Richard Carlson (actor)
American movie actor Richard Carlson (April 29, 1912- November 21, 1977) was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota. In the 1930s Carlson appeared on the Broadway stage after studying and teaching drama in Minnesota. His first film role was in 1938 (David O. Selznick's The Young in Heart). He worked as a freelance actor, appearing in many different film studio works, beginning in 1939 when he moved to California. Before the war, he appeared mostly in comedies and dramas, including The Little Foxes & Too Many Girls with Lucille Ball in 1940.
Like many actors, Carlson served in World War II, interrupting his acting career. After returning he found it difficult to win new roles, and his future in Hollywood remained in doubt until 1948. In that year, Carlson was cast in two low-budget film noir releases, Behind Locked Doors and The Amazing Mr. X. Despite this, real success in Hollywood eluded him until 1950, when he co-starred with Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger in the highly successful jungle adventure film King Solomon's Mines, shot on location in Africa.
Carlson slowly began to rebuild his career, finding work in the newly emergent science fiction and horror 'B' films of the 1950s. He appeared in a number of horror and science fiction films, starring a bevy of Hollywood's most beautiful co-stars, including three 3-D films: The Maze (1953) and the classics It Came from Outer Space (1953) with Barbara Rush, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) with Julia Adams, The Valley Of Gwangi (1969) and The Magnetic Monster (1954). His success in the genre led him to the director's chair for the 1954 sci-fi film Riders to the Stars, in which he also starred.
The 1950s proved a busy time for Carlson. He continued to direct, this time in television and documentary films. He also was the star of the television series I Led Three Lives from 1953-1956. He was featured in The Helen Morgan Story (1957), and Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans remember Carlson from the 1960 horror film Tormented. His last film was the Elvis Presley/Mary Tyler Moore film, Change of Habit (1969). In the 1958-1959 television season, Carlson portrayed Colonel Ranald Mackenzie in the syndicated western series Mackenzie's Raiders. His last acting role was in a 1973 episode of CBS's Cannon detective series starring William Conrad.
For his contribution to the television industry, Richard Carlson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6333 Hollywood Blvd. Probably most remembered by elementary school students from the late 1950s and 1960's was his part in the Bell Telephone Science films. He played a television writer and assisted Dr. Research (Dr. Frank C. Baxter) in three popular science films, all directed by Frank Capra, The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays (1957), Hemo the Magnificent (1957), and The Unchained Goddess (1958). These films motivated many baby boomers to go into the sciences.
Carlson died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1977. He was buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery, in West Los Angeles.
Richard's, son Chris Carlson, was a CPA in Los Angelos. He spend most of his career as a partner with Deloitte & Touche, then came out of retirement to serve as a partner with Grant Thornton in the firm's national tax practice. Chris was a avid runner and had run all 17 Los Angelos Marathons when he died of a sudden heart attack on June 30, 2002 while running near his home in Santa Monica, California.