Paul Fix


Peter Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career between 1925 and 1981. Fix portrayed Marshal Micah Torrance, opposite Chuck Connors's character in The Rifleman from 1958 to 1963. He later appeared with Connors in the 1966 Western film Ride Beyond Vengeance.

Early life

Fix born to Wilhelm Fix and Louise Walz on March 13, 1901 in Dobbs Ferry, New York. His father was a brewer from Germany.
Following the United States' entry into World War I in April 1917, Fix joined the National Guard, initially serving in Peekskill, New York. After three months of duty there, he deserted and enlisted in the U.S. Army. After serving at Fort Slocum for three months, he again deserted and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Providence, Rhode Island. While serving in the Navy, Fix was recruited to perform on stage in a Navy Relief Organization production of the comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore. Later, he served as a hospital corpsman aboard ships transporting American troops to and from Europe, and continued that assignment until he was officially discharged from military service on September 5, 1919.

Stage and films

Following the war, Fix became a busy character actor, starting in local productions in New York. By the 1920s, he had moved to Hollywood, and in the 1930s, he became John Wayne's friend. He was Wayne's acting coach and eventually appeared as a featured player in many of Wayne's films.
Fix worked in early films such as Lucky Star with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell and Ladies Love Brutes, and became a regular performer for the film's director, Frank Borzage, eight more times. Fix later appeared as Richard Bravo in The Bad Seed, The Sea Chase and Giant, portraying Elizabeth Taylor's father.
Fix appeared as the presiding judge in To Kill a Mockingbird, as the sheriff in The Sons of Katie Elder and with Wayne in El Dorado. In 1972, he was cast in the film Night of the Lepus, and the following year, he portrayed Pete Maxwell in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid with James Coburn. In 1979, he appeared in Wanda Nevada. Fix cowrote the screenplay for Wayne's film Tall in the Saddle.

Television

Fix had a recurring role as Marshal Micah Torrance on ABC's Western series The Rifleman, which was broadcast from 1958 to 1963.
On Christmas Day 1958, Fix appeared in the episode "Medal for Valor" on CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Fix plays a businessman who hires a desperate man to substitute for his son in the draft, later to interfere with the man's homesteading rights when it threatens his son's political aspirations.
Fix guest-starred on the short-lived detective series Meet McGraw, on Rory Calhoun's Western series The Texan on CBS and on John Payne's Western series The Restless Gun on NBC.
In 1957, Fix appeared as General Phil Sheridan in an episode of Tales of Wells Fargo with actor Dale Robertson, star of the series. Fix played the historical role of U.S. President Zachary Taylor in the 1960 episode "That Taylor Affair" of the NBC Western series, Riverboat, with Darren McGavin. Arlene Dahl was cast in this episode as Lucy Belle.
In 1961, Fix appeared as Ramsey Collins in the series finale, "Around the Dark Corner", of the NBC crime drama Dante. That same year, he played Dr. Abel in the episode "The Haven" on The DuPont Show with June Allyson. His other television credits include Adventures of Superman and the adventure series, Northwest Passage.
Fix played Dr. Mark Piper in the second pilot episode of Star Trek, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". When the first season was filmed, his character was replaced by Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley.
Fix made five appearances as District Attorney Hale on Perry Mason, showing great skill as an examiner who did not ask objectionable questions unlike Hamilton Burger, who often experienced a judge's ire for asking leading questions. He guest-starred on such television series as Rawhide, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, The F.B.I., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, The Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Rockford Files episode "The House on Willis Avenue", and two episodes of The Streets of San Francisco, one in 1973 and again in 1975, each a different character/storyline. He appeared on the NBC series Kentucky Jones as Judge Perkins in the episode "Spare the Rod". He played an aging suicidal novelist named Maxwell Hart on the Emergency! fourth-season episode "Kidding", where paramedic John Gage, played by Randolph Mantooth, was in charge of a small group of intellectual 10- and 11-year-old school children on a tour of Rampart General Hospital. In 1974, he made an appearance as an old friend of Steve Austin's in the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man in the episode "Population Zero". He also appeared as Kronus, a retired fleet commander on the original Battlestar Galactica.
Fix played the hardy pioneer James Briton "Brit" Bailey in the 1969 episode "Here Stands Bailey" of Death Valley Days.

Personal life and death

In 1922 Fix married Frances Harvey, and the couple had one daughter. They divorced in 1945. He married his second wife, Beverly Pratt, on August 20, 1949. She died on November 13, 1979.
His daughter Marilyn married actor Harry Carey Jr., in 1944, and they had four children.
Fix died of kidney failure in Los Angeles at the age of 82. He is buried beside his second wife at Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica.

Selected filmography

  • The Perfect Clown as Bellhop
  • Hoodoo Ranch
  • The First Kiss as Ezra Talbot
  • Lucky Star as Joe
  • Ladies Love Brutes as Slip
  • Man Trouble as The Kid - A Gunman
  • The Good Bad Girl as Roach
  • The Fighting Sheriff as Jack Cameron
  • Doctors' Wives as Interne
  • The Avenger as Juan Marietta
  • Sob Sister as Minor Role
  • Bad Girl
  • Young as You Feel as Desk Clerk
  • Three Girls Lost as Tony Halcomb
  • South of the Rio Grande as Juan Olivarez
  • The Racing Strain as King Kelly
  • Life Begins as Anxious Expectant Father
  • The Last Mile as Eddie Werner - Cell 8
  • Scarface as Hood with Gaffney
  • Dancers in the Dark as Benny
  • The Night of June 13 as Reporter
  • Somewhere in Sonora as Bart Leadly
  • The Important Witness as Tony
  • Fargo Express as Mort Clark
  • The Mad Game as Lou
  • Devil's Mate as Malony
  • The Avenger as Vickers
  • The Important Witness as Tony
  • The Sphinx as Dave Werner
  • Emergency Call as Dr. Mason
  • Zoo in Budapest as Heinie
  • The Woman Who Dared as Racketeer
  • Gun Law as Tony Adams
  • The Westerner as Rustler Who Confesses
  • The World Accuses as John Weymouth
  • Rocky Rhodes as Joe Hilton
  • The Count of Monte Cristo as Angry Citizen
  • The Crosby Case as Engineer
  • Little Man, What Now? as Lauderbock
  • Reckless as Man on Mechanical Horse
  • The Crimson Trail as Paul- Bellair Ranch Hand
  • Mutiny Ahead as Teeter Smith
  • His Fighting Blood as Phil Elliott
  • Don't Bet on Blondes as Betting Man
  • Men Without Names as The Kid
  • Let 'Em Have It as Sam
  • Millions in the Air as Hank - the Drunk
  • Bar 20 Rides Again as Gila
  • The Eagle's Brood as Henchman Steve
  • Valley of Wanted Men as Mike Masters
  • The Throwback as Spike Travis
  • Bulldog Courage as Bailey
  • The Desert Trail as Jim Whitmonlee
  • Mariners of the Sky aka Navy Born as Joe Vezie
  • The Road to Glory as Second Volunteer
  • The Ex-Mrs. Bradford as Lou Pender
  • The Bridge of Sighs as Harrison Courtney Jr. aka Harry West
  • Phantom Patrol as Henchman Jo-Jo Regan
  • Yellowstone a Dynomite
  • Straight from the Shoulder as Trigger Benson
  • Charlie Chan at the Race Track as Lefty
  • 36 Hours to Kill as Gangster
  • The Prisoner of Shark Island as David Herold
  • After the Thin Man as Phil Brynes
  • Wanted! Jane Turner as Crowley's Henchman
  • The Accusing Finger as John 'Twitchy' Burke
  • 15 Maiden Lane as Agitator
  • Two in a Crowd as Bonelli's Henchman
  • Winterset as Joe
  • The Plot Thickens as Joe
  • Border Cafe as 'Doley' Dolson
  • Armored Car as Slim
  • Her Husband Lies as Lefty Harker
  • Woman in Distress as Joe Emory
  • The Game That Kills as Dick Adams
  • Big City as Comet Night Watchman
  • On Such a Night as Maxie Barnes
  • Souls at Sea as Violinest
  • King of Gamblers as Charlie
  • It Can't Last Forever as Mikey
  • Paid to Dance as Nifty
  • Daughter of Shanghai as Miles
  • Mannequin as Smooch Hanrahan
  • Conquest as Dumb Soldier
  • Hot Water as Homer
  • The Saint of New York as Phil Farrell - Doorman at the Silverclub
  • Mr. Moto's Gamble as Gangster
  • Smashing the Rackets as Maxie
  • The Crowd Roars as Joe - Bodyguard on Plane
  • Crime Ring as Slim
  • Penitentiary as Bunch
  • King of Alcatraz as 'Nails' Miller
  • The Night Hawk as Spider
  • Mr. Moto's Gamble as Gangster
  • Crime Takes a Holiday as Louie
  • Secrets of a Nurse as Smiley, Largo's Gunman
  • When G-Men Step In as Clip Phillips - Fred's Henchman
  • Walking Down Broadway as Man in Baccarat Club Bar
  • The Buccaneer as Dying Pirate
  • Behind Prison Gates as Convict Petey Ryan
  • They All Come Out as Vonnie
  • News Is Made at Night as Joe Luddy
  • Heritage of the Desert as Henchman Chick Chance
  • Star Reporter as Clipper
  • Two Thoroughbreds as Stablemaster
  • Heroes in Blue as Henchman
  • Those High Grey Walls as Nightengale
  • Mutiny on the Blackhawk as Jock - the Sailor
  • The Girl and the Gambler as Charlie
  • Undercover Doctor as Monk Jackson
  • Code of the Streets as Tommy Shay
  • Almost a Gentleman as Kidnapper
  • Disbarred as Stone
  • The Ghost Breakers as Frenchy Duval
  • Glamour for Sale as Louis Manell
  • Queen of the Mob as Gang Leader in Garage
  • The Fargo Kid as Deuce Mallory
  • The Great Plane Robbery as Nick Harmon
  • Trail of the Vigilantes as Lefty
  • Triple Justice as Fred Cleary
  • Black Diamonds as Matthews
  • The Crooked Road as Nick Romero
  • Dr. Cyclops as Dr. Mendoza
  • Virginia City as Murrell's Henchman
  • Outside the Three-Mile Limit as Bill Swanson
  • Strange Cargo as Benet
  • Black Friday as William Kane
  • Down Mexico Way as Henchman Davis
  • A Missouri Outlaw as Mark Roberts
  • Public Enemies as Scat
  • Mob Town as Monk Bangor
  • Unfinished Business as Reporter
  • Hold That Ghost as Lefty
  • Citadel of Crime as Nick Garro
  • Roar of the Press as 'Sparrow' McGraun
  • Pittsburgh as Mine Operator
  • Escape from Crime as Dude Mevill
  • Hitler – Dead or Alive as Joe 'The Book' Conway
  • Youth on Parade as Nick Cramer
  • Highways by Night as Gabby
  • Mug Town as Marco
  • That Other Woman as Tough Guy
  • Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant as Husband
  • Kid Glove Killer as Allison Stacy
  • Alias Boston Blackie as Steve Cavereni
  • Sleepytime Gal as Johnny Gatto
  • South of Santa Fe as Joe Keenan aka Harmon
  • Jail House Blues as Danny
  • Captive Wild Woman as Gruen
  • Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon as Mueller
  • In Old Oklahoma as Cherokee Kid
  • Petticoat Larceny as Louie
  • Bombardier as Big Guy - Spy
  • The Unknown Guest as Fain
  • The Fighting Seabees as Ding
  • Tall in the Saddle as Bob Clews
  • Back to Bataan as Bindle Jackson
  • Grissly's Millions as Lewis Bentley
  • Flame of Barbary Coast as Calico Jim
  • Dakota as Carp
  • Tycoon as Joe
  • Angel and the Badman as Mouse Marr
  • Force of Evil as Bill Ficco
  • The Plunderers as Calico
  • Angel in Exile as Carl Spitz
  • Red River as Teeler Yaces
  • Wake of the Red Witch as Antonio "Ripper" Arrezo
  • The Fighting Kentuckian as Beau Merritt
  • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon as Gunrunner
  • Fighting Man of the Plains as Yancy
  • Hellfire as Dusty Stoner
  • California Passage as Whalen
  • Surrender as Deputy Williams
  • Bullfighter and the Lady as Joseph Jamison
  • Warpath as Pvt. Fiore
  • The Great Missouri Raid as Sgt. Brill
  • Ride the Man Down as Ray Cavanaugh
  • What Price Glory as Gowdy
  • Denver and Rio Grande as Engineer Moynihan
  • Big Jim Mclain as Voice of Chauncey
  • Fair Wind to Java as Wilson
  • Island in the Sky as Wally Miller
  • Hondo as Major Sherry
  • Devil's Canyon as Gatling Guard
  • Star of Texas as Luke Andrews
  • The High and the Mighty as Frank Briscoe
  • Johnny Guitar as Eddie
  • Blood Alley as Mr. Tso
  • The Sea Chase as Max Heinz
  • Top of the World as Maj. George French
  • Santiago as Trasker
  • Star in the Dust as Mike MacNamara
  • Stagecoach to Fury as Tim O'Connors
  • Giant as Dr. Horace Lynnton
  • Toward the Unknown as Lt. Gen. Bryan Shelby
  • The Bad Seed as Richard Bravo
  • Man in the Vault as Herbie
  • Man in the Shadow as Herb Parker
  • The Devil's Hairpin as Doc Addams
  • Night Passage as Mr. Feeney
  • Jet Pilot as Major Rexford
  • Night Passage as Clarence Feeney
  • Lafayette Escadrille as U. S. General
  • The Notorious Mr. Monks as Benjamin Monks
  • Guns Girls and Gangsters as Lon Largo
  • Wagon Train : The Amos Billings Story as Amos Billings
  • To Kill A Mockingbird as Judge Taylor
  • The Outrage as Indian
  • Mail Order Bride as Sheriff Jess Linley
  • The Sons of Katie Elder as Sheriff Billy Watson
  • Shenandoah as Dr. Tom Witherspoon
  • Baby the Rain Must Fall as Judge Ewing
  • El Dorado as Dr. Miller
  • Incident at Phantom Hill as General Hood
  • Ride Beyond Vengeance as Hanley
  • An Eye for an Eye as Brien Quince
  • Nevada Smith as Sheriff Bonnell
  • Welcome to Hard Times as Major Munn C.S.A.
  • The Ballad of Josie as Alpheus Minisk
  • Day of the Evil Gun as Sheriff Kelso
  • Hellfighters as Dusty Stoner
  • The Undefeated as General Joe Masters
  • Young Billy Young as Charlie
  • Dirty Dingus Magee as Chief Crazy Blanket
  • Zabriskie Point as Roadhouse Owner
  • Shoot Out as Brakeman Frenatore
  • Something Big as Chief Yellow Sun
  • Night of the Lepus as Sheriff Cody
  • Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid as Maxwell
  • Cahill U.S. Marshal as Old Man
  • Grayeagle as Running Wolf
  • Wanda Nevada as Texas Curly