Orville Sherman

Profile

Orville Sherman was born in Oklahoma, where his great-grandfather bought land in 1894. He appeared in numerous television episodes, mostly Westerns. Being born in the frontier may have given him an edge to playing cowboys. Although most of his screen time can be counted in seconds, he was good at his craft. Orville started tap dancing at age nine and left home at 19 to pursue his career. According to the 1940 U.S. census, he was living as a boarder in Shawnee, Oklahoma, giving his occupation as "actor, dancer, director". He served in WWII, enlisting from Santa Fe, New Mexico where he was working with a small theater troupe. A few years later he was in New York on stage later traveling to England to appear on stage in "Oklahoma", where he met his future wife, actress Marcella Dodge. They married in 1948 and came to California from New York City in 1956 and appeared in film and TV episodes until his death. Relatives of his brother said Orville was too occupied with work to attend his fathers funeral in 1959. He was divorced from his first wife in the 1960s. In 1973, he wed, secondly, to Jean Reno, a woman eight years his senior. That same year, he added the occupation of minister to his life, teaching speech at the church of Religious Science in Downey, California. Sadly, he died alone, with no known family (his marriage long since ended) from prostate cancer in Los Angeles, aged 68. Born : 18th-Jan-1916

Movie Credits

Pretty Maids All in a Row

At Oceanfront High School, female students are being targeted by an unknown serial killer. Meanwhile, a married teacher hides his flings with nubile students, and an awkward male is frustrated by the plethora of uninhibited freewheeling young girls.
Released : 28th-Apr-1971

The Man from Galveston

Circuit-riding Texas lawyer Timothy Higgins defends a former girlfriend against a murder charge stemming from an extortionist's threat to reveal her shady past. Through adroit courtroom work, Higgins is able to acquit her and reveal who actually shot the fatal bullet.
Released : 18th-Dec-1963

Home from the Hill

The wealthiest man in a Texas town decides to teach his teenage son how to hunt to make a man out of him.
Released : 3rd-Mar-1960

Shadow of the Boomerang

An American brother and sister move to Australia to manage a cattle station, but the brother's racist attitude causes problems. After hearing a message by evangelist Billy Graham on the radio though, he has a change of heart and learns to accept the Aboriginal people.
Released : 7th-Aug-1961

The Letters

Story of people whose lives were changed because of a year-long delay in the delivery of some letters.
Released : 3rd-Mar-1973

Transplant

Fact-based story about a hard-driving young executive who rebels against his failing heart and undergoes a risky transplant.
Released : 17th-Apr-1979

The Brain Eaters

A huge, alien structure resembling an inverted cone, appears in the woods outside a small rural town. Sent from Washington to investigate the origin of the mysterious object, a team of investigators discovers that intelligent parasites from inside the "cone" can attach themselves to humans' nervous systems and control their minds, taking control of the authorities and workers, making communication with the outside world impossible, and leaving the responsibility of stopping the invasion up to seven people who have thus far been able to avoid possession by these creatures from parts unknown.
Released : 1st-Sep-1958

Westworld

Delos is a futuristic amusement park that features themed worlds—ancient Rome, Medieval times and the Old West—populated by human-like androids. After two patrons have a run-in with a menacing gunslinger in West World, the androids at Delos all begin to malfunction, causing havoc throughout the park.
Released : 15th-Aug-1973

The Legend of Frank Woods

Legendary Quick-shot Frank Woods is caught in a shootout and kills three drunks in self-defense. In fear for his life, Frank escapes to the Arizona desert.
Released : 30th-Apr-1977

Once You Kiss a Stranger...

A woman seduces a professional golfer, then offers to kill his opponent if the golfer will kill her psychiatrist, who wants her committed.
Released : 12th-Nov-1969

Scream of the Wolf

A big-game hunter comes out of retirement to help track down a killer wolf, and begins to suspect that it isn't a wolf but an animal that can take human form.
Released : 16th-Jan-1974

A Question of Guilt

A swinging divorcée is prejudged by a police detective and accused of killing her child.
Released : 21st-Feb-1978

TV Credits

The Andy Griffith Show

Huey Welch - The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
Released : 3rd-Oct-1960

Cheyenne

- Cheyenne Bodie was a big man, a former army scout who went west after the American Civil War and drifted from job to job, here a cowboy, there a lawman, and always a larger-than-life hero. CHEYENNE is an American western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season. It was also the first series to be made by a major Hollywood film studio which did not derive from its established film properties, and the first of a long chain of Warner Brothers original series produced by William T. Orr.
Released : 20th-Sep-1955

Trackdown

- Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. More than seventy episodes of this series were produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio. The series was itself a spin-off of Powell's anthology series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater.
Released : 4th-Oct-1957

Little House on the Prairie

- Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s.
Released : 11th-Sep-1974

I Dream of Jeannie

Danny - While on a mission, American astronaut Captain Tony Nelson is forced to make an emergency landing that will forever change his life. On a deserted South Pacific island, Captain Nelson happens upon a bottle containing a beautiful two-thousand-year-old female genie named Jeannie. Rescuing her from the bottle nets Tony the requisite three wishes, and then some, when Jeannie pledges total devotion to her new "master".
Released : 18th-Sep-1965

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

- Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The show ran for five seasons and a total of 150 episodes. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California, it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas-station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps. Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Gilbert "Duke" Slater. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker. The series never discussed nor addressed the then-current Vietnam War, instead focusing on the relationship between Gomer and Sergeant Carter. The show retained high ratings throughout its run.
Released : 25th-Sep-1964

Alias Smith and Jones

- Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of cousin outlaws trying to reform. The governor offers them a conditional amnesty, as he wants to keep the pact under wraps for political reasons. The condition is that they will still be wanted— until the governor can claim they have reformed and warrant clemency.
Released : 5th-Jan-1971

Medical Center

- Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976. It was produced by MGM Television.
Released : 24th-Sep-1969

Perry Mason

Kirkwood - The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.
Released : 21st-Sep-1957

Gunsmoke

Sheriff - Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.
Released : 10th-Sep-1955

Bewitched

- Samantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.
Released : 17th-Sep-1964

General Electric Theater

Luther Gaines - General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
Released : 1st-Feb-1953

Lassie

- Lassie is the pet of Jeff Miller, an 11-year-old farm boy. The two become best friends and enjoy family adventures in the American countryside, teaching each other about love, nature and commitment.
Released : 12th-Sep-1954

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
Released : 6th-Oct-1958

The Lawless Years

- The Lawless Years is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from April 16 1959, to September 22, 1961. The series is the first of its kind set set during the Roaring 20s, having predated ABC's far more successful The Untouchables by six months. The series stars James Gregory and Robert Karnes.
Released : 16th-Apr-1959

Rawhide

Charley Casey - The tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across the old west. Along the way they meet up with adventure and drama.
Released : 9th-Jan-1959

Daniel Boone

Will Camfield - Daniel Boone is an American action-adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Cherokee friend, for the first four seasons of the series. Albert Salmi portrayed Boone's companion Yadkin in season one only. Dallas McKennon portrayed innkeeper Cincinnatus. Country Western singer-actor Jimmy Dean was a featured actor as Josh Clements during the 1968–1970 seasons. Actor and former NFL football player Rosey Grier made regular appearances as Gabe Cooper in the 1969 to 1970 season. The show was broadcast "in living color" beginning in fall 1965, the second season, and was shot entirely in California and Kanab, Utah.
Released : 24th-Sep-1964

The Fugitive

Hotel clerk - Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man". At the same time, Dr. Kimble is hounded by the authorities, most notably dogged by Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.
Released : 17th-Sep-1963

The Virginian

Doctor - The Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming Territory of the 1890s is owned in sequence by Judge Henry Garth, the Grainger brothers, and Colonel Alan MacKenzie. It is the setting for a variety of stories, many more based on character and relationships than the usual western.
Released : 19th-Sep-1962

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

- The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a television western series loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black-and-white program aired for 229 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
Released : 6th-Sep-1955

Adventures of Superman

- Announcer: "The Adventures of Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!" Voices: "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" Announcer: "Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands; and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way."
Released : 19th-Sep-1952

The Fugitive

Prewitt - Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man". At the same time, Dr. Kimble is hounded by the authorities, most notably dogged by Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.
Released : 17th-Sep-1963

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Sheriff Owens - Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
Released : 6th-Sep-1958

Dr. Kildare

Steward - The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.
Released : 27th-Sep-1961

26 Men

- 26 Men is a syndicated American western television series about the Arizona Rangers, an elite group commissioned in 1901 by the legislature of the Arizona Territory and limited, for financial reasons, to twenty-six active members. Russell Hayden was the producer of the series and the co-composer of the theme song. The series aired between October 15, 1957 and June 30, 1959, for a total of 78 episodes.
Released : 15th-Oct-1957

Harbor Command

- Harbor Command is an American action series that aired in syndicated from October 11, 1957, to July 4, 1958. The series stars Wendell Corey as Captain Ralph Baxter, an officer of the United States Coast Guard. The series was produced by Ziv Television Programs.
Released : 11th-Oct-1957