Character actor John Dierkes appeared in a string of really great 50s Westerns: Shane (1953, above, on the left), Silver Lode (1954), The Raid (1954), The Left Handed Gun (1958, he’s beyond terrific in this) and The Hanging Tree (1959), to name a few.
His other credits include The Thing From Another World (1950), The Red Badge Of Courage (1950), Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1953), Friendly Persuasion (1956), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), The Haunted Palace (1963) and The Omega Man (1973). Not to mention John Wayne’s The Alamo (1960, below, he’s at the bottom right).
Just recently discovered that he tested for the part of Lurch on The Addams Family. Of course, the part went to Ted Cassidy.
Oh sure, I remember him! What an awesome pic from The Addams Family! I didn’t know about that either.
I always drag out “Curse of the Undead” this time of year. Michael Pate as vampire gunslinger = awesome.
Happy Halloween!
It makes me smile when Dierkes’ name shows up in the opening credits.
I’m with you on that one.
The supporting cast is a highly-anticipated part of any old film I’m not all that familiar with. What a great surprise it is to see Dierkes or James Griffith crop up!
Dierkes’ scene with Paul Newman in Left Handed Gun, where he tries to minister to Newman after Mr. Tunstall is killed, knocks me out. That voice!