From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia John Lawrence Russell was an American actor and World War II veteran most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962 and his lead role as international adventurer Tim Kelly in the syndicated TV series Soldiers of Fortune from 1955 to 1957 Russell signed a contract with 20th Century Fox in 1945 and made his first film appearance as a guard in A Royal Scandal He played several supporting parts while at Fox acting the role of a junior law partner in the Clifton Webb comedy Sitting Pretty as well as a navy pilot in Slatterys Hurricane Later however he signed with Republic Pictures where he was cast in a starring role In 1955 Russell landed the lead role in a television drama series called Soldiers of Fortune In 1958 Russell was cast in his bestknown role the stolid taciturn Marshal Dan Troop the lead character in Lawman an ABCWarners hit western series that ran for four years Costarring alongside Peter Brown who played Deputy Johnny McKay and Peggie Castle as Birdcage Saloon owner Lily Merrill Russell portrayed a US frontier peace officer mentoring his younger compatriot At the same time that Lawman premiered Russell played an outlaw along with Edd Byrnes and Rodolfo Hoyos Jr in the 1958 season premiere episode of Sugarfoot another ABCWB hit western with Will Hutchins in the title role Russell also appeared in other motion pictures for Warner Bros notably as a Sioux chieftain in Yellowstone Kelly as well as a rich corrupt cattlerancher Nathan Burdette in the highly successful Howard Hawks western Rio Bravo starring John Wayne Throughout the remainder of his movie career he played secondary roles in more than 20 films including several AC Lyles westerns and three films directed by his friend Clint Eastwood most notably as Marshal Stockburn the chief villain in Eastwoods 1985 film Pale Rider Russell also appeared in the second season of the Filmation childrens sciencefiction series Jason of Star Command He played Commander Stone a blueskinned alien from Alpha Centauri He replaced James Doohan who had played the commander in the previous season but left to start working on Star Trek The Motion Picture Description above from the Wikipedia article John Russell actor licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Login to comment!
