James Gregory
Date of birth: 1911-12-23
Place of birth: Bronx, New York, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Robert Dixon, Jim Gregory
Biography
James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American actor. His best-known roles include Schaffer in Al Capone (1959), the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), and Inspector Frank Luger in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982). Gregory grew up in New Rochelle, NY. In high school, he was elected president of the Drama Club. He went to work on Wall Street as a runner shortly after the 1929 crash. Gregory performed in drama groups and achieved pro status as a summer stock player in 1935. He performed in plays throughout New York, New Jersey and Maryland. His troupe of performers toured small towns in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, towing a trailer full of theatre props; they performed in school gyms, churches and YMCAs, earning $25 for a week of one-night stands. In 1939, Gregory made his Broadway debut in a production of "Key Largo". Over the next 16 years, he performed in approximately 25 Broadway productions. His career was interrupted by WWII; he served for 3 years in the Navy and Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days on Okinawa. He married Anne Miltner in 1944; they were married for 58 years (until his death). During his Broadway career, Gregory earned consistently favorable reviews by drama critics from the New York Press, Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Gregory did a few TV spots as early as 1951, and in 1955 he made the transition from the Broadway stage to live television. The following year, after a couple of earlier uncredited movie appearances, he would also begin his movie career in earnest. He worked steadily throughout the early years of TV, working for major live television productions from New York to Hollywood. In 1959, Gregory made television history by costarring in the pilot episode of the The Twilight Zone (1959); the episode "Where Is Everybody?" concerning the relevant topic of the USA winning the space race by sending a manned spaceship to the moon sold the series. Gregory would play Dean Martin's exasperated boss MacDonald in the first 3 of the Matt Helm movies: The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). One of his final roles, perhaps his most acclaimed, was as Inspector Frank Luger for the entire run of Barney Miller (1975 - 1982). As the Inspector, he would be lovable, irritating, ingratiating, exasperating, and humorous, sometimes all at the same time. Gregory retired from acting in 1983, with over 100 TV and movie credits.
Movie Credits
The Manchurian Candidate
1962-10-24
Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed
A Town Has Turned to Dust
1958-06-19
The weakling sheriff of a small southwestern town allows a Mexican teenager to be lynched by a local
The Frogmen
1951-01-25
The new commander of a Navy Underwater Demolition Team--nicknamed "Frogmen"--must earn the respect o
The Silencers
1966-02-18
Matt Helm is called out of retirement to stop the evil Big O organization who plan to explode an ato
The Bastard
1978-05-22
Phillipe Charboneau is the illegitimate son of an English duke. When he travels from France to Engla
The Secret War of Harry Frigg
1968-02-29
When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WWII, it is a propaganda nightmare for the allies. T
Captain Newman, M.D.
1963-12-25
In 1944, Capt. Josiah J. Newman is the doctor in charge of Ward 7, the neuropsychiatric ward, at an
The Flight of Dragons
1982-08-17
The realm of magic is being threatened by the realm of logic, so Carolinus, the green wizard decides
PT 109
1963-06-26
Dramatization of President John F. Kennedy's war time experiences during which he captained a PT boa
Nightfall
1956-11-09
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery
The Main Event
1979-06-22
A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she pick
Murderers' Row
1966-12-20
The handsome top agent Matt dies a tragic death in his bath tub - the women mourn about the loss. Ho
The Ambushers
1967-12-22
When an experimental flying saucer crashes, secret agent Matt Helm has to bring back the secret weap
Al Capone
1959-03-25
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Proh
Two Weeks in Another Town
1962-08-17
After spending three years in an asylum, a washed-up actor views a minor assignment from his old dir
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1960-03-25
A writer reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection after a safari in the shadow of Mou
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965-06-23
The four sons of Katie Elder reunite in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas for her funeral and disc
A Distant Trumpet
1964-05-20
In 1883, US Cavalry lieutenant Matthew Hazard, newly graduated from West Point, is assigned to isola
The Big Caper
1957-03-28
A con artist moves into a small town to spearhead a payroll robbery.
The Scarlet Hour
1956-04-01
An unhappy wife uses her powers of manipulation to draw an infatuated man into an ill-fated jewelry
Shoot Out
1971-07-02
Clay Lomax, a bank robber, gets out of jail after an 7 year sentence. He is looking after Sam Foley,
A Rage to Live
1965-10-20
Grace Caldwell, a young Pennsylvania newspaper heiress living with her widowed mother, has trouble r
The Young Stranger
1957-02-01
The lack of communication between a wealthy film producer and his troubled teenage son after the boy
Gun Glory
1957-07-19
An ex-gunslinger shunned by townsfolk is the only one who knows how to stop a ruthless cattleman.
Quick, Before It Melts
1965-01-20
A reporter and a photographer become entwined with women, marriage, and a defecting Russian scientis
Twilight of Honor
1963-11-13
A young lawyer defends a drifter accused of a murder that he has already confessed to. He asks his m
The Weekend Nun
1972-12-20
Drama based on the life of Joyce Duco, with Joanna Pettet as a young nun torn between the reality of
Hey Boy! Hey Girl!
1959-08-05
Meant primarily as TV fare, this standard, song-filled romantic drama stars Louis Prima as himself,
Underwater Warrior
1958-02-14
Based upon the life of Commander Francic D. Fane (USNR), UnderWater Warrior follows the evolution of
The Hunted
1967-10-05
Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home
1983-01-17
An award winning high school football coach finds himself out of work, and switching roles with his
Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood
1981-02-19
In this sequel to 1979's "Goldie and the Boxer," the ingratiating twosome, heavyweight champ and his
X-15
1961-12-22
X-15 is a 1961 movie that tells a fictionalized account of the X-15 research rocket plane, the men w
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970-04-23
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission lands on the planet of the apes, and uncovers
Miracle on 34th Street
1973-12-14
A department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that he
The Hawaiians
1970-06-17
A wanderer returns home only to find political turmoil, disease and romantic difficulties.
The Comeback Kid
1980-04-11
A down-on his-luck baseball pitcher finds a new set of rewards coaching a gang of underprivileged yo
Gridlock
1980-10-02
A series of freak accidents on the Los Angeles freeway traps a cast-load of familiar TV faces in an
Clambake
1967-12-04
The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if gi
Onionhead
1958-10-25
An irresponsible student enlists in the Coast Guard expecting to sit out World War II.
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976-09-29
The story of Francis Gary Powers, a U-2 pilot for the CIA who was shot down in his spy plane over Ru
The Late Liz
1971-09-01
Religion changes a woman's attitude towards alcohol.
At This Moment
1954-01-01
The story of America's railroads and the conglomeration of lines that comes together to connect the
The Strongest Man in the World
1975-02-06
Medfield College science major Dexter Riley and his classmates have been working on a new vitamin co
The Love God?
1969-08-01
Ornithologist Abner Peacock sells off his modest-selling birdwatching periodical to a charlatan who
A Very Missing Person
1972-03-04
An ex-schoolteacher is asked by the police to help locate a missing heiress.
The Million Dollar Duck
1971-06-30
Professor Dooley takes home a duck from his research laboratory as a toy for his son, but soon finds
The Abduction of Saint Anne
1975-01-21
A cynical detective and a Roman Catholic bishop team up to investigate the reported miraculous power
The Naked City
1948-03-04
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon
The Things People Want
1948-01-01
Distinctive sales training film on the hierarchy of human needs, starring a young John Forsythe.
Cocoon
1968-09-20
In this pilot film to the "Hawaii Five-0" television series, special law officer Steve McGarrett tra
The Marshal of Madrid
1972-01-01
A gang of smugglers headed by an oil dealer are brought to justice by a lawman.
Journey to the Day
1960-04-22
Patients at a mental hospital meet for a group therapy session.