John Eldredge

The "Adventures of Superman" has always been a huge part of my life. The actor being remembered in this post made four appearances opposite the Man of Steel each time playing a crime boss or other kind of villain. When I began the research for this post I was shocked to learn that this actor had an amazing career and appeared not just along side Superman but many other big and bright shining stars... Born: August 30, 1904 He began on stage in the late 1920's but Hollywood films were not far away. In 1934 he appeared in his first film The Man With Two Faces. He would go on to appear in over one hundred films after that including The Woman in Red, The Murder of Dr. Harrigan, Charlie Chan at the Olympics, Dr. Kildare's Strange Case, The Black Cat, Saboteur, The Sky Dragon, Angels in the Outfield, The Toughest Man Alive and I Married a Monster from Outer Space. (I bet that last one was interesting!) In 1949 he made his first appearance on television when the medium was in its earliest days. The show was "The Life of Riley" and the star was Jackie Gleason. Others in his list of television credits include "Amos 'N' Andy", "The Lone Ranger", "Boston Blackie", "Four Star Playhouse", "Death Valley Days", "Mr. & Mrs. North", "Fireside Theatre", "My Little Margie", "General Electric Theater", "The Mickey Rooney Show", "The Great Gildersleeve", "The Gale Storm Show", "I Love Lucy", "December Bride", "Perry Mason", "77 Sunset Strip", "Leave it to Beaver", "Letter to Loretta", "Bachelor Father", "Bonanza", "The Real McCoys", "The Twilight Zone" and "Mister Ed." I've only seen him appear on three different programs... "Amos 'N' Andy" - As a con artist who tries to swindle the Kingfish and Andy out of some money. "I Love Lucy" - The episode "Lucy's Night in Town" he plays the man who sits behind the Ricardos and Mertzes at the theater...his wife is played by Doris Packer. Lucy and Ethel sit in their seats but have to move when they arrive... "Adventures of Superman" - Four different times "Crime Wave" as Walter Canby 'the number one man behind crime in Metropolis', "A Shot in the Dark" he played Burt Burnside AKA the Tulip. He believes he knows Superman's true identity but some fast thinking on the part of the Man of Tomorrow discredits the Tulip. "The Girl Who Hired Superman" he was Jonas Rockwell the greedy guardian of an heiress and in "Superman's Wife" he played 'Mr. X' once again a major crime lord. In that now famous episode he captures Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White in a bathosphere and lowers them to the bottom of Metropolis Harbor...GREAT STUFF - FOUR CLASSIC EPISODES! In fact all of the episodes mentioned above are now classics! His final film appearance was in 1960's Five Guns to Tombstone and his final television appearance was on "Peter Gunn." The episode originally aired on May 29, 1961 and the actor passed away shortly after on September 23, 1961. Sadly a heart attack ended his life at the young age of 57... A wonderful character actor...a familiar face...a person we all know that we know when we see him... In Memoriam Remembers: John Eldredge

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