Luke Halpin

Luke Halpin
Born	April 4, 1947 (1947-04-04) (age 62) Astoria, Queens, New York

Luke Halpin (born April 4, 1947) is an American film and former TV child actor.

Early life and career

Halpin was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, to Helen and Eugene Halpin. He has one older brother, Eugene, Jr., and one older sister, Joan. When he was growing up, he also had a dog, Whisky. His career began when a music teacher, impressed by Halpin's "all-American" look, encouraged him to try acting. Luke turned out to be a natural, and in 1955 he co-starred with Natalie Wood in an episode of Studio One entitled Miracle at Potter's Farm.

Numerous roles followed, and by his mid-teens, Halpin had appeared on many of the major TV series of the day: Armstrong Circle Theatre, United States Steel Hour, Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Everglades, The Phil Silvers Show, The Defenders, Route 66, Naked City, and had a recurring role for six months on the soap opera Young Doctor Malone.

Halpin's early career also included several stage roles. He made his Broadway debut in Take Me Along starring Jackie Gleason, and appeared with Mary Martin in both Annie Get Your Gun and Peter Pan.

Flipper

The young TV/stage veteran got his most memorable role when he was picked to be Sandy Ricks in the 1962 (released 1963) feature Flipper. The successful film spawned a sequel, Flipper's New Adventure (1964), and a TV series which co-starred Brian Kelly as Porter Ricks. Kelly played a young widowed father to Halpin, who was only sixteen years younger than Kelly, and Tommy Norden. Character actor Andy Devine also appeared in the series.

Flipper ran for 88 episodes (1964-1967), and is still in syndication. The TV series made Halpin a popular teen idol among younger viewers. He was often featured in teen magazines, including Bravo, Teen Life, 16 Magazine, and the earliest issues of Tiger Beat. On the basis of his appearance in the original Flipper movie, Luke was a guest "contestant" on the panel show To Tell The Truth prior to Flipper's move to television.

Later work

Following the end of the Flipper series, Luke appeared in feature films, including Island of the Lost (1967), If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), and Shock Waves (1977). TV guest appearances in the years shortly after Flipper included Judd for the Defense, The Dating Game, Death Valley Days, and Bracken's World. One notable later appearance was in the TV-movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd in 1979.

Halpin currently works as a pilot and marine technician for a film production company.

External links

• Luke Halpin at the Internet Movie Database
• Luke Halpin Gallery