Morris Ankrum


Morris Winslow Ankrum was an American radio, television, and film character actor.

Early life

Ankrum was born in Danville in Vermilion County, Illinois to Horace Lee Ankrum and Carrie B. Ankrum. He pursued a career in law. After graduating from The University of Southern California, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he became involved in the drama department and eventually began teaching drama and directing at the Pasadena Playhouse.
From 1923 to 1939 he acted in a number of Broadway stage productions, including Gods of the Lightning, The Big Blow, and Within the Gates.

Film career

Upon signing with Paramount Pictures in the 1930s, he chose to use the name "Stephen Morris" before changing it to Morris Ankrum in 1939.
Ankrum was cast in supporting roles as stalwart authority figures, including scientists, military men, judges, trail hands, bankers, and even psychiatrists in more than 270 films and television episodes. His parts included villainous roles in Paramount's Hopalong Cassidy film series. Ankrum was in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's production of Tennessee Johnson, a biographical film about Andrew Johnson, the 17th U.S. president. As Sen. Jefferson Davis, Ankrum addresses the United States Senate upon his resignation to lead the Confederate States of America as that republic's first—and only—president. Ankrum's film career spanned 30 years. His credits were largely concentrated in the western and science-fiction genres.
Ankrum appeared in such westerns as Ride 'Em Cowboy in 1942, Vera Cruz opposite Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, Apache, and Cattle Queen of Montana with Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan.
In the science fiction genre, he appeared as the rocket project leader in Rocketship X-M ; as a Martian leader in Flight to Mars ; in Red Planet Mars, playing the United States Secretary of Defense; in the cult classic Invaders From Mars, playing a United States Army colonel; as Army generals in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and Beginning of the End ; as a psychiatrist in the cult classic Kronos ; an Air Force general in The Giant Claw ; President Ulysses S. Grant in From the Earth to the Moon ; and an archeologist in the independent production Giant from the Unknown.

Later years

By the end of 1958 Ankrum's film career had essentially ended, though he continued taking television roles. In the syndicated series Stories of the Century, Ankrum played outlaw Chris Evans, who with his young associate John Sontag, played by John Smith, turned to crime to thwart the Southern Pacific Railroad, which Evans and Sontag held in contempt.
Ankrum made 22 appearances on CBS's Perry Mason as one of several judges who regularly presided over the murder trials of Mason's clients from the show's first season in 1957 until his death in 1964. The show ended two years later. Ankrum appeared in some of the more popular western series such as The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Bronco, Maverick, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Cimarron City, Rawhide and The Rifleman.
Ankrum appeared in a number of ABC/Warner Brothers westerns. On October 15, 1957, he had a major part in the episode "Strange Land" of the series Sugarfoot, starring Will Hutchins. Ankrum played an embittered rancher named Cash Billings, who allowed hired gunman Burr Fulton to take over his spread, but Sugarfoot arrives to bring law and justice to the situation. Ankrum appeared again, as John Savage, in 1959 in the Sugarfoot episode "The Wild Bunch". The same year, he portrayed a zealot who abused his daughter, played by Sherry Jackson, in the episode "The Naked Gallows" of the western Maverick with Jack Kelly and Mike Connors. In 1961, he again played embittered, and this time paralyzed, rancher Cyrus Dawson in the episode "Incident at Dawson Flats" of the western series Cheyenne.
In the 1958–1959 season Ankrum appeared 12 times in Richard Carlson's syndicated western series Mackenzie's Raiders. In the series set on the Rio Grande border, Carlson played Col. Ranald Mackenzie, who faces troubles from assorted border outlaws.
Ankrum was cast in an episode of the 1959 CBS sitcom Dennis the Menace. He also made occasional uncredited appearances in several Roger Corman films. While busy in films and television, Ankrum was still involved in live theatre and continued to direct plays at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Personal life

Ankrum and his second wife, Joan Wheeler, had a child, David Ankrum, best known as Adam from Tabitha. David Ankrum eventually became a Hollywood agent. Joan Ankrum, of Joan Ankrum Galleries, became a prominent Los Angeles art dealer with a gallery on La Cienega Boulevard

Death

On September 2, 1964, Ankrum died as the result of trichinosis. At the time of his death, he was still involved with Raymond Burr's Perry Mason TV series. His final appearance on Perry Mason, in the episode "The Case of the Sleepy Slayer", and his last feature film, Guns of Diablo, in which he was cast as Ray Macklin, were released in 1964 and 1965, respectively, following Ankrum's death.

Selected filmography

  • Stand Up and Cheer! as Washington Press Correspondent
  • Trail Dust as Tex Anderson
  • Borderland as Loco
  • Hills of Old Wyoming as Andrews
  • North of the Rio Grande as Henry Stoneham
  • Rustlers' Valley as Glen Randall
  • Knights of the Range as Gamecock
  • The Showdown as Baron Rendor
  • Buck Benny Rides Again as Second Outlaw
  • Cherokee Strip as Hawk Barrett
  • Three Men from Texas as Bruce Morgan
  • Doomed Caravan as Stephen Westcott
  • Cheers for Miss Bishop as Professor at Minna's Hearing
  • The Roundup as 'Parenthesis'
  • In Old Colorado as Joe Weiler
  • Border Vigilantes as Dan Forbes
  • Pirates on Horseback as Ace Gibson
  • Wide Open Town as Jim Stuart
  • This Woman Is Mine as Roussel
  • The Bandit Trail as Red Haggerty
  • I Wake Up Screaming as Assistant District Attorney
  • Road Agent as Big John Morgan
  • Ride 'Em Cowboy as Ace Anderson
  • Roxie Hart as Martin S. Harrison
  • Ten Gentlemen from West Point as Wood
  • Tales of Manhattan as Judge Tom Barnes
  • The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe as Mr. Graham
  • The Omaha Trail as Henchman Job
  • Tennessee Johnson as Jefferson Davis
  • Time to Kill as Alexander Morny
  • Reunion in France as Martin
  • The Human Comedy as Mr. Beaufrere
  • Assignment in Brittany as Stenger
  • Dixie Dugan as Editor
  • Best Foot Forward as Col. Harkrider
  • Let's Face It as Man in Sun Shell Cafe
  • I Dood It as Brinker
  • Swing Fever as Dan Conlon
  • The Cross of Lorraine as Col. Demas
  • Whistling in Brooklyn as Blake - Newspaper Editor
  • See Here, Private Hargrove as Col. Forbes
  • The Heavenly Body as Dr. Green
  • Rationing as Mr. Morgan
  • And Now Tomorrow
  • Meet the People as Monte Rowland
  • Kismet as The Caliph's Messenger
  • Marriage Is a Private Affair as Mr. Ed Scofield
  • Barbary Coast Gent as Alec Veeder
  • Thirty Seconds over Tokyo as Admiral William F. Halsey
  • Gentle Annie as Deputy Gansby
  • The Hidden Eye as Ferris
  • Adventure as Mr. Ludlow - Farmer
  • The Thin Man Goes Home as Willoughby
  • The Harvey Girls as Rev. Claggett
  • The Postman Always Rings Twice as Judge Parkman
  • The Green Years as Dr. Galbraith
  • Courage of Lassie as Farmer Crews
  • The Cockeyed Miracle as Dr. Wilson
  • Undercurrent
  • Lady in the Lake as Eugene Grayson
  • The Mighty McGurk as Fowles
  • The Sea of Grass as A.J. Crane, Attorney
  • Undercover Maisie as Parker
  • Song of the Thin Man as The Police Inspector
  • Cynthia as Mr. Phillips, the High-School Principal
  • Merton of the Movies as Goodfellow's Club Manager
  • Desire Me as Hector Martin
  • Good News as Dean Griswold
  • High Wall as Dr. Stanley Griffin
  • Alias a Gentleman as O.K.
  • Fighting Back as Robert J. Higby
  • For the Love of Mary as Adm. Walton
  • Joan of Arc as Capt. Poton de Xaintrailles
  • Bad Men of Tombstone as Mr. Jones
  • We Were Strangers as Mr. Seymour
  • Colorado Territory as United States Marshal
  • The Fountainhead as Prosecutor
  • Slattery's Hurricane as Dr. Holmes
  • Chain Lightning as Ed Bostwick
  • Borderline as Bill Whittaker
  • The Damned Don't Cry! as Jim Whitehead
  • In a Lonely Place as Lloyd Barnes
  • Rocketship X-M as Dr. Ralph Fleming
  • Southside 1-1000 as Eugene Deane
  • Short Grass as Hal Fenton
  • The Redhead and the Cowboy as Sheriff
  • The Lion Hunters as Tom Forbes
  • Fighting Coast Guard as Navy Captain
  • Along the Great Divide as Ed Roden
  • Tomorrow Is Another Day as Hugh Wagner
  • Flight to Mars as Ikron
  • My Favorite Spy as Gen. Frazer
  • Fort Osage as Arthur Pickett
  • Mutiny as Capt. Radford
  • Red Planet Mars as Secretary of Defense Sparks
  • And Now Tomorrow
  • Three for Bedroom "C" as Well-Wisher at Station
  • Son of Ali Baba as Ali Baba
  • The Raiders as Alcalde Thomas Ainsworth
  • Because of You as Dr. Travis
  • Hiawatha as Iagoo
  • The Man Behind the Gun as Bram Creegan
  • Fort Vengeance as Chief Crowfoot
  • Invaders From Mars as Col. Fielding
  • Arena as Bucky Hillberry
  • Devil's Canyon as Sheriff
  • Sky Commando as Gen. W.R. Combs
  • Mexican Manhunt as Tip Morgan
  • The Moonlighter as Alexander Prince
  • Flight Nurse as Interrogating Officer
  • Three Young Texans as Jeff Blair
  • Taza, Son of Cochise as Grey Eagle
  • Southwest Passage as Dr. Elias P. Stanton
  • Drums Across the River as Chief Ouray
  • The Saracen Blade
  • Silver Lode as Zachary Evans
  • Apache as Dawson
  • The Outlaw Stallion as Sheriff
  • Two Guns and a Badge as Sheriff Jackson
  • Cattle Queen of Montana as J.I. 'Pop' Jones
  • The Steel Cage as Prison Board Member Garvey
  • Vera Cruz as Gen. Ramírez
  • Many Rivers to Cross as Mr. Emmett - Surly Innkeeper & J.P.
  • Crashout as Head Guard
  • The Silver Star as Charlie Childress
  • Chief Crazy Horse as Red Cloud
  • The Eternal Sea as Vice-Adm. Arthur Dewey Struble
  • No Man's Woman as Capt. Hostedder
  • The Last Command as Military Governor Juan Bradburn
  • Duel on the Mississippi as Magistrate
  • Tennessee's Partner as Judge Parker
  • The Adventures of Fu Manchu as Professor Rutledge
  • Fury at Gunsight Pass as Doc Phillips
  • When Gangland Strikes as Leo Fantzler
  • Quincannon, Frontier Scout as Col. Harry Conover
  • Earth vs. the Flying Saucers as Brig. Gen. John Hanley
  • Down Liberty Road as Fred Schroder
  • Walk the Proud Land as Gen. Wade
  • Death of a Scoundrel as Capt. LaFarge - Homicide Squad
  • The Desperadoes Are in Town as Mr. Rutherford
  • Naked Gun as Sheriff Jim Jackson
  • Drango as Henry Calder
  • Zombies of Mora Tau as Dr. Jonathan Eggert
  • Hell's Crossroads as Wheeler
  • Kronos as Dr. Albert Stern
  • The Giant Claw as Lt. Gen. Edward Considine
  • Beginning of the End as Gen. John Hanson
  • Omar Khayyam as Imam Nowaffak
  • The Power of the Resurrection as Annas
  • Giant from the Unknown as Dr. Frederick Cleveland
  • Young and Wild as Police Capt. Egan
  • How to Make a Monster as Police Capt. Hancock
  • Curse of the Faceless Man as Narrator
  • Badman's Country as Mayor Coleman
  • Twilight for the Gods as Sea Captain
  • The Saga of Hemp Brown as Bo Slauter
  • Tarawa Beachhead as Chief of Staff, Pearl Harbor
  • From the Earth to the Moon as President Ulysses S. Grant
  • Frontier Gun as Andrew Barton
  • Half Human as Dr. Carl Jordan
  • The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come as Gen. Lew Wallace
  • The Most Dangerous Man Alive as Capt. Davis
  • Tower of London as The Archbishop
  • X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes as Mr. Bowhead
  • Guns of Diablo as Ray Macklin