Mort Mills
Mort Mills (born Mortimer Morris Kaplan; January 11, 1919 – June 6, 1993) was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 150 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1957–1959 he had a recurring co-starring role as Marshal Frank Tallman in Man Without a Gun. Other recurring roles were as Sergeant Ben Landro in the Perry Mason series and Sheriff Fred Madden in The Big Valley. He played villainous character "Red Scanlon" in an episode of Maverick opposite James Garner titled "Day of Reckoning" in 1957. The following year, he guest starred as a particularly greedy bounty hunter who clashes with Steve McQueen's character of Josh Randall in the CBS western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Mort Mills | |
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 Mort Mills in Psycho (1960) | |
| Born | Mortimer Morris Kaplan January 11, 1919 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | June 6, 1993 (aged 74) Ventura, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1952–1973 |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Loretta Grady (m. 19??; div. 19??) Betty Dellball Pentland
(m. 1956; died 1992) |
| Children | 3 |
| Family | Mary Treen (cousin) |
Biography
During World War II Mills served in the 3rd Marine Parachute Battalion in the Pacific.[1]
Though Mills did much television work, he also found regular work in motion pictures. He is probably best known as the suspicious highway patrolman who follows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho (1960). A few years later, he worked again with Hitchcock, playing a spy in East Germany under the cover of being a farmer in Torn Curtain (1966).[2][3] Mills also appeared with Charlton Heston in Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958).[4]
In 1955, he appeared as Samuel Mason on ABC's Disneyland miniseries Davy Crockett, starring Fess Parker. From 1957–1959, Mills co-starred with Rex Reason in the syndicated western series Man Without a Gun.[5] He portrayed Marshal Frank Tallman. Reason played his friend, Adam MacLean, editor of the Yellowstone Sentinel newspaper. He appeared as villains twice in Maverick, first in 1957 with James Garner as Bret Maverick ("Day of Reckoning") and second in 1961 with Robert Colbert as Brent Maverick ("Benefit of Doubt"). In 1961 he appeared as Jack Saunders in the TV western Lawman in the episode titled "Owny O'Reilly." In the 1965 Three Stooges film, The Outlaws Is Coming, Mills played Trigger Mortis.[6]
Mills was a regular as police Lieutenant Bob Malone in Howard Duff's NBC-Four Star Television series, Dante (1960–1961), set at a San Francisco, California, nightclub called "Dante's Inferno". He appeared in eight episodes of Perry Mason, seven of them as Police Sgt. Ben Landro between 1961 and 1965.
His cousin, Mary Treen, was a film actress.
Acting roles
Starring in his own TV series
- Man Without a Gun (23 episodes, 1957–59) as Marshal Frank Tallman
Recurring role in a series
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Multiple appearances on a television series
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Single episode television appearances
- Biff Baker, U.S.A. – "Crash Landing" (1952) as Soldier
- Family Theatre – "A Star Shall Rise" (1952) as Scribe
- Gruen Guild Theater – "Girl from Kansas" (1952) as Boxcar Johnson
- I Led Three Lives – "The Spy" (1953) as Comrade Straight
- The Adventures of Kit Carson – Badman's Escape" (1953)
- Hopalong Cassidy – "Arizona Troubleshooters" (1953) as George Byers
- Rocky Jones, Space Ranger – Beyond the Curtain of Space (1954) as Ophician Soldier
- Waterfront – "Captain for a Day" (1955) as Darby
- Crusader – "The Farm" (1956) as Heinrich
- The Man Behind the Badge – "The Case of the Unwelcome Stranger" (1955) as Lloyd
- Treasury Men in Action – "The Case of the Ready Guns" (1955) as Ben Adams
- Big Town – "Shield of a Killer" (1955)
- The Lone Ranger – "Six-Gun Artist" (1955) as Lafe, Second Thug
- Cavalcade of America – The Doll Who Found a Mother (1956)
- You Are There – Decatur's Raid at Tripoli (February 16, 1804) (1956)
- Sheriff of Cochise – "Fire on Chiricahua Mountains" (1956) as Barlett
- Crossroads – "Boom Town Padre" (1957) as Luke Cassidy
- Panic!" – "The Subway" (1957) as Detective
- Casey Jones – "Night Mail" (1957) as Mike Nelson
- Broken Arrow – "Black Moment" (1957) as Halley
- Zorro – "Garcia Stands Accused" (1958) as Lancer
- Have Gun – Will Travel – "The Man Who Lost" (1959) as Ben Coey
- The Alaskans – "Million Dollar Kid" (1960) as Wilkes
- Law of the Plainsman – "The Gibbet" (1959) as Zeb Derkson
- The Man from Blackhawk – "Station Six" (1959)
- Bat Masterson – "Who'll Bury My Violence?" (1959) as Barney Kaster
- Wichita Town – "Man on the Hill" (1959) as Pete Bennett
- The David Niven Show– Sticks and Stones (1959) as Police Lieutenant O'Brien
- The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor – The Scalpel (1960) as Dr. Bruce
- The Aquanauts – Deep Escape (1960)
- Dante – "Opening Night" (1960) as Lt. Robert Malone
- Markham – "13 Avenida Muerte" (1960) as Cal
- Tate – "The Mary Hardin Story" (1960) as Tetlow
- The Texan – "Thirty Hours to Kill" (1960) as Ben Dawson/Blackie Dawson
- Shotgun Slade – "The Deadly Key" (1960) as Ben Wesley
- Men into Space – "Shadows on the Moon" (1960) as Dr. George Coldwell
- Pony Express – "Special Delivery" (1960) as Strobridge
- Johnny Ringo – "Killer, Choose a Card" (1960) as Jed Matthews
- Lawman – "Owny O'Reilly, Esq." (1961) as Jack Saunders
- GE True – "The Black-Robed Ghost" (1963) as Det. John Duncan
- The Wild Wild West – "The Night of the Casual Killer" (1965) as Chuck Harper
- My Favorite Martian – "The Time Machine Is Waking Up That Old Gang of Mine" (1965) as Jesse James
- A Man Called Shenandoah – "The Locket" (1965) as Sheriff
- Bewitched – "Speak the Truth" (1965) as Traffic Policeman
- Death Valley Days – "No Gun Behind His Badge" (1965) Whalen (with Ronald Reagan as Thomas J. Smith)
- The Green Hornet – "Give 'Em Enough Rope" (1966) as Alex Colony
- Laredo – "Finnegan" (1966) as Muldoon
- The Iron Horse – "Explosion at Waycrossing" (1966) as Sheriff Harkness
- The Invaders – "Condition: Red" (1967) as Mr. Arius
- Felony Squad – "The Death Bag" (1967) as Louie Antonides
- Maya – "The Legend of Whitney Markham" (1968) as Frank Sanders
- The Outcasts – "They Shall Rise Up" (1969) as Tauber
- The Name of the Game – "A Wrath of Angels" (1969) as Berg Jannsen
- Land of the Giants – "Home Sweet Home" (1969) as Constable
- Lancer – "The Rivals" (1970) as Kling
- Adam-12 (1971) as Luke Nathan
- Alias Smith and Jones – "McGuffin" (1972) as First Man
- The Mod Squad – "Kill Gently, Sweet Jessie" (1972)
- The Streets of San Francisco – "Deathwatch" (1973) as Victor W. Snyder (final television appearance)
Theatrical films
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References
- Wheeler, Richard A Special Valor: The U.S. Marines and the Pacific War Naval Institute Press, 15 Nov 2013
- Spoto, Donald (1999). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Da Capo Press. p. 577. ISBN 978-0-306-80932-3.
- Walker, Michael (2006). Hitchcock's Motifs. Amsterdam University Press. p. 455. ISBN 978-90-5356-772-2.
- Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; Ursini, James; Porfirio, Robert (2010). The Film Noir Encyclopedia. Overlook Hardcover. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-59020-144-2.
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present. Ballantine Books. p. 733. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
- Cox, Stephen; Terry, Jim (2006). One Fine Stooge: Larry Fine's Frizzy Life In Pictures. Cumberland House Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-58182-363-9.
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