Richard Long (December 17, 1927 - December 21, 1974) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his leading roles in several
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
television
seriesA television program , television programme , or television show is a segment of content broadcast on television...
, including
The Big ValleyThe Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965 to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman. The producer was Levy-Gardner-Laven. Associate producer Lou Morheim...
and
Nanny and the ProfessorNanny And The Professor is a U.S. fantasy situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century Fox Television. During pre-production, the proposed title was Nanny Will Do. The series first aired on January 21, 1970, on ABC and was last telecast on December 27, 1971...
.
Long was the fifth of six children born in Chicago, Illinois, to Sherman D. Long and the former Dale McCord. Sherman Long was a commercial
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
who operated his own
studioA studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture,scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation, radio or television broadcasting or the...
. Mrs. Long was a
homemakerA homemaker handles household responsibilities as his or her main daily activity. While not an occupation in the traditional sense, as it is not usually undertaken for monetary remuneration, a homemaker may work full-time to maintain the home environment...
. The family lived in several locations in Illinois before settling in
EvanstonEvanston, Illinois is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois directly north of the City of Chicago, east of Skokie, and south of Wilmette, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan. Evanston is concurrently a city...
near Chicago.
Richard Long (December 17, 1927 - December 21, 1974) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his leading roles in several
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
television
seriesA television program , television programme , or television show is a segment of content broadcast on television...
, including
The Big ValleyThe Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965 to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman. The producer was Levy-Gardner-Laven. Associate producer Lou Morheim...
and
Nanny and the ProfessorNanny And The Professor is a U.S. fantasy situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century Fox Television. During pre-production, the proposed title was Nanny Will Do. The series first aired on January 21, 1970, on ABC and was last telecast on December 27, 1971...
.
Early life
Long was the fifth of six children born in Chicago, Illinois, to Sherman D. Long and the former Dale McCord. Sherman Long was a commercial
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
who operated his own
studioA studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture,scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation, radio or television broadcasting or the...
. Mrs. Long was a
homemakerA homemaker handles household responsibilities as his or her main daily activity. While not an occupation in the traditional sense, as it is not usually undertaken for monetary remuneration, a homemaker may work full-time to maintain the home environment...
. The family lived in several locations in Illinois before settling in
EvanstonEvanston, Illinois is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois directly north of the City of Chicago, east of Skokie, and south of Wilmette, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan. Evanston is concurrently a city...
near Chicago. Long attended
grammar schoolA grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally schools teaching classical languages but more recently academically-oriented types of secondary school.The original purpose of...
in Evanston, Waller
High SchoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
in Chicago, and then the
Evanston Township High SchoolEvanston Township High School, or ETHS, is a public four-year high school located in Evanston, Illinois, a city directly north of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Evanston Township High School District 202.-History:...
. In 1944, the family relocated to Hollywood, California, and Long attended
Hollywood High SchoolHollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located on the intersection of Highland Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California....
for his senior year. Long said that as a teenager he had "no intention of becoming an actor. I took senior
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
class because it was a snap course, and I needed the credit for my English requirement."
At Hollywood High School, Long caught the eye of a talent scout from
UniversalUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
-International by accident. Casting director Jack Murton gave a ride to a couple of students and asked them if a school play was scheduled. The boys told Murton about the excellent male lead actor, Richard Long. In 1946, Long was hence cast in his first film,
Tomorrow Is ForeverTomorrow Is Forever is a 1946 black-and-white film distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Irving Pichel, starring Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles and George Brent. The music score is by Max Steiner...
as Drew, the son of
Claudette ColbertClaudette Colbert was a French-born American stage and film actress.Born in Saint-Mandé, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
. The role had been unfilled for months, and producers selected Long who most closely matched the credentials required.
Early in his career, Long appeared in several films as a
juvenile leadThe term child actor is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion the latter is also called a former child actor...
, including four of the nine
Ma and Pa KettleMa and Pa Kettle were comic characters who first appeared in the novel The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald. She based them on farming neighbors in Washington state, U.S.A....
pictures. He was cast as Tom Kettle, one of the sons of the characters played by
Percy KilbridePercy W. Kilbride was an American character actor.The son of Irish immigrants, and despite being raised in a big city, he made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as lazy Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle movie series.Kilbride began working in theater at the age of 12 and eventually...
and
Marjorie MainMarjorie Main was an Academy Award-nominated American character actress, mainly at MGM, perhaps best known for her role as Ma Kettle in a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies.-Early life and career:...
. His second film was the
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
's
The StrangerThe Stranger 1946 film noir/drama starring Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young. Welles also directed the film, which was based on an Oscar-nominated screenplay written by Victor Trivas. Sam Spiegel was the film's producer, and the film's musical score is by Bronisław Kaper...
as Noah, the brother of
Loretta Young-Early life:She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah as Gretchen Young, of Luxembourgian descent.At confirmation, she took the name Michaela. She and her family moved to Hollywood when she was three years old. Loretta and her sisters Polly Ann Young and Elizabeth Jane Young worked as child actresses,...
's character. He also played "Jeff Taylor" in
The Life of Riley and played "Frank James" in the 1950 movie
Kansas Raiders. He then moved into
leading manLeading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
status in horror movies such as
Cult of the CobraCult of the Cobra is a horror film, released by Universal Pictures and starring Faith Domergue, Richard Long, William Reynolds and David Janssen. In it, the discoverers of a secret cult of women who can transform into cobras begin to die one by one....
(1954), and
House on Haunted HillHouse on Haunted Hill is a horror film B movie directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He and his fourth wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house for a "Haunted House" party. Whoever stays in the house for...
(1959) before he achieved considerable success in television, including the series
Bourbon Street BeatBourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which ran on the ABC network from 1959 through 1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer .-Characters:The series was one of several Warner Bros...
(1959-1960).
He appeared in such 1960s classic television shows as
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
and
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
In 1963, Long was cast in the MGM romantic
musicalThe musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are usually used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but some musical films simply plop the songs in as unrelated "specialties" - as with Carmen Miranda's...
Follow the BoysFollow the Boys is the name of a comedy film and also of its theme song which was a Top 20 hit for Connie Francis.-The film:Directed by Richard Thorpe and shot on location on the French and Italian Riviera, Follow the Boys was MGM's second film vehicle for its label's top recording artist Connie...
, along with costars
Connie FrancisConcetta Rosa Maria Franconero , known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer best known for several international hit songs including "Who's Sorry Now?," "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Where the Boys Are", and "Stupid Cupid." She topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on...
,
Paula PrentissPaula Prentiss is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View.-Career:...
, and
Roger PerryRoger Perry is an American film and television actor whose career began in the late 1950s.In the 1960-1961 television season, Perry portrayed a handsome young attorney, Jim Harrigan, Jr., in the ABC and Desilu Studios sitcom Harrigan and Son, with co-stars Pat O'Brien, Helen Kleeb, and Georgine...
.
In 1965, at the age of thirty-eight, Long began his role as
attorneyA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
Jarrod Barkley, oldest son to
ranchA ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
er Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck), in 112 episodes of
The Big ValleyThe Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965 to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman. The producer was Levy-Gardner-Laven. Associate producer Lou Morheim...
, the last of the major
Four Star TelevisionFour Star Television, also called Four Star Films, Four Star Productions, and Four Star International, was an American television production company which operated from 1952 to 1989. It was formed by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer...
series, a
WesternThe Western is a fiction genre seen in film, television, radio, literature, painting and other visual arts. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the later half of the 19th century in what became the Western United States , but also in Western Canada, Mexico , Alaska The Western...
which ran on ABC from 1965–1969. The "Valley" is the
San Joaquin ValleyThe San Joaquin Valley refers to the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Stockton...
near
Stockton, CaliforniaStockton, the county seat of San Joaquin County, is currently the 13th largest city in the U.S. state of California in terms of population and one of the largest in terms of area in the Central Valley. Stockton is located in Northern California south of Sacramento and north of Modesto...
. The series was set in the 1870s. Long's other
The Big Valley costars were
Peter BreckPeter Breck is an American actor who has played roles on television and in film.-Roles and career:...
,
Linda EvansLinda Evans is an American actress known primarily for her roles on television. She rose to fame as Barbara Stanwyck's daughter, Audra Barkley, on the 1960s Western, The Big Valley...
, and
Lee MajorsLee Majors is an American actor, primarily known for several high profile roles on television in the 1960s, '70s and '80s....
, who played the out-of-wedlock son of Victoria's late husband Tom. Long also
directedA television director directs the activities involved in making a television episode.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or filmed/taped .In both types of productions, the director is responsible for supervising the placement of cameras ,...
some of
The Big Valley episodes. In 1953, Long had costarred with Stanwyck in the film
All I Desire.
In 1970–1971, he and
Juliet MillsJuliet Maryon Mills, is an English actress.The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and the sister of Hayley Mills, Juliet Mills began her career as a child actor. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her work in Five Finger Exercise in 1960...
(older sister of
Hayley MillsHayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
) starred in the ABC sitcom
Nanny and the Professor. Long played widowed
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
professorThe meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual...
Harold Everett, and Mills was Phoebe Figalilly, the
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
housekeeper and nanny for Long's three children.
In 1974, Long appeared on the
game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
Match GameMatch Game is an American television game show featuring contestants attempting to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
. He also finished a television movie called
Death Cruise, which turned out to be his last work.
Death
Long had cardiac problems throughout his adult life and had suffered a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die...
in the latter 1950s. As a boy, he had suffered
pneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid ....
, which apparently weakened his heart. He was also a heavy
smokerSmoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for...
and
drinkerIn chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. An important group of acohols is formed by the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is C
nH
2n+1OH...
. He died in 1974 after suffering multiple heart attacks at
Tarzana Treatment CentersTarzana Treatment Centers is a community-based, non-profit, healthcare organization providing behavioral health, primary care and other health related services. TTC was incorporated in 1972 as Free Men, Inc., and later changed its name to Tarzana Treatment Center. Historically, TTC has provided...
in Los Angeles. He was
crematedCremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....
, and his ashes were scattered at sea.
Personal life
Long served in the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
during the
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
. He was twice married. His first wife of fourteen months, actress Suzan Ball (a cousin of
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
) died of
cancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
in 1955 at the age of twenty-one. In 1957, Long married actress and model
Mara CordayMara Corday is a showgirl, model, actress, Playboy Playmate and a 1950s cult figure....
(birth name Marilyn Watts), with whom he had three children, Carey (born 1957), Valerie (born 1958), and Gregory (born 1960).
A few years after her husband's passing in 1974, Corday's friend
Clint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American actor, film director, film producer and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and five People's Choice Awards—including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star.Eastwood is...
offered her a chance to return to filmmaking with a role in his 1977 film
The GauntletThe Gauntlet is a 1977 action film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The film also stars Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney, and longtime personal friend Mara Corday who would appear with Eastwood in another three films....
.
Long was a brother-in-law of actor
Marshall ThompsonJames Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943, Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks was signed by Universal Pictures...
, with whom he appeared in the 1955 film
Cult of the CobraCult of the Cobra is a horror film, released by Universal Pictures and starring Faith Domergue, Richard Long, William Reynolds and David Janssen. In it, the discoverers of a secret cult of women who can transform into cobras begin to die one by one....
.
External links