Leif Erickson (actor)

Leif Erickson (born William Wycliffe Anderson; October 27, 1911 – January 29, 1986) was an American stage, film, and television actor.

Erickson was born in Alameda, California, near San Francisco.

He worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville act.

Erickson enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit, he served as a military photographer, shooting film in combat zones, and as an instructor.

He was shot down twice in the Pacific, and received two Purple Hearts.

Erickson's first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe Western films based on Zane Grey novels.

He went on to appear in films such as The Snake Pit; Sorry, Wrong Number; Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd; Invaders from Mars; On the Waterfront; A Gathering of Eagles; Roustabout; The Carpetbaggers; and Mirage.

One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr's macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy.

He appeared with Greta Garbo, as her brother, in Conquest (1937).

Erickson was in the unit that filmed and photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

He played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 remake of the famed musical Show Boat.

Erickson guest-starred in several television series, including Rawhide; Bonanza (two episodes, 1961–1965); as Aaron Burr in Daniel Boone (two episodes, 1964–1970); Gunsmoke; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Medical Center; Longstreet; Cannon; The Rifleman; The Rockford Files; The Rookies; Night Gallery; and the 1977 series Hunter.

Erickson appeared frequently on television; he was cast as Dr. Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey's Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

He is probably best known, however, for The High Chaparral, which aired on NBC from 1967 until 1971.

He portrayed a rancher, Big John Cannon, determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory while keeping peace with the Apache.

His final appearance in a feature film was in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977).

His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984.

Erickson died of cancer in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1986, aged 74.