, kind-hearted general practitioner who divided his time between dealing with his dysfunctional patients and his even more dysfunctional family...

.

During the 1980s, Harkins continued with roles in television and films appearing in Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice is a 1981 American drama film starring Paul Newman, Sally Field, and Bob Balaban, directed by Sydney Pollack.-Plot:Miami liquor wholesaler Michael Gallagher is the son of a deceased criminal who awakes one day to find himself a front-page story in the local newspaper, indicating...

, starring Paul Newman

Paul Newman

Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...

, the 1983 horror film Amityville 3-D

Amityville 3-D

Amityville 3-D is a 1983 horror film and the third installment in the The Amityville Horror series. It was one of a spate of 3-D films released in the early 80s. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and the script was written by David Ambrose...

, and the 1984 television movie Concealed Enemies

Concealed Enemies

Concealed Enemies is an American television docudrama of the events leading to the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of former U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss....

. From 1985 to 1987, he portrayed Bruce Mansfield, a recurring character on Cagney & Lacey

Cagney & Lacey

Cagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...

(he later reprised the role in the 1994 television reunion movie Cagney & Lacey: The Return). In 1988, Harkins co-starred in the television adaptation of Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind (1988 film)

Inherit the Wind is a 1988 television film adaptation of the play of the same name. The original 1955 play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials...

starring Jason Robards

Jason Robards

Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...

 and Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...

, followed by a role in Slaves of New York

Slaves of New York

Slaves of New York is a 1989 comedy-drama Merchant Ivory Productions film. It was directed byJames Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant, and starred Bernadette Peters, Adam Coleman Howard, Chris Sarandon, Mary Beth Hurt, Mercedes Ruehl, Madeleine Potter, and Steve Buscemi.Based on the stories Slaves...

. One of Harkins' last onscreen appearances was in the 1996 HBO film Crime of the Century

Crime of the Century (TV film)

Crime of the Century is a 1996 HBO television film directed by Mark Rydell. It presents a dramatization of the Lindbergh kidnapping. The film stars Stephen Rea as Bruno Hauptmann and Isabella Rossellini as his wife Anna. The film earned five Golden Globe nominations in the "Mini-Series or Motion...

.

Harkins died on March 5, 1999 in Portola Valley, California

Portola Valley, California

Portola Valley is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 4,353 at the 2010 census. It was named for Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola, who led the first party of Europeans to explore the San Francisco Peninsula, in 1769.Portola Valley is one of the...

.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1967	The Tiger Makes Out The Tiger Makes Out The Tiger Makes Out is a 1967 comedy film about a kidnapper and his unintended victim, starring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson and directed by Arthur Hiller. This is Dustin Hoffman's film debut.-Plot:...	Leo
1969	Popi Popi Popi is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Hiller. The screenplay by Tina Pine and Lester Pine focuses on a Puerto Rican widower struggling to raise his two young sons in the New York City neighborhood known as Spanish Harlem.-Plot:...	Harmon	Uncredited
1978	Acapulco Gold	Frye
1979	Being There Being There Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...	Courtney	Alternative title: Chance
1982	Six Weeks Six Weeks Six Weeks is a 1982 film drama, directed by Tony Bill and based on a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart. It stars Dudley Moore and Mary Tyler Moore....	Arnold Stillman
1983	Amityville 3-D Amityville 3-D Amityville 3-D is a 1983 horror film and the third installment in the The Amityville Horror series. It was one of a spate of 3-D films released in the early 80s. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and the script was written by David Ambrose...
1984	Birdy Birdy (film) Birdy is a 1984 American film directed by Alan Parker and starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It is based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton.- Synopsis :...	Major Weiss M.D.
1987	Rampage	Dr. Keddie
1992	Adventures in Spying	Paperboy	Alternative title: Operation Lookout
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Particular Men	Eggard	Television movie
1975	The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...	Priest	1 episode
1976	Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story	Dr. Glenn	Television movie
1977	Family Family (TV series) Family is an American television drama series that aired on ABC from 1976 to 1980. Creative control of the show was split between executive producers Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling and Mike Nichols...	Bertrand Hammond	2 episodes
1978	All in the Family All in the Family All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...	Gordon Faraday	1 episode
1979	The Cracker Factory The Cracker Factory The Cracker Factory is an American television movie directed by Burt Brinckerhoff. The teleplay by Richard Shapiro is based on the best-selling 1977 novel by Joyce Rebeta-Burditt. The film was broadcast by ABC on March 16, 1979.-Synopsis:...	Father Dunhill	Television movie
1980	Tenspeed and Brown Shoe Tenspeed and Brown Shoe Tenspeed and Brown Shoe is an American detective/comedy series originally broadcast by the ABC network between January through June 1980. The series was created and executive produced by Stephen J. Cannell.-Synopsis:...	Beuler	1 episode
	Alice Alice (TV series) Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...	Mr. Egan	1 episode
1981	Taxi Taxi (TV series) Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...	John Bowman	1 episode
1982	One Shoe Makes It Murder	Smiley Copell	Television movie
1983	The Winds of War	US Consul August Van Winaker II	Miniseries
1984	City Killer	Wally Rickvine	Television movie
1985	Moonlighting Moonlighting (TV series) Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...	Omar Gauss	1 episode
1986	Dream West	Secretary of State George Bancroft	Miniseries
1987	Sable Sable (TV series) Sable was a short-lived television program that aired on ABC during the 1987-1988 season, and was based on the comic book, Jon Sable: Freelance, by Mike Grell. Only seven episodes ever aired....	Thomas R. Waterston	1 episode
1988	The Golden Girls The Golden Girls The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...	Ham Lushbough	1 episode
1989	Hunter	Dr. Pence	1 episode
1990	Murder, She Wrote Murder, She Wrote Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...	Owen Brownwell	1 episode
	L.A. Law L.A. Law L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...	Martin Lowens	1 episode
1992	Matlock Matlock (TV series) Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...	Richard "Dick" Lerner	2 episodes
1994	Picket Fences Picket Fences Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...	Chief Justice Renquist	1 episode
1995	Pig Sty Pig Sty Pig Sty is a sitcom that premiered on UPN on January 23, 1995 during that network's first season. Only 13 episodes were made. Pig Sty ran on Monday nights, after Star Trek: Voyager and Platypus Man...	Bolek	1 episode

External links