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Dick Wesson (actor)

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Dick Wesson
BERJAYA
Trailer for Destination Moon (1950)
Born
Richard Lewis Wesson

(1922-11-19)November 19, 1922
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedApril 25, 1996(1996-04-25) (aged 73)
Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
OccupationsActor, comedian
Years active1940–1982

Richard Lewis Wesson[citation needed] (November 19, 1922 – April 25, 1996) was a prolific character actor, comedian, comedy writer, and producer.

Biography

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Dick Wesson was born on November 19, 1922, in Boston, Massachusetts. A comedian, impressionist and singer, Wesson appeared with his brother Gene in a comedy act titled "The Wesson Brothers". They had some hit records, such as "Oodles of Boodle" and "All Right Louie, Drop the Gun".[citation needed]

In 1949, Wesson became a television series regular with Jim Backus in Hollywood House. Making his film debut in Destination Moon (1950),[1] Wesson signed a contract with Warner Bros., leaving the studio in 1953. His films there included Breakthrough, Calamity Jane (1953), and The Desert Song.[2] Wesson played comic relief in all his films, frequently as an infantry soldier, as in Force of Arms (1951), and in the Old West with The Man Behind the Gun (1952) and The Charge at Feather River (1953). Wesson's best known role was as female impersonator Francis Fryer in Calamity Jane.

Wesson moved to television, appearing as Jackie Cooper's ex-United States Marine Corps sidekick Rollo, on The People's Choice[3]: 822-823  and as Frank Crenshaw in The Bob Cummings Show.[3] Wesson began writing for The Bob Cummings Show and later The Beverly Hillbillies. He appeared in The Beverly Hillbillies as a taxi driver and as a patient in the season 1 episode "The Clampetts Get Psychoanalyzed". He produced My Sister Eileen and many episodes of Petticoat Junction as well as directed several episodes of each series.[citation needed] He portrayed Jack Reardon on the 1974 CBS situation comedy Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers.[3]: 818 

Death

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Wesson later died of an aneurysm on April 25, 1996, in Rancho Mirage, California.[4]

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
1950Destination MoonJoe Sweeney
1950BreakthroughPvt. Sammy Hansen
1951Inside the Walls of Folsom PrisonTinker
1951Force of ArmsKleiner
1951Jim Thorpe – All-AmericanEd Guyac
1951Sunny Side of the StreetDave Gibson
1951StarliftSgt. Mike Nolan
1952About FaceDave Crouse
1953The Man Behind the GunSgt. 'Monk' Walker
1953The Desert SongBenjamin 'Benjy' Kidd
1953The Charge at Feather RiverPvt. Cullen
1953Calamity JaneFrancis Fryer
1955Paris Follies of 1956Chuck Russell
1961The Errand BoyThe A.D.
1977RollercoasterTourist Father

Notes

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  1. ↑ "Wesson Chosen For Thorpe Film". Valley Times. California, North Hollywood. August 18, 1950. p. 18. Retrieved April 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Dick Wesson Ends Warner's Contract". Valley Times. California, North Hollywood. March 26, 1953. p. 10. Retrieved April 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 630–631. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  4. ↑ "'Obituaries/Funeral Announcements'". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. May 3, 1996. p. 22. Retrieved May 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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