RIP: Earl Holliman

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It was announced that Earl Holliman died today, at the age of 96.

When Earl Holliman was a teenager he saved his money from his jobs as a theater usher, paperboy and magician’s assistant.  He then went to Hollywood.  He lasted a week before his money ran out and he returned to his home in Louisiana.

His adoptive mother had remarried after her first husband died.  Earl didn’t get along with his new stepfather.  World War II was underway.  Earl lied about his age and went into the Navy.  A year into his enlistment, the Navy discovered Earl’s true age and he was sent home.  Earl finished his high school education, graduated with honors and was his senior class president.

Now old enough to enlist, Earl reupped with the Navy.  While in the Navy, Mr. Holliman was cast in the lead of several Norfolk Navy productions.  After leaving the navy, Mr. Holliman moved to California.  He studied acting and graduated from UCLA.

Mr. Holliman bluffed his way onto the Paramount lot.  Over time he made some connections and got his first part. After that Earl Holliman continued to work in feature films, television and stage roles until he retired.

Television projects that feature Earl Holliman include: Matinee Theater; Kraft Theater (2 episodes); Studio One; Playhouse 90 (2 episodes); Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse; The Twilight Zone (1st episode); Hotel de Paree (32 episodes); The Dick Powell Theater; Westinghouse Presents: The Dispossessed; Bus Stop; Alcoa Premiere; General Electric Theater; Checkmate; Wide Country (28 episodes); The Great Adventure; Bonanza; 12 O’Clock High; Dr. Kildare; The Virginian; Slattery’s People; The Fugitive; Custer; Judd for the Defense; Insight; Marcus Welby MD; Smoke; The Tribe; Ironside; Cannon; Alias Smith & Jones (2 episodes); The Rookies; Gunsmoke (3 episodes); Medical Center (2 episodes); The Magical World of Disney (4 episodes); The FBI (4 episodes); The Streets of San Francisco; The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War; Doberman Patrol; Cry Panic; Police Story; Police Woman (90 episodes); The Solitary Man; CHiPs (2 episodes); Country Gold; The Thorn Birds (3 episodes); Hotel; American Harvest; Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge; Empty Nest; PSI Luv U (13 episodes); The Larry Sanders Show; In the Heat of the Night; Delta (17 episodes); Murder, She Wrote (2 episodes); Captain Planet and the Planeteers; Caroline in the City (3 episodes); Nightman (24 episodes) and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Feature films that Earl Holliman appeared in include: Destination Gobi; Scared Stiff; East of Sumatra; Broken Lance; The Bridges at Toko-Ri; The Big Combo; I Died A Thousand Times; Forbidden Planet; Giant; The Rainmaker; The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral; Trooper Hook; Don’t Go Near the Water; Hot Spell; The Trap; The Last Train from Gun Hill; Visit to a Small Planet; Summer and Smoke; The Sons of Katie Elder; Anzio; Sharky’s Machine and The Perfect Tenant.

Earl Holliman starred in the first episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone.  Talk about an impressive first credit.  When I think of Earl Holliman the first role that comes to mind is Sgt. (and later Lt.) Bill Crowley on Police Woman. Then his part in Forbidden Planet.  As an adult I’ve loved seeing Earl Holliman in noirs such as The Big Combo and I Died a Thousand Times.  Whatever he was in, Mr. Holliman made it better.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to Earl Holliman’s family, friends and fans.