Leif Erickson
Date of birth: 1911-10-27
Place of birth: Alameda, California, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Leif Erikson, Glenn Erickson, Glen Erickson, Glenn Erikson, William Wycliffe Anderson
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leif Erickson (born William Wycliffe Anderson) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Erickson was born in Alameda, California, near San Francisco. He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act. Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in Westerns. Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he served as a military photographer, shooting film in combat zones, and as an instructor. He was shot down twice in the Pacific as well as receiving two Purple Hearts. Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Over four years service, he shot more than 200,000 feet of film for the Navy. Erickson's first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels. He would go on to appears in films such as The Snake Pit, Sorry, Wrong Number, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront, A Gathering of Eagles, Roustabout, The Carpetbaggers and Mirage. One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr's macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy. He appeared with Greta Garbo, as her brother in Conquest (1937). He played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat. His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977). Erickson appeared frequently on television; he was cast as Dr. Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey's Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. However, he is probably best known for The High Chaparral, which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971. He portrayed a rancher, Big John Cannon, determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache. Erickson guest-starred in several television series, including Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, Cannon, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files, and the 1977 series Hunter. His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984. Erickson was married to actress Frances Farmer from 1936 until 1942. The same day that his divorce from Farmer was finalized, June 12, 1942, he married actress Margaret Hayes. They divorced a month later. He married Ann Diamond in 1945. They had two children, William Leif Erickson (born 1946 - died 1971 in a car accident) and Susan Irene Erickson (born 1950). Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1986, aged 74 CLR
Movie Credits
Roustabout
1964-11-11
After a singer loses his job at a coffee shop, he finds employment at a struggling carnival, but his
On the Waterfront
1954-06-22
A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corrupt
Invaders from Mars
1953-04-22
A boy tries to stop aliens that have taken over his town and are brainwashing its inhabitants.
Conquest
1937-10-22
A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging
Sorry, Wrong Number
1948-09-24
Leona Stevenson is confined to bed and uses her telephone to keep in contact with the outside world.
The Gangster
1947-11-25
Based on the novel Low Company. One of the most peculiar film noirs of the 1940s stars Barry Sulliva
The Fastest Gun Alive
1956-07-12
Whenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunman George and his wife Dora have to flee
The Tall Target
1951-08-17
A detective tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a train rid
I Saw What You Did
1965-07-21
Teenage friends Kit and Libby make prank phone calls for fun but then find themselves involved in a
Trouble Along the Way
1953-04-04
Struggling to retain custody of his daughter following his divorce, football coach Steve Williams fi
Strait-Jacket
1964-01-19
After a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughte
The Lady Gambles
1949-05-20
When Joan Boothe accompanies husband-reporter David to Las Vegas, she begins gambling to pass the ti
Arabian Nights
1942-12-25
Two half brothers battle each other for the power of the throne and the love of sensual, gorgeous da
The Cimarron Kid
1952-01-13
Audie Murphy comes into his own as a Western star in this story. Wrongly accused by crooked railroad
Blonde Savage
1947-11-22
An expedition into the deep jungle discovers a native tribe led by a tall Caucasian blonde woman.
The Big Broadcast of 1938
1938-02-11
The Bellows family causes comic confusion on an ocean liner, with time out for radio-style musical a
Three Secrets
1950-10-20
A five-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a devastating plane crash in the mountains of California
Joan of Arc
1948-12-22
In the 15th Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against
The Snake Pit
1948-11-04
Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arr
Tea and Sympathy
1956-09-27
A sensitive young man recalls his time in boarding school when the only person who seemed compassion
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
1952-12-27
Two hapless waiters in a tavern on the Spanish Main play cupid between aristocratic Lady Jane and ta
The Gay Intruders
1948-09-02
Psychiatrists move in with bickering stage spouses and start bickering too.
With a Song in My Heart
1952-04-03
Jane Froman, an aspiring songstress, lands a job in radio with help from pianist Don Ross, whom she
The Fleet's In
1942-01-24
Shy sailor Casey Kirby suddenly becomes known as a sea wolf when his picture is taken with a famous
Kiss Them for Me
1957-12-10
Three navy war heroes are booked on a morale-building "vacation" in San Francisco. Once they manage
Mirage
1965-10-29
After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell emerges outside to find out a ma
Johnny Stool Pigeon
1949-04-20
A federal agent infiltrates a crime syndicate.
Waikiki Wedding
1937-03-23
Tony Marvin is a laid back but incredibly successful promoter and fair-haired boy for J. P. Todhunte
Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977-02-09
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo n
Drift Fence
1936-02-14
Although Larry "Buster" Crabbe earns top billing, the hero of Drift Fence is former Western star Tom
Nothing But the Truth
1941-10-10
A stockbroker bets his new partners $10,000 that he can tell the truth, and only the truth, for twen
Night Monster
1942-10-20
Kurt Ingston, a rich recluse, invites the doctors who left him a hopeless cripple to his desolate ma
Never Wave at a WAC
1953-01-28
A divorced socialite decides to join the Army because she hopes it will enable her to see more of he
A Gathering of Eagles
1963-06-21
A B-52 commander must prepare his men to pass a grueling inspection.
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe
1972-09-13
Due to a home-steading law, a fur trapper schemes to keep his land by hiring a hooker, a pickpocket
Man and Boy
1971-06-23
At the beginning of the 19th century a man and his son settle in Arizona which used to be a frontier
Star in the Dust
1956-06-13
The sheriff of Gunlock is planning to hang Sam Hall, who shot three farmers found on cattle land, at
Dallas
1950-12-30
After the Civil War, Confederate soldier Blayde Hollister travels to Dallas to avenge the savage mur
Winterhawk
1975-11-05
Smallpox plagues Chief Winterhawk's tribe. He seeks cure from the white men, who in turn, in fear of
A Perilous Journey
1953-04-05
A ship of women embarks on a voyage to California. Director R. G. Springsteen's 1953 adventure drama
Istanbul
1957-01-23
A suspected diamond smuggler returns to Istanbul and finds the lady love he thought was dead...or do
Desert Gold
1936-03-26
Chet Kasedon is after the Indians hidden gold mine but Chief Moya will not reveal it's location. He
Stella
1950-07-20
Screwball black comedy about a wacky family that forgets where they've buried a corpse.
One Third of a Nation
1939-02-10
The negligent owner of a tenement slum becomes romantically involved with one of the building's resi
Mother Didn't Tell Me
1950-03-03
Jane Morgan (Dorothy McGuire) marries handsome doctor William Wright (William Lundigan), despite war
My Wife's Best Friend
1952-10-09
When a man confesses to his wife that he has been unfaithful, she imagines all the different ways th
The New Healers
1972-03-27
The small town hospital staff is trying to gain the confidence of the local farmers and merchants.
The Deadly Dream
1971-09-25
A scientist keeps having dreams that he is marked for murder by a mysterious tribunal for something
The Vintage
1957-05-08
A young Italian fugitive and his older protective brother hide among the grape pickers at a vineyard
Paris Model
1953-11-10
A new dress plays a key role in the lives of four women who are not acquainted with each other.
Terror in the Sky
1971-09-17
On a transcontinental flight, the flight crew suffer from food poisoning and become incapacitated. N
College Holiday
1936-12-19
College students rally to save a struggling hotel from closing. Comedy.
Thrill of a Lifetime
1937-12-03
"Howdy" Nelson believes there is no such think as real love and that romance can be cooked up betwee
Are Husbands Necessary?
1942-06-15
George and Mary Elizabeth Cugat are about to celebrate their second wedding anniversary and dream of
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941-12-04
A middle-aged businessman who has lived a conservative life according to the routine conventions of
Crisis
1939-03-13
A documentary about the conquest of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis just prior to World War 2.
The Carpetbaggers
1964-04-08
Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around
Miss Tatlock's Millions
1948-11-19
After the accidental death of an idiot heir, a stunt man is hired to impersonate him while the famil
Show Boat
1951-07-19
A dashing Mississippi river gambler wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of the Show Boa
Born to the Saddle
1953-03-15
A naïve, recently-orphaned young man discovers he's being used as a pawn in a crooked gambler's plan
Fort Algiers
1953-08-30
In northwest Africa, a tribal leader tries to stir up a rebellion against the ruling powers.
The Showdown
1950-08-15
Shadrach Jones, ex-Texas State Policeman, has the ruthless determination to find and kill the man wh
Fourteen Hours
1951-04-01
A young man, morally destroyed by his parents not loving him and by the fear of being not capable to
Ride a Crooked Mile
1938-12-09
The son of a cattle-rustling Cossack immigrant must choose between following the straight path and h
Once Upon a Horse...
1958-09-01
Two zany cowboys steal a herd of cattle only to discover it costs more to feed them than they are wo
Eagle Squadron
1942-06-16
An American joins the British Royal Air Force just before Pearl Harbor is attacked, and falls in lov
The Blonde from Singapore
1941-10-15
Fortune hunter Mary Brooks, posing as a missionary's daughter, strives to beat a couple of pilots, T
Pardon My Sarong
1942-08-07
A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their
Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration
1951-03-25
The story of the Crucifixion, set within the context of the Korean War.
Abduction
1975-05-05
The daughter of wealthy businessman is taken hostage by a gang of radical black revolutionaries. Whi
Sailor Beware
1952-02-08
Meeting in a navy recruiting line, Al Crowthers and Melvin Jones become friends. Al has tried to enl
Captain Scarface
1953-10-15
A group of communist spies plan to blow up an essential commercial artery, the Panama Canal. To this
Force Five
1975-03-28
Girl of the Ozarks
1936-06-12
A sweet little country girl has issues with school. Her mother is ill. The school threatens to send
Shootout at Big Sag
1962-05-31
A man has his eyes set on controlling the Big Sag territory in Montana and hopes to achieve his goal
Twilight for the Gods
1958-08-04
An alcoholic captain sails a two-master through danger with a call girl and others on board.
Reunion in Reno
1951-10-09
A little girl enlists the aid of an attorney to obtain a divorce from her parents. Breezy B comedy w
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping
1973-11-17
A criminal organization known as OSO specializes in kidnapping high ranking U.S. representatives. Al
The Family Rico
1972-09-12
A Mafia chief is torn between his brother, who has defected from the family, and his loyalty to the
Wanderer of the Wasteland
1935-09-09
Adam Larey becomes a fugitive from justice when he escapes after being blamed for a crime he did not
Nevada
1935-11-29
A gambler wins a ranch in a round of poker, then joins his neighbors on a rustler-ridden cattle driv
Carbine Williams
1952-05-01
David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually deve
The Fantastic Journey
1977-02-03
1 hour 55 minute edited "movie" version comprised of primarily episodes 1 and 2 of TV series of same
Air Tonic
1933-12-22
Ted Fio Rito and his Orchestra provide the title element with their snappy tunes fronted at differen
One Coat of White
1957-02-21
A newly-widowed woman goes on a trip to Europe and meets a French artist.