Richard Crenna

Crenna got his acting start on radio. In 1937, he had gained his first role, that of "the kid who did everything wrong" on Boy Scout Jamboree, a show on which he continued to appear occasionally in numerous roles until 1948. In the following year, he started playing Walter "Bronco" Thompson on The Great Gildersleeve, a role he played until 1954. He also originated the role of geeky Walter Denton on the Radio Comedy Our Miss Brooks alongside Eve Arden and Gale Gordon in 1948, and followed that role when the series moved to television in 1952.[4] He remained in that role until 1957. He appeared as a delivery boy in My Favorite Husband (episode "Liz Cooks Dinner for 12"), was Oogie Pringle on A Date With Judy (episode "The Competitive Diet", among several other episodes of the show) and as a teenager on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (episode "Watching the Neighbor's Daughter".)

Crenna and Kathleen Nolan in The Real McCoys, 1960

As previously mentioned, Crenna played Walter Denton on radio's Our Miss Brooks, remaining with the cast when it moved into television in 1952.[4] He remained with the show until it was canceled in 1957. He guest-starred on the I Love Lucy episode "The Young Fans", with Janet Waldo and on NBC's 1955–56 anthology series Frontier,[7] in the lead role of the episode entitled "The Ten Days of John Leslie". In 1955, he was the guest star on The Millionaire in the episode "The Ralph McKnight Story".

Crenna appeared in 1956 on the television series Father Knows Best, in the episode "The Promising Young Man," as a young man named Woody. In 1957, he played a bank robber on the Cheyenne television series (season 2, episode 19).[7]

When the Our Miss Brooks TV series was canceled in 1957, Crenna was searching for a new series to showcase his talent. Crenna then joined the cast of the comedy series The Real McCoys, as Luke McCoy – alongside veteran actor Walter Brennan, who played Grandpa Amos McCoy. Kathleen Nolan was cast as his young wife, Kate McCoy. Crenna ultimately became one of the series's four directors during its six-year run (1957–63).[8]

Crenna and Bernadette Peters in All's Fair, 1976

In the 1960s, Richard Crenna directed many episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and was credited as "Dick Crenna". He also directed episodes of Lou Grant, which ran on CBS from 1977–82.[4]

Crenna portrayed California state senator James Slattery in the CBS-TV series, Slattery's People (1964–65). For his acting in this series, he was twice nominated for an Emmy Award with slightly different names: for "Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment" and for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series", both in 1965.[9] Crenna was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best TV Star – Male" for this same role, again in 1965. In 1966, Crenna played beside Steve McQueen as an ill-fated captain of an American gunboat in 1920s China in The Sand Pebbles.[8]

During the 1970s, Crenna continued acting in such Western dramas such as The Deserter, Catlow,[10] The Man Called Noon,[11] and Breakheart Pass. He made a notable performance in Jean-Pierre Melville's final film Un Flic in 1972. In 1976, Crenna returned to weekly network television in the Norman Lear CBS sit-com All's Fair, a political satire co-starring Bernadette Peters. Despite high expectations and good critical reviews, it lasted just a single season. The 1978 NBC-TV miniseries, Centennial, based on James A. Michener's historical novel Centennial, saw Crenna in the role of deranged religious fanatic Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn, who ordered the 1864 massacre of Colorado American Indians.[7]

Crenna in 1998

Crenna won an Emmy Award[4] and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1985 film The Rape of Richard Beck.[12]

Crenna then played John Rambo's ex-commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman,[13] in the first three Rambo films, a role for which he was hired after Kirk Douglas left the production a day into filming. Trautman became the veteran actor's most famous role; his performance received wide critical praise.[14] He also spoofed the character in Hot Shots! Part Deux in 1993.[15][16]

Crenna portrayed New York City Police lieutenant of detectives Frank Janek in a series of seven popular made-for-television films, beginning in 1988 and ending in 1994. The character of Janek had originally appeared in a series of novels by William Bayer.[17][18]