John Anderson

from Clayton, Illinois, USA

Artwork for Smokey and the Bandit IIImage of John Anderson

Biography

John Robert Anderson (October 20, 1922 – August 7, 1992) A tall, sinewy, austere-looking character actor with silver hair, rugged features and a distinctive voice, John Robert Anderson appeared in hundreds of films and television episodes. Immensely versatile, he was at his best submerging himself in the role of historical figures (he impersonated Abraham Lincoln three times and twice baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, men whom he strongly resembled). He was a familiar presence in westerns and science-fiction serials, usually as upstanding, dignified and generally benign citizens (a rare exception was his Ebonite interrogator in The Outer Limits (1963) episode "Nightmare"). He had a high opinion of Rod Serling and was proud to be featured in four episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959), most memorably as the tuxedo-clad angel Gabriel in "A Passage for Trumpet" (doing for Jack Klugman what Henry Travers did for James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life (1946)).

Timeline

2021Aged 99

  • Poster for John, 316

    Story Editor

1994Aged 72

  • Poster for Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone

    Virgil Earp (flashback sequence) (archive footage)

1992Aged 70

  • Poster for Bed of Lies

    Price Daniel, Sr.

1991Aged 69

  • Poster for In Broad Daylight

    Wes Westerman

  • Poster for Babe Ruth

    Judge Landis

  • Poster for Daddy

    George Watson

1990Aged 68

  • Poster for Follow Your Heart

    Josh Lowe

1989Aged 67

  • Poster for Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal

    George Dutton

  • Poster for Deadly Innocents

    Gus

1988Aged 66

  • Poster for Eight Men Out

    Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

1987Aged 65

  • Poster for American Harvest

    Judge Meriweather

1986Aged 64

  • Poster for I-Man

    Holbrook

  • Poster for Never Too Young to Die

    Arliss

  • Poster for Scorpion

    Noel G. Koch

1984Aged 62

  • Poster for Sins of the Past

    Rev. Donald Randolph

1982Aged 60

  • Poster for The First Time

    Paul Cooper

  • Poster for Missing Children: A Mother's Story

    Stanley Willard

1981Aged 59

  • Poster for Out of the Blue

    T.V. Interviewer

  • Poster for Zoot Suit

    Judge F.W. Charles

1980Aged 58

  • Poster for Smokey and the Bandit II

    Governor

1979Aged 57

  • Poster for In Search of Historic Jesus

    Caiaphas

1978Aged 56

  • Poster for Donner Pass: The Road to Survival

    Patrick Breen

  • Poster for The Deerslayer

    Hutter

1977Aged 55

  • Poster for The Force of Evil

    Sheriff John Carrington

  • Poster for The Lincoln Conspiracy

    Abraham Lincoln

  • Poster for Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion

    Alexander Majors

  • Poster for The Last Hurrah

    Amos Force

1976Aged 54

  • Poster for The Quest

    Army Officer

  • Poster for The Dark Side of Innocence

    Stephen Hancock

  • Poster for Bridger

    President Andrew Jackson

1975Aged 53

  • Poster for Dead Man on the Run

    Jason Monroe

  • Poster for The Specialist

    Pike Smith

  • Poster for Death Among Friends

    Capt. Lewis

1974Aged 52

  • Poster for Lincoln: Trial by Fire

    President Lincoln

  • Poster for Heatwave!

    Toler

  • Poster for Smile Jenny, You're Dead

    Col. John Lockport

  • Poster for Manhunter

    Aaron Denver

  • Poster for The Dove

    Mike Turk

1973Aged 51

  • Poster for Set This Town on Fire

    Henry Kealey

  • Poster for Call to Danger

    Edward McClure

  • Poster for Hitched

    Jomer Cruett

  • Poster for Counselor at Crime

    Don Vito Albanese

  • Poster for Executive Action

    Halliday

1972Aged 50

  • Poster for The Stepmother

    Inspector Darnezi

  • Poster for Molly and Lawless John

    Sheriff Marvin Parker

1971Aged 49

  • Poster for Man and Boy

    Stretch

1970Aged 48

  • Poster for The Animals

    Sheriff Allan Pierce

  • Poster for The Andersonville Trial

    Ambrose Spencer

  • Poster for Cotton Comes to Harlem

    Capt. Bryce

  • Poster for Soldier Blue

    Col. Iverson

1969Aged 47

  • Poster for Heaven with a Gun

    Ase Beck

  • Poster for The Great Bank Robbery

    Mayor Kincaid

  • Poster for Young Billy Young

    Boone

1968Aged 46

  • Poster for Day of the Evil Gun

    Captain Jefferson Addis

  • Poster for A Man Called Gannon

    Capper

  • Poster for 5 Card Stud

    Marshal Dana

1967Aged 45

  • Poster for A Covenant with Death

    Dietrich

  • Poster for Welcome to Hard Times

    Ezra Maple / Isaac Maple

1966Aged 44

  • Poster for Scalplock

    Standish

  • Poster for Namu, the Killer Whale

    Joe Clausen

  • Poster for The Fortune Cookie

    Abraham Lincoln (uncredited)

1965Aged 43

  • Poster for The Satan Bug

    Agent Reagan

  • Poster for The Hallelujah Trail

    Sgt. Buell

  • Poster for The Guide

    Producer's Assistant

1964Aged 42

  • Poster for For the Love of Willadean

    Farmer Wills

1962Aged 40

  • Poster for Walk on the Wild Side

    Preacher

  • Poster for Geronimo

    Jeremiah Burns

  • Poster for Ride the High Country

    Elder Hammond

1960Aged 38

  • Poster for Psycho

    California Charlie

  • Poster for The Wackiest Ship in the Army

    Sailor (uncredited)

1959Aged 37

  • Poster for Last Train from Gun Hill

    Salesman

1958Aged 36

  • Poster for The True Story of Lynn Stuart

    Doc

1951Aged 29

  • Poster for The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel

    (Unknown)

1946Aged 24

  • Poster for Dick Tracy vs. Cueball

    Assistant Director

Year unknown

  • Poster for The American Adventure

    Mark Twain / Franklin D. Roosevelt (voice)

  • Poster for Rebel Range

    Fisk Madden