John Crawford (Sheriff Ep Bridges)

[carol]

Date of Birth
13 September 1920, Colfax, Washington, USA

Date of Death
21 September 2010, Thousand Oaks, California, USA (complications from a stroke)

Birth Name
Cleve Allen Richardson

Height
6' 0½" (1.84 m)

Mini Biography
Burly, handsome and rugged character actor John Crawford appeared in over 200 movies and TV shows combined in a career that spanned over 40 years, usually cast as tough and/or villainous characters.

Crawford was born Cleve Richardson on September 13, 1920, in Colfax, Washington. He was discovered by a Warner Bros. scout while attending the University of Washington's School of Drama. Although he failed his screen test, Crawford nonetheless joined RKO as a laborer. He then got a job building sets at Circle Theater in Los Angeles, and eventually persuaded the producers to cast him in some of their plays. He was soon signed to Columbia Pictures to act in secondary roles in westerns. In the late 1950s he graduated to bigger parts in such films as Orders to Kill (1958), The Key (1958) and Hell Is a City (1960), all of which were made in the UK. Crawford returned to America in the early 1960s and began a prolific career in both movies and TV series, up until 1986. His most memorable film roles include the ill-fated chief engineer in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), the hearty Tom Iverson in Night Moves (1975), the bumbling mayor of San Francisco in The Enforcer (1976), hard-nosed police chief Buzz Cavanaugh in Outlaw Blues (1977) and amiable old mine hand Brian Deerling in The Boogens (1981). John had recurring parts as Sheriff Ep Bridges in "The Waltons" (1971) and Capt. Parks on "Police Woman" (1974). Among the many TV shows he made guest appearances in are "The Lone Ranger" (1949), "Adventures of Superman" (1952), "I Spy" (1965), "Twilight Zone" (1959), "The Untouchables" (1959), "Wagon Train" (1957), "The Fugitive" (1963), "Star Trek" (1966), "Lost in Space" (1965), "Bonanza" (1959), "Hogan's Heroes" (1965), "Mission: Impossible" (1966), "Gunsmoke" (1955), "The Bionic Woman" (1976), "Dallas" (1978) and "Dynasty" (1981). Crawford died at age 90 following complications from a stroke on September 21, 2010, in Thousand Oaks, California. He's survived by his ex-wife Ann Wakefield, four daughters and two grandchildren.

IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)

Spouse
Beverly Long (25 November 1976 - ?) (divorced)
Nancy D. Jeris (9 November 1968 - June 1974) (divorced)
Anne Wakefield (17 November 1956 - October 1966) (divorced) 1 child
Lorraine Crawford (1945 - 1953) (divorced) 2 children

[Marilyn]

Wow, he lived a long life!

[JeriJet]

I loved the fact that James Garner, in his autobiography, gave Crawford full credit for having taught him how to work with a camera -- envisioning it as a person.... For both of these actors, I am pleased that I never heard typical Hollywood stuff about them.... booze, drugs, partying, etc.

[Deleted]

John Crawford

[Steve James]

One of my favorite characters.  Boy, he had so many opportunities to roust the Walton boys, but he was always affable and never too hard-nosed.  At the same time, he got his job done without worrying about whose toes he stepped on (The Thief comes to mind when he confronts John on the front porch).

I wish there were more episodes of Ep and Sarah.  I would have liked to see how their lives together played out.

[tvlover]

The Hero is one of the best episodes that focuses on Sheriff Ep Bridges.

[nedandres]

I, too, enjoyed reading about the James Garner connection. I am in the process of watching "The Rockford Files" (currently on season 3) and enjoyed John in the two episodes he appeared in. I also love the Garner/Julie Andrews anti-war flick "The Americanization of Emily" in which John Crawford appears. It was released in 1964.

[maxwalton]

I just recently saw the Star Trek first season episode The Galileo Seven. In that episode, John Crawford plays Commissioner Ferris, an annoying United Federation of Planets bureaucrat who pesters Captain Kirk to abandon his search for his missing crew members aboard the shuttle craft Galileo and get on with his previously scheduled mission. Great stuff! Crawford was a very, very, underrated actor.