John McIntire
| John McIntire | |
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 McIntire and daughter Holly in a 1963 Wagon Train episode. |
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| Born | June 27, 1907 Spokane, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | January 30, 1991 (aged 83) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Tobacco Valley Cemetery, Eureka, Montana |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1947–1989 |
| Spouse | Jeanette Nolan (1935-1991) |
John McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor.[1]
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[edit] Career
The craggy-faced film actor was born in Spokane in eastern Washington State but reared in Montana, growing up around ranchers and cowboys, an experience that would later inspire his performances in dozens of westerns.
A graduate of USC, McIntire began acting in radio and on stage, before embarking on a lengthy film and TV career as a character actor. He was already 40 when he made his big-screen debut in 1947, but went on to appear in some 65 films, often playing police chiefs, judges, crazy coots and western characters. His films include the film noir classic The Asphalt Jungle (1950), the 1960 Hitchcock thriller Psycho and the 1960 drama Elmer Gantry, but some of his more memorable roles were in westerns such as the acclaimed Winchester '73 (1950) and The Far Country (1955), both with James Stewart, and The Tin Star, with Henry Fonda (1957). He also played a judge in Rooster Cogburn (1975), the sequel to True Grit featuring John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn. His final film role was in 1989's Turner & Hooch.
In the mid-'50s, McIntire moved into television, appearing in anthology series, sitcoms and dramas, including a regular role on ABC's Naked City, before his character was killed off. Though McIntire had never had the lead role in a film, TV earned him his most prominent and long-running role when in 1961 he replaced the late Ward Bond in the popular NBC-ABC series Wagon Train, playing trailmaster Chris Hale in more than 150 episodes between 1961 and 1965. He subsequently replaced actors Lee J. Cobb and Charles Bickford on NBC's The Virginian in 1967, playing Bickford's character's brother. Prior to his Wagon Train role, he guest starred as William Palmer in the series finale, "The Most Dangerous Gentleman", of the short-lived 1960 NBC western Overland Trail, starring William Bendix and Doug McClure, his subsequent co-star on The Virginian.
McIntire married actress Jeanette Nolan, in 1935, and they had two children together, one of whom was the actor Tim McIntire (1944–1986) who starred in the 1978 film American Hot Wax. McIntire and Nolan both figured in Psycho; the former played a sheriff, while the latter voiced some of the "mother" lines. McIntire worked more closely with Nolan in the 1977 Disney animated film The Rescuers, in which he voiced the cat Rufus and she the muskrat Ellie Mae. Four years later, the couple worked on another Disney film, The Fox and the Hound, with McIntire as the voice of Mr. Digger, a badger, and Nolan as the voice of Widow Tweed.
[edit] Death
John McIntire died from emphysema and lung cancer in Pasadena, California, in 1991. In addition to his wife Jeanette Nolan he was also survived by his daughter Holly McIntire. His son Tim McIntire preceded him in death in 1986 from heart problems.
