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A graduate of the University of Southern California School of Law, Morris Ankrum was an attorney and an economics professor before switching careers and joining the theater. He was a veteran stage actor by the time he entered the film industry in the 1930s. His film career spanned 1933-64, during which time he played in 279 films and TV shows. Ankrum spent much time in westerns, playing everything from Indian chiefs to crooked bankers. Among his best remembered parts are his numerous villainous roles in Paramount's highly popular Hopalong Cassidy film series. The Hoppy films in which he appears include North of the Rio Grande (1937), Hills of Old Wyoming (1937), Pirates on Horseback (1941), Three Men from Texas (1940), Borderland (1937), and Hopalong Cassidy Returns (1936), among others.
He was cast in many other films throughout the '30s, '40s, and '50s, varying from small appearances to co-starring roles. He can be seen in low-budget "B" pictures and big-budget blockbusters alike. It was in the 1950s, though, that he hit his stride in the science-fiction genre, where his gruff, no-nonsense demeanor and authoritative voice perfectly fit the role of the military officer helping scientists fight off outer-space menaces, most memorably as Col. Fielding in the classic Invaders from Mars (1953).
Later in his career he did much TV work, in such series as Bonanza (1959), The Rifleman (1958), Rawhide (1959), Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955), Maverick (1957), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Sea Hunt (1958), and over a dozen more. At the end of his career from 1957-64, he had a recurring role as a judge in 22 episodes on the Perry Mason (1957) TV series.- Alvin Cullum York was born in rural Pall Mall, Tennessee. Raised in the mountains, he learned to shoot guns when he was just a boy, becoming an expert with both a pistol and rifle before his teens. Under the influence of his high school girlfriend--and his future wife--Gracie Williams, he also became a devout born-again Christian and gave up the drinking, brawling, smoking, gambling and bare-knuckle fighting that marked his early days. When the US declared war on Germany in April 1917, York was drafted into the army, where he sought exemption as a conscientious objector, but was turned down. Inducted into the 328th Infantry Regiment on November 24, 1917, he distinguished himself in basic training until he was ordered to shoot at human forms on the target range. After days of soul-searching, York reconciled himself to military service and completed his training, and his unit sailed to France the following spring. His regiment was assigned to the Meuse-Argonne salient during the final great Allied offensive from September to the war's end on November 11, 1918. On October 8, 1918, York, then a corporal, was part of a company assigned to attack a heavily defended hill near Chatel-Chehery. Pinned down by intense machine-gun fire, York joined a squad of 17 men that attempted to outflank the German position from the rear of the hill. After capturing 20 German soldiers, the Americans were discovered by other German troops in neighboring trenches, who opened fire on them. Within minutes the squad was down to seven unwounded men, York included. The squad's officers and NCOs had all been killed or wounded, meaning that York was now in charge of the squad's survivors. He took his rifle and worked his way to a point near the occupied German trenches that were firing on his squad. From that position he shot and killed 17 Geman soldiers one after the other, then shot eight more with his pistol, killing three and wounding five. The surviving Germans had had enough and surrendered en masse to York; the final tally of captured German soldiers, counting the 20 the squad had taken earlier, was 132. Alvin York managed to work his way with his squad and the 132 prisoners through the bombed-out wasteland and back to the headquarters of the 328th Regiment. York was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his amazing feat. At the end of the war he returned to Tennessee, in 1919, married Gracie and settled on a farm presented to him by his home state. The modest hero turned down many offers for endorsements, claiming "this uniform ain't for sale," and used the proceeds from the book and movie of his life Sergeant York (1941)) to establish schools for poor mountain children. During World War II York served on the Tennessee draft board and was a colonel in the Tennessee State Guard, commanding the 7th Regiment. Alvin York died in his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964.
- Gladys Thornton was born on 8 March 1899 in Madison, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for M Squad (1957), Telephone Time (1956) and General Electric Theater (1953). She died on 2 September 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Leslie Victor was born in 1872 in Hackney, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Loyal Rebel (1915), Cupid Camouflaged (1918) and Vengeance of the Deep (1938). He died on 2 September 1964 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Lenore Jones was born in 1879 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, USA. She was an actress, known for The Lure of a Woman (1921). She was married to David John Jones. She died on 2 September 1964 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.