Veteran actor Earl Holliman has died at the age of 96.
Holliman died Monday in hospice care at his home in Studio City, Calif., his partner Craig Curtis confirmed. The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday.
The late star made his acting debut with a line of dialogue in the 1953 Dan Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy “Scared Stiff.”
Three years later, he starred alongside Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn in the western romantic film “The Rainmaker.” He beat out Elvis Presley for the role and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.
Hollyman’s other notable films include “Broken Lance,” “Forbidden Planet,” “Giant,” “Hotspell,” “Shark’s Machine” and “Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.”
On television, Holliman appeared in the first episode of “The Twilight Zone” in October 1959. He played the role of a man suffering from amnesia in a deserted town.
In the 70s, Holliman played Lt. Bill Crowley in the police drama “Police Woman.” Angie Dickinson was his costar.
“She’d get in trouble and I’d run over and save her,” Holliman said in a 2003 interview about a common storyline on the show, per THR . “I’d make some smart comment and she’d come back at me in some kind of sexy way, and a lot of it was ad-libbed. We had a tacit kind of permission to do that.
The NBC series also featured major guest stars such as Mark Harmon, John Collins, Sam Elliott, William Shatner, Adam West, Barry Williams, Smokey Robinson, Kim and Kyle Richards, and Sandra Dee.
Holliman also starred in the shows “Hotel de Paris,” “Gunsmoke” and “Murder, She Wrote.”
He was nominated for a second Golden Globe for his performance in the 1992 sitcom “Delta.”
Holliman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977.
Before becoming an actor, Holliman was raised in Oil City, Louisiana. During World War II he served a brief stint in the US Navy when he hung out with famous stars at a Hollywood canteen.
She later studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. He was working at North American Aviation when he walked into the Paramount lot and became friendly with a studio executive, who gave him his part in “Scared Stiff.”
Holliman enjoyed a brief career as a singer thanks to a record deal with Capitol Records.
In addition, Holliman was an animal rights activist and served as president of Actors for Animals and Others for 34 years. He was also the honorary chairman of Toys for Tots.
Credit : nypost.com
