John Ericson
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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John Ericson (sometimes spelled Erickson; born Joachim Alexander Ottokar Meibes; September 25, 1926 - May 3, 2020) was a German-American film and television actor.
Early life
He was born in Düsseldorf, Germany as Joachim Alexander Ottokar Meibes. His parents, Carl (a chemist) and Ellen, left Germany, reportedly to escape the rising Nazi regime, to the United States. Ericson trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and played the lead role in Stalag 17 by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski on Broadway in 1951.
Career
He made a number of films for MGM in quick succession in the 1950s. His first appearance was in Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. He appeared in a series of films which included Rhapsody, The Student Prince, Green Fire (all in 1954), and in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). He co-starred with Barbara Stanwyck in Forty Guns (1957). In 1958 he appeared as Sheriff Barney Wiley in the western Day of the Badman which starred Fred MacMurray.
For the next 30 years, his career continued mostly on television. He appeared in the lead role in "The Peter Bartley Story" of the CBS drama The Millionaire. He appeared with Dorothy Malone in the episode "Mutiny" of CBS's Appointment with Adventure (which aired on January 1, 1956). He made guest appearances in The Restless Gun (1958) and Target: The Corruptors! (1961). Ericson also guest starred twice on Bonanza: he played Vince Dagen in the 1960 episode "Breed of Violence" and he portrayed Wade Hollister in the 1967 episode "Journey to Terror". From 1965 to 1966, he co-starred as the partner of Anne Francis in Honey West. (He and Francis had played brother and sister in Bad Day at Black Rock.) In 1971 he appeared as Jack Bonham on "The Men From Shiloh" (rebranded name for the TV western The Virginian in the episode titled "The Political."
He played the title role in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), and his other film appearances included roles in Under Ten Flags (1960), Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), Operation Atlantis (1965), The Money Jungle (1968), The Bamboo Saucer (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Crash! (1977), and The Far Side of Jericho (2006).
Personal life
He was married twice and had two children from his first marriage to Milly Coury. He was married to his second wife Karen Huston Ericson for over 45 years. He died of pneumonia on May 3, 2020, aged 93.
