Tom Pittman (actor)


Tom Pittman was an American film and television actor. After his death at the age of 26, the Los Angeles Times called him "one of Hollywood's most promising young actors."

Career

Pittman was born Jerry Lee Alten in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was television and radio actor Frank Alten. Pittman began his career in acting in 1956 with a guest starring role on Science Fiction Theatre. He made his film debut that same year in D-Day the Sixth of June. Pittman went on to roles in numerous television Westerns including Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, Have Gun – Will Travel, The Restless Gun, and Cimarron City. He also appeared in the 1957 drama The Young Stranger and the musical comedy Bernardine. His final two roles were in the films Verboten! and High School Big Shot, both released in 1959, the year following his death.

Death

In the early 1950s, Porsche dealer and racer Walter and Helm Glöckler in Frankfurt, Germany privately modified rear-engine Porsche 356 for racing purposes, mostly with open top. By 1953, the factory decided to offer a race-ready car with similar styling, with mid-rear engine layout, the Porsche 550 Spyder. In 1955, actor James Dean crashed and died in a 550. Already in 1957 Porsche upgraded to the Porsche 718. Pittman not only had one of the few Glöckler-Porsche, but also one similar to the one that had been fitted in early 1954 with a significantly modified closed top, which did not race in the 1954 Mille Miglia, only in the Liège–Rome–Liège. The car was with Pittman in the USA in 1957, still carrying the distinctive German oval-shaped export licence plate.
On October 31, 1958, Pittman was driving home after a Halloween party when his Porsche went off the road at a sharp curve in the Hollywood Hills. After he failed to return home, his father filed a missing persons report. Weeks later, on November 19, Los Angeles police officer Roy Kerton retraced the roads Pittman's father said his son liked to drive and found the wreckage of Pittman's Porsche at the bottom of a 150-foot ravine. Pittman died after crashing through the guard rail, his car landing at the bottom of the ravine where it remained out of sight.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956Science Fiction TheatreWillisEpisode: "Who Is This Man?"
1956Climax!Episode: "Sit Down With Death"
1956Highway PatrolCarjack VictimEpisode: "Taxi"
1956GunsmokeJimmy McQueenEpisode: "Dutch George"
1956CheyenneBushrodEpisode: "The Long Winter"
1956West PointEpisode: "The Mystery of Cadet Layton"
1956The Man Called XEpisode: "Underground"
1956The Ford Television TheatreEpisode: "The Women Who Dared"
1957Navy LogLieutenant Cal RadinEpisode: "Operation Golden Rule"
1957SuspicionJoeEpisode: "Four O'Clock"
1957Dick Powell's Zane Grey TheatreJohn HarrisEpisode: "The Deserters"
1957TrackdownTom SladenEpisode: "The Marple Brothers"
1957The Restless GunLex HarcourtEpisode: "Revenge at Harness Creek"
1957GunsmokeBudge GrilkEpisode: "Potato Road"
1957Wagon TrainTom "Tommy" NicholsEpisode: "The Mary Halstead Story"
1957General Electric TheaterEpisode: "The Trail to Christmas"
1958Have Gun – Will TravelGrady StewartEpisode: "The Reasonable Man"
Credited as Geoff Parish
1958Studio 572 episodes
1958The Walter Winchell FileWoody2 episodes
1958Telephone TimeWes SheekEpisode: "Trail Blazer"
1958TrackdownRed BoltonEpisode: "The Winter Boys"
1958Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside TheatreHankEpisode: "The Last Test"
1958M SquadBurt KennedyEpisode: "Day of Terror"
1958Tombstone TerritoryBilly ClantonEpisode: "Pick Up the Gun"
Credited as Thomas Pittman
1958The Restless GunJason LeafEpisode: "The Manhunters"
1958BuckskinDan PruittEpisode: "The Ballad of Gabe Pruitt"
1958Tales of Wells FargoBill DowdEpisode: "The Gambler"
1958M SquadAlvin JessopEpisode: "Dead or Alive"
1958Westinghouse Desilu PlayhouseHeroldEpisode: "The Case of Dr. Mudd"
1958Man with a CameraTerry KilleenEpisode: "Profile of a Killer"
1959ZorroRomualdoEpisode: "The Runaways"
1959Cimarron CityJesse StainbackEpisode: "Child of Fear"