John Doucette

This article is about the American actor. For the U.S. Air Force general, see John W. Doucette. For the 18th century lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, see John Doucett.
John Doucette

Doucette in trailer for "7 Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964)
Born (1921-01-21)January 21, 1921
Brockton, Plymouth County
Massachusetts, U.S.
Died August 16, 1994(1994-08-16) (aged 73)
Banning, Riverside County
California, U.S.
Resting place Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California
Occupation Actor
Years active 1943–1987
Spouse(s) Katherine Cecilia Sambles (1948–1991) (her death)[1]
Children five daughters and three sons[2]

John Doucette (January 21, 1921 – August 16, 1994) was an American film character actor. He was a balding, husky man remembered for playing mob muscle and western bad guys in movies. According to the Internet Movie Data Base, between 1943 and 1987, Doucette appeared in some 260 movies and television programs, with about 60 early roles uncredited.

Life and career

Doucette was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. Doucette served in the United States Army during World War II. He progressed to dramatic roles including a small part as an architect in The Fountainhead in (1949) and the 1970 epic Patton when he played 3rd Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott. His other notable performances included bit parts in High Noon, The Robe, Sierra, and the mega-budget Cleopatra. More familiarly, Doucette appeared in the John Wayne films The Sea Chase, The Sons of Katie Elder, True Grit, and Big Jake.

Many baby boomers first saw John Doucette as the bad guy in several episodes of The Lone Ranger, a natural role considering his rough looks, commanding presence, and skill with a gun. He was considered by many to be one of the fastest draws in Hollywood. His roles, however, went well beyond that stereotype. He appeared on a variety of television shows, including The Range Rider, The Roy Rogers Show, The Fugitive, The Adventures of Kit Carson, The Cisco Kid, City Detective, Annie Oakley, The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial, My Friend Flicka, Sky King, The Californians, Broken Arrow, The People's Choice, Sheriff of Cochise, Behind Closed Doors, The Texan, Lawman, The Everglades, Mackenzie's Raiders, Bonanza, The Wild Wild West, The Virginian, Have Gun - Will Travel, Kung Fu, The Rat Patrol, Hogan's Heroes, Lock Up, Adventures of Superman, Sea Hunt, Science Fiction Theater, Walt Disney Presents, and "Tales of Wells Fargo" (as Boone Helm in "Alder Gulch" and as Lemuel "Shorty" Bostwick in "Renegade").

Between 1959-1961, Doucette played police Lt. Weston on the TV series Lock Up, starring MacDonald Carey.

In 1959, Doucette played the bounty hunter Lou Gore in the episode "Dead Aim" of the ABC/WB series, Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. Ken Osmond, Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver, played the part of "Tommy", and Bing Russell, another character actor, was cast as Jed Coy in the episode.[3]

Twice Doucette played the Apache Chief Geronimo: (1) the 1958 episode "Geronimo" of the Pat Conway western series Tombstone Territory, and (2) in the 1961 episode "Gamble with Death" of the western anthology, Death Valley Days. Oddly, in both programs, his co-star was the character actor Tom Greenway.

In 1961, Doucette was cast as Captain Cardiff in The Americans, a 17-episode NBC series, starring Darryl Hickman, about how the American Civil War divided families.

Doucette died in Banning, California.

His mausoleum is at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Partial filmography

Television

References

  1. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6816
  2. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/20/obituaries/john-doucette-film-actor-73.html
  3. ↑ "Colt .45". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.

External links

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