Dick Wesson (actor)

Richard Lewis "Dick" Wesson (November 19, 1922 – April 25, 1996) was a prolific character actor, comedian, comedy writer, and producer. The dark haired man with a flat top haircut was frequently confused with announcer Dick Wesson.

Biography

Wesson was born Richard Lewis Wesson on November 19, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts. A comedian, impressionist and singer, Wesson appeared with his brother Gene (1921-1975) in a comedy act appropriately called "The Wesson Brothers". They had some hit records such as "Oodles of Boodle" and "All Right Louie, Drop the Gun". In 1949, Wesson became a television series regular with Jim Backus in Hollywood House.

Making his film debut as a wisecracking astronaut in Destination Moon (1950), Dick Wesson was soon signed to a contract as a supporting actor with Warner Brothers. Wesson played comedy relief in all his films, frequently as a World War II soldier in Breakthrough (1950) and Force of Arms (1951), and in the Old West with The Man Behind the Gun (1953) and The Charge at Feather River (1953). Wesson's best known role was as Francis Fryer in Calamity Jane (1953).

Wesson moved to American television appearing as Jackie Cooper's ex-United States Marine Corps sidekick, Rollo, in 27 of the 104 episodes of NBC's The People's Choice and later as Frank Crenshaw in Paul Henning's The Bob Cummings Show. Wesson began writing for The Bob Cummings Show and later The Beverly Hillbillies, in which he appeared as a taxi driver. He produced CBS's My Sister Eileen and many episodes of Petticoat Junction and directed several episodes of each series. He was a member of the cast of the 1974 CBS situation comedy Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers.

Wesson later died of a heart attack on April 25, 1996 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Selected filmography

• Destination Moon (1950)
• Breakthrough (1950)
• Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951)
• Force of Arms (1951)
• Sunny Side of the Street (1951)
• Starlift (1951)
• About Face (1952)
• The Man Behind the Gun (1953)
• The Desert Song (1953)
• The Charge at Feather River (1953)
• Calamity Jane (1953)
• Paris Follies of 1956 (1955)
• The Errand Boy (1961)
• Rollercoaster (1977)