Personal Info
Birth date
1925-11-27 (99 Years)
Day of death
1992-05-18
Gender
Male
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Peoria, Illinois, USA
Also known as
James Marshall Thompson
J. Marsh Thomson
Marshall Thompson
Biography
Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925 – May 18, 1992) was an American film and television actor. He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures. He played quiet, thoughtful teens in Universal's feature films, including a lead opposite singing star Gloria Jean in Reckless Age, earning $350 weekly. During 1946 Universal discharged most of its contract players; that same year Thompson moved to MGM and his film roles steadily increased and improved. Thompson became a freelance actor in the 1950s and worked for various studios on a variety of pictures, including a number of horror and science-fiction features; this included the role of Carruthers in It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), one of the two feature films that would later inspire the plot for director Ridley Scott's 1979 big budget feature film Alien. Thompson also starred as Mel Hunter in the syndicated science fiction TV series World of Giants, about a man who has been miniaturized and must live in a dollhouse. By the 1960s, Thompson's boyish looks had matured and his screen persona became more authoritative. He co-starred with Annie Fargé in the 33-episode CBS sitcom Angel (1960–1961) about an American architect with a charming but scatterbrained French wife, who often got into zany, Lucy Ricardo-esque situations, caused in part by her lack of English; the show was canceled after 33 episodes due to low ratings, despite critical acclaim for French-born newcomer Annie Fargé. In the mid-1960s Thompson starred in CBS's Daktari, a television series about a veterinarian in Africa; the series was based on Thompson's 1965 feature film Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion. Later in his career, he appeared in many television episodes and in feature films such as The Turning Point (1977) and The Formula(1980). Thompson was a brother-in-law of actor Richard Long, best known for his role as Jarrod Barkley in ABC's The Big Valley. Thompson's wife, Barbara, was Long's sister. Marshall Thompson died from congestive heart failure at the age of sixty-six in Royal Oak, Michigan. Description above from the Wikipedia article Marshall Thompson , licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
Matinee Theater
5
Overview:
Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George Lowther. McCleery had previously produced the live series Cameo Theatre which introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, TV plays staged with minimal sets. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theater: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is his own set decorator —yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.Robert Montgomery Presents
5.6
Overview:
Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example, Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theater, ....The Johnson's Wax Program, and so on.Wagon Train
6.3
Overview:
The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.Murder, She Wrote
7.5
Overview:
An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.Charlie's Angels
6.689
Overview:
Beautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could dream of... and way more than they could ever handle! Receiving their orders via speaker phone from their never seen boss, Charlie, the Angels employ their incomparable sleuthing and combat skills, as well as their lethal feminine charm, to crack even the most seemingly insurmountable of cases.Lou Grant
7.278
Overview:
The trials of a former television station manager turned newspaper city editor, and his journalist staff.Studio One
5
Overview:
An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.Perry Mason
7.719
Overview:
The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.Public Defender
6
Overview:
The Public Defender is a half-hour 69-episode television dramatic series starring Reed Hadley as Bart Matthews, an attorney for the indigent. The series aired on CBS from March 11, 1954 to June 23, 1955, a season and a half.The Ford Television Theatre
7.333
Overview:
This show started in New York City, with Broadway actors and actresses. It then moved to Hollywood, California, where Hollywood actors and actresses headed the cast.Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
5.5
Overview:
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.Climax!
3.273
Overview:
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.Daktari
6.935
Overview:
Daktari is an American children's drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series, an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television, stars Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian at the fictional Wameru Study Centre for Animal Behaviour in East Africa.Angel
2.8
Overview:
Angel is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1960–1961 television season. The series was created and executive produced by Jess Oppenheimer, and stars Annie Fargé as the title character.Flipper
6.071
Overview:
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of juvenile merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first-run.Ironside
6.8
Overview:
When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to the police department. Detective Sergeant Ed Brown and policewoman Eve Whitfield join with him to crack varied and fascinating cases. Ex-con Mark Sanger is employed by the chief as home help but eventually becomes a fully fledged member of the team also. Officer Whitfield leaves after 4 years service, and is replaced by Officer Fran Belding.Bronco
5.2
Overview:
Bronco is a Western series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Theodore Roosevelt, Belle Starr, Cole Younger, and John Wesley Hardin.Quincy, M.E.
7.509
Overview:
Los Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.The Millionaire
5
Overview:
An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.The Streets of San Francisco
6.925
Overview:
Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate murders and other serious crimes in San Francisco. Stone would become a second father to Keller as he learned the rigors and procedures of detective work.The Eddie Capra Mysteries
5
Overview:
The Eddie Capra Mysteries is an American mystery television series starring Vincent Baggetta that aired on NBC from September 8, 1978, to January 12, 1979. The series centers on a lawyer who investigates murders and has a knack for solving them.World of Giants
4
Overview:
World Of Giants is an American spy-fi television series that aired from September 5 until November 28, 1959.Gunsmoke
6.558
Overview:
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.Letter to Loretta
6.5
Overview:
Letter to Loretta is an American anthology drama series telecast on NBC from September 1953 to June 1961 for a total of 165 episodes. The filmed show was hosted by Loretta Young who also played the lead in various episodes. Letter to Loretta was sponsored by Procter & Gamble from 1953 through 1960. The final season's sponsor was Warner-Lambert's Listerine.The 20th Century Fox Hour
5.429
Overview:
The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars. The season one episode Overnight Haul, starring Richard Conte and Lizabeth Scott, was released in Australia as a feature film.George
5
Overview:
George was a Swiss-Canadian television series which aired on CTV on Thursday evenings in 1972-73. The series was based on the 1971 film George!, about the adventures of a St. Bernard dog and his owner who live in Switzerland. Marshall Thompson starred in both the film and the resulting half-hour series. The series made its CTV debut in a Thursday evening time slot on 16 September 1972. However, George ended in 1973 after its only season. The Globe and Mail's Blaik Kirby considered the program to be "abysmal". Despite its short run and mixed critical reaction, the series was rerun on CTV affiliates for years afterwards, usually to fill Saturday morning schedules.Hallmark Hall of Fame
8.571
Overview:
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.Acting
1991McBain as Mr. Rich
1986Dallas: The Early Years as Dr. Ted Johnson
1984Murder, She Wrote (1 Episode) as Ward Silloway
1982White Dog as Director
1980The Formula as Geologist #1
1979Benson (1 Episode) as Unknown
1979Bog as Dr. Brad Wednesday
1978The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1 Episode) as Unknown
1978Cruise Into Terror as Bennett
1977The Turning Point as Carter
1977Lou Grant (1 Episode) as Paul Newman
1976Quincy, M.E. (2 Episodes) as Unknown
1976Charlie's Angels (1 Episode) as Meadows
1976That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
1974George (26 Episodes) as Jim Hunter
1972The Streets of San Francisco (1 Episode) as Fr. Carey
1972George as Jim
1970Ride the Tiger as Unknown
1969Jambo (1 Episode) as Unknown
1967Ironside (1 Episode) as Tom Ames
1966Around the World Under the Sea as Dr. Orin Hillyard
1966To the Shores of Hell as Maj. Greg Donahue
1966Daktari (89 Episodes) as Dr. Marsh Tracy
1965Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion as Dr. Marsh Tracy
1965Zebra in the Kitchen as Shaving Man
1964The Mighty Jungle as Unknown
1964Flipper (1 Episode) as Unknown
1964A Yank in Viet-Nam as Maj. Benson
1962No Man Is an Island as Jonn Sonnenberg
1962East of Kilimanjaro as Marsh Connors
1961Flight of the Lost Balloon as Dr.Joseph Farady
1960Angel (34 Episodes) as Johnny Smith
1959Men Into Space (1 Episode) as Unknown
1959World of Giants (13 Episodes) as Unknown
1959First Man into Space as Cmdr. Charles Ernest Prescott
1958The Secret Man as Dr. Cliff Mitchell
1958Bronco (1 Episode) as Unknown
1958It! The Terror from Beyond Space as Carruthers
1958Fiend Without a Face as Major Jeff Cummings
1957Perry Mason (1 Episode) as Arthur Poe
1957Wagon Train (1, 1 Episode) as Bradley Mason, Will Stebbins
1957Lure of the Swamp as Simon Lewt
1957Panic! (1 Episode) as Unknown
1956Born to Fight as Man Exiting Airplane (uncredited)
1956Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (1 Episode) as Eli Hendericks
1955Good Morning, Miss Dove as Wilfred Banning Pendleton III
1955Matinee Theater (3 Episodes) as Unknown
1955The 20th Century Fox Hour (1 Episode) as Matt Clay
1955To Hell and Back as Johnson
1955Gunsmoke (1 Episode) as Leach Fields
1955Cult of the Cobra as Tom Markel
1955Crashout as Billy Lang
1955The Millionaire (1, 1 Episode) as Tom Hunt, Bill Andreson
1955Battle Taxi as 2nd Lt. Tim Vernon
1954Port of Hell as Marsh Walker
1954Climax! (1 Episode) as (segment "Child of the Wind")
1954The Whistler (2 Episodes) as Unknown
1954Public Defender (1 Episode) as Jeff Norton
1953Letter to Loretta (1, 1 Episode) as Jim Turner, Dan Jenkins
1953The Caddy as Bruce Reeber
1952The Ford Television Theatre (1 Episode) as Unknown
1952The Rose Bowl Story as Steve Davis
1952My Six Convicts as Blivens Scott
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame (1, 1 Episode) as George Washington, Pythias
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1, 1 Episode) as James Wilson, Unknown
1951The Tall Target as Lance Beaufort
1951The Basketball Fix as Johnny Long
1950Dial 1119 as Gunther Wyckoff
1950Devil's Doorway as Rod MacDougall
1950Mystery Street as Henry Shanway
1950Stars in My Crown as Narrator (adult John Kenyon) (voice)
1950Robert Montgomery Presents (3 Episodes) as Unknown
1949Battleground as Jim Layton
1949Roseanna McCoy as Tolbert McCoy
1948Words and Music as Herbert Fields
1948Command Decision as Capt. George Washington Bellpepper Lee
1948Studio One (1 Episode) as Unknown
1948Homecoming as Staff Sgt. 'Mac' McKeen
1948B.F.'s Daughter as The Sailor
1947The Romance of Rosy Ridge as Ben Mac Bean
1946The Secret Heart as Brandon Reynolds
1946Gallant Bess as Tex Barton
1946The Show-Off as Joe Fisher
1946The Cockeyed Miracle as Jim Griggs
1946Bad Bascomb as Jimmy Holden
1945They Were Expendable as Ens. 'Snake' Gardner
1945Twice Blessed as Jimmy
1945The Clock as Bill
1945The Valley of Decision as Ted Scott
1944Blonde Fever as Freddie Bilson
1944Reckless Age as Roy Connors
1944The Purple Heart as Morrison (uncredited)
Writing
1978Race for Survival ... Story
1972George ... Original Story
1965Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion ... Story
Creator
1974George ... Creator
Production
1972George ... Producer