Career
Born in Los Angeles, Griffith aspired to be a musician rather than an actor. Instead, he managed to find work in little theatres around Los Angeles, where the budding musician eased into a dual career of acting. He found success in the production They Can't Get You Down in 1939, but put his career on hold during World War II to serve with the U.S. military. Following the war, Griffith switched from the stage to films when he appeared in the 1948 film noir picture Blonde Ice. From then on, he enjoyed a lengthy career of supporting and bit roles (sometimes uncredited) in westerns and detective films.
Though Griffith was generally cast as the outlaw in Western pictures, he managed to garner a few memorable "good guy" roles over his many years in Hollywood – Abraham Lincoln in both 1950's Stage to Tucson and 1955's Apache Ambush, sheriff Pat Garrett in 1954's The Law vs. Billy the Kid, John Wesley Hardin in a 1959 television episode of Maverick entitled "Duel at Sundown" featuring Clint Eastwood, and Davy Crockett in 1956's The First Texan. In the role of Aaron Adams, he appeared in twelve episodes in 1958 on the Robert Culp western series Trackdown, which aired on CBS from 1957 to 1959. He also had a recurring role in the syndicated series, Sheriff of Cochise starring John Bromfield.
Griffith made more than seventy guest appearances on television shows, including The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Dragnet, and Little House on the Prairie. As a somewhat "extra" activity, Griffith played the Reverend in Black and the opening, closing, and a few in the middle scenes in the 1964 Russ Meyer film Lorna, starring Lorna Maitland in one of Meyer's black-and-white 'skin' movies before the height of his career with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls in 1968.
Throughout his acting career, Griffith continued to practice his original love of music, having performed the Spike Jones band. he composed music for the 1958 film Bullwhip and the 1964 picture, Lorna, in which he also had a role and served as screenwriter). Griffith made his last onscreen appearance in a 1982 episode of CBS' Dallas.
Read more about this topic: James Griffith
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)
“I’ve been in the twilight of my career longer than most people have had their career.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“They want to play at being mothers. So let them. Expressing tenderness in their own way will not prevent girls from enjoying a successful career in the future; indeed, the ability to nurture is as valuable a skill in the workplace as the ability to lead.”
—Anne Roiphe (20th century)