Richard Derr

Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania the younger of two sons on June 15, 1917, tall (6'2"), light-haired stage and second lead film actor Richard Derr was highly intelligent and graduated from his local high school at age 16. Having appeared in school plays and pageants, he also developed a strong interest in acting and joined a theatre group (The Dramateurs) in town and appeared in amateur shows he helped produced. All the while he supported himself as a bank clerk. He later became involved in a Pennsylvania theatre group (Hedgerow Theatre) and was discovered by New York agent Maynard Morris and brought to New York. He joined the Actor's Studio once there and became a lifelong member. After appearing in a few plays he was screen-tested by 20th Century-Fox and approved to a seven-year contract by Darryl F. Zanuck. Derr made his youthful debut at age 23 as one of many suspects in Charlie Chan in Rio (1941). A second Chan film role followed with Castle in the Desert (1942). With his handsomely staid, square-jawed good looks, he showed promise among the many other war-era hopefuls of the time, appearing typically in such WWII-themed "B" films as Man at Large (1941) (as a German spy), The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1942), Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942), Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942), Cry 'Havoc' (1943) and Tonight We Raid Calais (1943). Unhappy with the last film and the direction of his career, he broke his Fox contract. Following military duty with the U.S. Army Air Corps where he flew with the Army Transport Command, Richard briefly worked for MGM occasionally taking on "other man" roles. He appeared in competition with Van Johnson over June Allyson in the fluffy comedy The Bride Goes Wild (1948) and with Thomas E. Breen over Jane Powell in the minor shipboard musical Luxury Liner (1948). He also went on to have a small role as a French knight in Joan of Arc (1948) starring Ingrid Bergman in the title role. Richard made his Broadway debut in 1949 with "The Traitor" playing a lieutenant. He followed this with roles in "The Closing Door" (1949), A Phoenix Too Frequent" (1950) and "The Grand Tour" (1951). He portrayed Halliday in the Broadway production of "Dial 'M' for Murder" (1952), later played by Robert Cummings in the 1954 film, and took on the musical lead in "Plain and Fancy" (1955). Derr moved into TV character work in the 1950's but did take a lead pilot role opposite Barbara Rush in the sci-fi classic When Worlds Collide (1951). He appeared in a number of 50's anthology series including "Studio One in Hollywood," "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse," "Hallmark Hall of Fame," "Kraft Theatre," Goodyear Playhouse" and several episodes of "Robert Montgomery Presents." He subsequently spent the remainder of his career essaying gray-haired authoritarians on such 60's, 70's and early 80's programs as "Perry Mason," "The Outer Limits," "The Magical World of Disney," "Mannix," "Here's Lucy," "The F.B.I.," "Cannon," "Marcus Welby," "Charlie's Angels," "Starsky and Hutch," "Barnaby Jones," "Dallas" and in 1983 made his final camera appearances in episodes of "Trauma Center" and "Automan." In between all his TV work, a few films sprang about here and there, including leads in the action crime drama Invisible Avenger (1958) and sci-fi horror Terror Is a Man (1959), plus white-collar featured parts in Rosie! (1967), Three in the Attic (1968), Adam at Six A.M. (1970), The Drowning Pool (1975), American Gigolo (1980) and Firefox (1982). Following retirement from acting, Richard earned a license as a realtor. He died on May 8, 1992 of pancreatic cancer.