John Crawford

John Crawford is a character actor with over 200 films and television titles to his credit in a career that has spanned over 40 years. Born on September 13, 1920, in Colfax, Washington, Crawford started out on the big screen in 1944, though he appeared predominantly in bit parts that were un-credited through the '40s and early '50s before finally earning more substantial roles in the mid- to late-'50s. In the early '50s, Crawford began what would become a more prolific career on TV, starting with two episodes of "The Roy Rogers Show" in 1952. From then on Crawford has made appearances on every manner of TV show, from "The Lone Ranger" in 1953 to "The Twilight Zone" in 1961, and from 14 episodes of "Gunsmoke" from 1959 to 1974, to nine episodes of "Police Woman," with Angie Dickinson, from 1974 to '78. By far his biggest television role was as Sherriff Ep Bridges on the classic family drama "The Waltons," where Crawford could be seen on 40 episodes spread over the length of all nine of the show's seasons. In film, the 1970s was Crawford's best decade, one in which he appeared in such varied fare as "The Poseidon Adventure," in 1972, "The Towering Inferno," in 1974, and as the Mayor in the third of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry films, 1976's "The Enforcer."