Wright King

Wright King was born Thomas Wright Thornburg King on Jan. 11, 1923 in Okmulgee, OK. He studied acting at the St. Louis School of Theatre, after which he enlisted in the United States Navy and served briefly in World War II. Upon returning home, he relocated to New York where he began work as a theater actor, first in children's productions and at the Yiddish Art Theatre, and then in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the New York City Center. This led him to a role in Elia Kazan's film adaptation of "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), which kicked off his career in pictures. Throughout the 1950s, King garnered minor parts in a slew of television productions, as well as the starring role as Ernest P. Duckweather in the children's TV series "Johnny Jupiter" (ABC 1953-54), which only ran for one season. He returned to the big screen with the likes of "The Young Guns" (1956), "Stagecoach to Fury" (1956), and "Hot Rod Rumble" (1957), though kept a foot in the television world with a regular role on the Western drama "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (CBS 1958-1961) and a pair of appearances on the hit science-fiction series "The Twilight Zone" (CBS 1959-1964). King's work with the latter series' creator, Rod Serling, landed him a part in the Serling-penned feature film "Planet of the Apes" (1968); that same year, King appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's musical film "Finian's Rainbow" (1968). Such work preceded a decade of one-off television appearances and minor parts in movies, including the role of a priest in the Western drama "House Made of Dawn" (1972) and that of a doctor in the science fiction film "Invasion of the Bee Girls" (1973). King retired from acting following his appearance in the TV movie "The Critical List" (NBC 1978). He died at the age of 95 on Nov. 25, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA.