John Craven (June 22, 1916 – November 24, 1995) was an American actor in theater, film, and television.
John Craven | |
|---|---|
 Craven in Flight to Nowhere (1946) | |
| Born | June 22, 1916 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 24, 1995 (aged 79) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1937–1970 |
| Father | Frank Craven |
Biography
editCraven was born on June 22, 1916, in New York City. He was a third-generation actor, following in the profession of his father, Frank Craven, and his grandfather, John T. Craven.[1][2] His mother, Mary Blythe, was an actress prior to marriage.[3][4] He had an older sister, Blyth Daly (1901-1965), born when the family lived in England. His baby picture was printed in the March, 1922 edition of Success magazine in an article about his father's career.[5] He attended Beverly Hills High School in 1935.[6]
Craven began on Broadway as assistant stage manager for Babes in Arms in 1937.[7] Then he returned to Beverly Hills, starring in "The Thirteenth Chair" and Noël Coward's "Hay Fever" at Harold Lloyd's Beverly Hills Little Theatre for Professionals. He was originally slated to play a townsperson in the original stage version of Our Town at the Morosco Theatre, in which his father played the stage manager.[1][8] After director Jed Harris heard him read, however, he gave him the juvenile leading role of George.[9] Craven was overlooked in the movie version, however, with the part going to the then-unknown William Holden.[10] He married actress Evelyn R. Barrows in New York on September 16, 1938, when they were both 22.[11] He later married Dorothy Langan in the 1950s, and they had a son, Frank Craven, in 1955, thus continuing a pattern of alternating generations of men named Frank and John.[12] Craven registered for the draft in WWII on October 16, 1940.[1] He was stationed in Naples, Italy during World War II as a private, and put on shows for the USO.[1] On his WWII draft card he listed his employer as the Henry Miller Theater, which today is the Stephen Sondheim Theater.[13]
On November 24, 1995, Craven died at his home in Salt Point, New York.[14][15][16]
Broadway (selected)
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Babes in Arms | Assistant stage manager (non-acting) |
| 1938 | Our Town | George Gibbs |
| 1939 | Aries is Rising | Roland Harris |
| 1939 | Happiest Days | Jeff |
| 1940 | Delicate Story | Oliver Odry |
| 1940 | Two on an Island | John Thompson |
| 1941 | Spring Again | Tom Cornish |
| 1941 | Village Green | Jeremiah Bentham |
| 1949 | They Knew What They Wanted | The R. F. D. |
Filmography (selected)
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Over the Goal | King | |
| 1943 | The Human Comedy | Tobey George | |
| 1943 | Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case | Roy Todwell | |
| 1943 | Someone to Remember | Dan Freeman | |
| 1943 | For God and Country | Danny Brewer | Short |
| 1944 | The Purple Heart | Sergeant Martin Stoner | |
| 1944 | Meet the People | John Swanson | |
| 1944 | In the Meantime, Darling | Sleeping Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1946 | Flight to Nowhere | Claude Forrest | |
| 1946 | Swell Guy | Mike O'Connor | |
| 1953 | Count the Hours! | George Braden | |
| 1954 | Security Risk | Dr. Lanson | |
| 1955 | The Green Mountain Boys | Remember Baker | TV movie |
| 1956 | Battle Stations | Commander James Matthews | |
| 1956 | Navy Wife | Dr. Carter | |
| 1956 | Hold Back the Night | Major Bob MacKay | |
| 1956 | Friendly Persuasion | Band Leader | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Revolt in the Big House | Guard | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Ocean's 11 | Cashier | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Let's Make Love | Comstock | Uncredited |
| 1964 | The Brass Bottle | 2nd Psychiatrist | Uncredited |
| 1970 | The Wild Scene | Morton |
Television (selected)
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | The Egg and I | Jim | 3 episodes |
| 1954 | Public Defender | Selway | Season 1 Episode 11: "Pauper's Gold" |
| 1956 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | Harry Drew / Dolan | Season 1 Episode 28: "One of Jesse's Gang" |
| 1959 | One Step Beyond | Harry Teller | Season 1 Episode 2: "Night of April 14" |
| 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Older Clete Vine | Season 5 Episode 20: "The Day of the Bullet" |
| 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Herbert Gold | Season 6 Episode 4: "The Contest for Aaron Gold" |
| 1960 | Wanted Dead or Alive | Zack Dawson | Season 3 Episode 9 "Criss-Cross" |
| 1961 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Tommy | Season 6 Episode 17: "The Last Escape" |
| 1963 | The Twilight Zone | Townsman | Season 5 Episode 7: "The Old Man in the Cave" |
References
edit- ^ a b c d "John Craven, 79, Who Played George in Original 'Our Town'". The New York Times. November 28, 1995. p. B 12. ProQuest 109508153. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Theatre Magazine. Vol. 19. Theatre Magazine Company. 1914. p. 39.
- ^ Drutman, Irving (February 25, 1940). "Yes, He's Frank Craven's Son But He's Making His Own Way". Miami Daily News. New York Herald Tribune. p. 48. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman. 1926. p. 215.
- ^ Golden, John L. (March 1922). "Frank Craven: A young actor of the old school as he appears when off the stage to his "sentimental manager"". Success: 40 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Watchtower," Beverly Hills High School, 1935.
- ^ The Playbill, New York Theatre Program Corporation, 1938, 22.
- ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (2022). The Thornton Wilder Encyclopedia. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-1-5381-5240-9.
- ^ The Playbill: Our Town. New York: New York Theatre Program Corp. March 6, 1938. p. 24.
- ^ Nissen, Axel (May 7, 2021). Beulah Bondi: A Life on Stage and Screen. McFarland. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-4766-8188-7.
- ^ New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1938-1940.
- ^ Who's Who in America, "Frank Craven". Marquis-Who's Who. 2005. p. 990. ISBN 978-0-8379-6991-6.
- ^ World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, National Archives.
- ^ Willis, John; Monush, Barry (January 1997). Screen World 1996. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-55783-252-8. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ (27 November 1995). Actor John Craven Dies at 79, Buffalo News
- ^ Willis, John (1998). Theatre World 1995-1996. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-55783-323-5.
External links
edit- John Craven at IMDb
- John Craven at the Internet Broadway Database
- Obituary in The New York Times
- "Our Town" presented on The Campbell Playhouse, with Orson Welles and guest star John Craven (May 12, 1939)