Gary Vinson

Vinson was born in El Segundo, California.[1] He graduated from El Segundo High School[2] and El Camino Junior College.[3]

In 1951, at age 15, Vinson was cast in a 27-minute film, Does Christ Live in Your Home?, produced in Hollywood by Sam Hersh and directed by William F. Claxton. Hersh had started Family Films, Inc. in 1948 for the religious market, with funding provided by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.[4]

Vinson began acting professionally when he was 18; his television debut came in the role of a page boy on Milton Berle's first program from NBC's new Burbank studios.[1] In an interview, he stated:

"I started during the Marlon Brando era when guys my age in Hollywood were all wearing pouts, torn shirts, mussed hair, and looked like they needed a bath. I refused to go that route so whenever anyone needed an all-american-boy type I was the only all-american-boy type available."[1] 

Among his early TV roles was one as defendant Marv Adams in the fourth Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Drowning Duck." He guest-starred on other various television series, including Whirlybirds, Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Bachelor Father, Cheyenne, Maverick, Sugarfoot, Wagon Train, Laramie, Bat Masterson, Harbor Command, Colt .45, The Rough Riders, Hawaiian Eye, and in three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

In 1962 he was cast as Bruce Randall in the episode "The Parish Car" of the ABC series, Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly as a Roman Catholic priest in New York City. That same year he was cast as Charlie Fox in the episode "The Runaway Groom" of the NBC western series The Tall Man, starring Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager.

In 1960 Vinson was cast in his first recurring role in a series as copyboy Chris Higbee in 39 episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers drama series The Roaring 20's.[5]^:899 The series ended its run in January 1962, and Vinson then appeared as Alvin in the episode "This Gun for Sale" of the sitcom, Room for One More, the ABC/WB replacement series for The Roaring 20s. Earlier he had appeared as a guest star in another ABC/WB series, The Alaskans.

That same year Vinson was cast as Quartermaster George "Christy" Christopher on the ABC sitcom McHale's Navy, starring Ernest Borgnine.[5] Vinson appeared in 79 episodes from 1962 to 1966, when the series ended. He wrote one episode. After McHale's Navy Vinson was cast as Sheriff Harold Sikes in CBS's Pistols 'n' Petticoats.[5]^:837

Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Vinson and Carl Ballantine in the 1962–66 ABC World War II sitcom McHale's Navy.

Vinson (right) as Sheriff Harold Sikes in the 1966–67 CBS western sitcom Pistols 'n' Petticoats.

In 1968 he starred as Beau Graves in two episodes of the ABC crime drama series Mod Squad. In 1969 Vinson guest-starred as Sheriff Tom Wade in the episode "Crime Wave in Buffalo Springs" on James Drury's The Virginian. He portrayed the character Joseph Foxx in "Moment of Truth" on Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.'s The F.B.I. crime series.

During the 1970s and 1980s Vinson continued with guest roles on episodic television appearing again in Mod Squad, Love, American Style, McCloud, The Streets of San Francisco, The Waltons, S.W.A.T., Baa Baa Black Sheep, Battlestar Galactica and Barnaby Jones.

Vinson's last on-screen appearances were as the Air Marshal in the 1982 episode "No Way Out" of ABC's The Fall Guy, as Sperling in the 1982 episode "A Minor Problem" on CBS' The Incredible Hulk and as Jake Cord in the 1983 episode "Chance of a Lifetime" on the NBC family drama Boone.

Vinson's feature film debut came in Rockabilly Baby (1957).[6] In 1959, he signed a term contract with Warner Bros.[3]

On October 15, 1984, a week before his 48th birthday, Vinson committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in Redondo Beach, California.[7]

• Gary Vinson at IMDb
• Gary Vinson at Find a Grave