Judson Pratt

Judson Pratt (December 6, 1916—February 9, 2002) was an American actor whose longest continuing work was in thirteen episodes of ABC's Walt Disney Presents and NBC's Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. A native of Hingham in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Pratt appeared in numerous television westerns and drama series from 1950-1980. In 1958-1959, he was cast as Bill Kinkaid in Union Pacific, with Jeff Morrow (1907-1993) as Bart McClelland, a syndicated television series based on the construction of the first transcontinental railroad from Nebraska through Colorado and into Utah by the Union Pacific Company. Pratt also appeared in films, including Richard Widmarks classic western, Cheyenne Autumn.^[1]

Anthology series

Pratt appeared on most of the anthology series then widespread on the networks:

• "Blaze of Glory" of the then NBC's Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950)
• "The Last Command" of then NBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame (1952)
• "Gallin: All American" in NBC's Kraft Television Theatre (1954)
• Two episodes of CBS's Studio One (1956)
• The character MacIntyre in "The Moneymaker" on CBS's The 20th Century Fox Hour (also 1956)
• Captain Brooks in "House of Glass" of then ABC's The Ford Television Theatre (1957)
• Fred Stocker in "The Iron Horse" on CBS's General Electric Theater (also 1957), hosted by Ronald W. Reagan
• Colonel Holt in "Point of Impact" of NBC's Goodyear Theatre (1959)
• "The Lie" of CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson, co-starring with June Allyson herself (1960).^[1]

In 1957, Pratt appeared in two episodes, "Miss Fire" and "All-American", of the syndicated military drama Men of Annapolis, set at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. That same year, he played the postmaster in "Mail Order Prophet" of CBS's anthology, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.^[1]

Western roles

Pratt was further cast in 1957 as Ramsey in "No Man Living" of CBS's western anthology series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, a Four Star Television production. This episode was also broadcast in the Zane Grey spinoff, Frontier Justice in the summer of 1959.

• Have Gun - Will Travel as O'Brien in "Three Bells to Perdido" (1957) and as Ian Crown in "The Statue of San Sebastian" (1958)
• Jefferson Drum as Father Andrew Damon in "Prison Hill" (1958)
• The Rough Riders as Jack McCoy in "The Rifle" (1959)
• The Horse Soldiers (John Wayne and William Holden), with Pratt cast as Sergeant Major Kirby (1959)
• Riverboat as Sergeant Ned Bolger in "A Night at Trapper's Landing" (1959)
• Hotel de Paree in "Sundance and the Boat Soldier" (1960)
• The Man From Blackhawk as Thomas Cash in "The Drawing Account" (1960)
• Overland Trail as Abner Dutton in "First Stage to Denver" (1960)
• Klondike as Dan Sheean in "The Unexpected Candidate" (1960)
• Sergeant Rutledge (film) as Lieutenant Mulqueen, a member of the court martial board (1960)
• The Outlaws as Daggott in "Culley" (1961)
• Bronco as Marlow in "Manitoba Manhunt" (1961)
• Bonanza as Jim Bronson in "The Thunderhead Swindle" (1961) and as Jeb Nelson in "Half a Rogue" (1963)
• Gunsmoke as Bill Pence in "Big Girl Lost" and "Daddy-O" (both 1957) and as Dane in "Blind Man's Bluff" (1963)
• Stoney Burke as Ed Mitchnet in "Color Him Lucky" (1963)
• Rawhide as Sergeant Morgan in "The Reunion" (1962) and as Sheriff Ben Devlin in "Incident of the Gallows Trees", in "Incident at Alkali Sink", and as Sergeant Grogan in "Incident of Iron Bull" (all 1963)
• Death Valley Days in "The Left Hand is Damned" (1964) and as a general in "Raid on the San Francisco Mint" (1965)
• Daniel Boone as Amos Whythe in "The Family Fluellen" (1964) and as John Bridger in "Seminole Territory" (1966)
• The Iron Horse as Brady in "Wild Track" (1967)
• The Virginian as Harry in "Riff-Raff" (1962), as Jered "Jack" Morgan in "All Nice and Legal" (1964), and as Ned Clymer in "A Small Taste of Justice" (1967)
• The Guns of Will Sonnett as John Hardwick in "One Angry Juror" (1969)
• Kung Fu as Cotton in "An Eye for an Eye" (1973)
• Little House on the Prairie as Sam Wallace in "The Long Road Home" (1976), his last western role in a television series.^[1]

Disney episodes

Pratt was cast as Captain Cooper in the 1958-1959 ABC Disney miniseries, Texas John Slaughter, with Tom Tryon as the legendary Texas peace officer John Horton Slaughter. Pratt appeared in the episodes "Ambush in Laredo", "Killers from Kansas", and "Showdown at Sandoval".^[1]

In 1970, he appeared as Scott Shellog in the NBC Disney two-part "The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City". Later that same year, Pratt was cast as Father O'Flaherty in Disney's "Hang Your Hat on the Wind". In 1972, he appeared twice as the character Andy in the two-part episode, "Michael O'Hara the Fourth", with Jo Ann Harris (born 1949) in the leading role as "Mike" O'Hara. Early in 1974, Pratt was cast as Sergeant O'Halloran in the two-part Disney segment "The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton", with co-stars Edward Andrews, Lonny Chapman, and Maudie Prickett. His last Disney role was as Mr. Pomeroy on March 14 and 21, 1976, in the two-part "The Flight of the Grey Wolf".^[1]

Drama roles

• The Lawless Years as Ruditsky's partner in "The Big Greeny Story", with James Gregory as Ruditsky (1959)
• The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (film) as Fats Walsh (1960)
• Bourbon Street Beat as Sergeant Bogart in "Twice Betrayed" (1960)
• Thriller as police Lieutenant Bill Gordon in "The Mark of the Hand" (1960)
• Dan Raven as Markin in "Tinge of Red" (1960)
• Cain's Hundred as Leonard Mead in two-part "Crime and Commitment" (1961)
• Adventures in Paradise as Harry Summers in "The Assassins" (1961)
• Kid Galahad as Howie Zimmerman (1962)
• Saints and Sinners as Sam Bowland in "A Servant in the House of My Party" (1962)
• The Ugly American (film) as Joe Bing (1964)
• The Fugitive as Bowers in "Come Watch Me Die" (1964)
• Slattery's People as Harry Daniels in "How Impregnable Is a Magic Tower?" (1965)
• Perry Mason as Tom Loman in "The Case of the Twice Told Twist" (1966)
• Lassie as Pat Rockford in "Inferno" (1967)
• The Mod Squad as Dr. Arthur Steelman in "Never Give the Fuzz an Even Break" (1969)
• Bracken's World, minor parts in three episodes (1969-1970)
• Ironside as Parrish in "The Man on the Inside" (1970)
• Cannon as Mac in "Treasure of Saint Ignacio" (1972)
• Mission: Impossible as Lorimer, a prison warden, in "Hit" (1972)
• The Rookies as Allen Mayson in "A Matter of Justice"
• Marcus Welby, M.D. as Fred Blainey in "The Fatal Challenge" (1974)
• S.W.A.T. as O.C. Sullivan in "Officer Luca, You're Dead" (1976)
• Charlie's Angels as Dr. Dignam in "The Killing Kind" (1976)
• The Streets of San Francisco as Mr. Stewart in "One Last Trick" (1977)
• The Incredible Hulk as Samuelson, a guard, in "Stop the Presses" (1978)
• Quincy, M.E. as Mr. Antrim in "The Hero Syndrome" (1977), as Mr. Murphy in "A Question of Death" (1979), and as the security chief in "Diplomatic Immunity" (1980), Pratt's last acting role of any genre.^[1]

Comedy roles

• Dennis the Menace as Mr. Kawalski in "The Pioneers" (1961)
• Mister Ed as a policeman in "Ed and the Motorcycle" (1966)
• The Donna Reed Show as Metcalfe in "Is There a Small Hotel?" (1966)
• Bewitched as Eastwood in "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (1967)
• That Girl as Sergeant Melvin in "That Meter Maid" (1970)
• Nanny and the Professor as Mr. Hilder in "The New Butch"
• Mayberry, R.F.D. as Brice in "The Race Horse" (1968) and as Charlie in "Aloha, Goober" (1970)
• The Partridge Family as a cab driver in "Fellini, Bergman, and Partridge" (1972)
• Barney Miller as Lieutenant Faraday in "Escape Artist" (1975), Pratt's last comedy role^[1]

Death

More than two decades after his acting career ended, Pratt died in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California.^[1] Pratt was married to the former Roberta Jonay, formerly of Pennsylvania.^[2]

References