Richard Long

Born: December 17, 1927

This wonderful gentleman was a fine actor who left us much too soon.  His career spanned four decades and he appeared on some of the most popular programs of the day.

His first film appearance was in 1946's Tomorrow is Forever with Claudette Colbert.  He also played Tom Kettle, a son of Ma and Pa Kettle in four of the nine films made featuring those characters.  The Egg and I was the first film in which he portrayed Tom...his time with the series went from 1947 to 1951. 

Other famous co-stars were Marjorie Main, Orson Welles, Loretta Young and Barbara Stanwyck.  He appeared with Stanwyck in 1953's All I Desire.  Twelve years later he would play her character's eldest son on the television series "The Big Valley."

On television he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show", "Stump the Stars", "The Merv Griffin Show", "The Hollywood Squares", "Password All-Stars", "Lux Video Theatre", "Climax!", "The United States Steel Hour", "Wagon Train", "Tales of Wells Fargo", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "The Twilight Zone", "Love, American Style" and "Bonanza." 

His television roles:
-Gentleman Jack Darby on "Maverick" (1958-1959)
-Rex Randolph on "Bourbon Street Beat (1959-1960) & "77 Sunset Strip" (1959-1962)
-Jarrod Barkley on "The Big Valley" (1965-1969) with Barbara Stanwyck, Peter Breck and Lee Majors
-Professor Harold Everett on "Nanny and the Professor" (1970-1971) with Juliet Mills
-Ernie Paine on "Thicker than Water" (1973) with Julie Harris

His final film role was in Make Like a Thief in 1964 and his final television role was in the television movie "Death Cruise" which aired on October 30, 1974.

He suffered from heart trouble his whole life and he finally lost that battle on December 21, 1974 at the young age of 47.  On an interesting note his first wife Suzan Ball (1934-1955), was the second cousin of Lucille Ball.

In Memoriam Remembers:
Richard Long 

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