Harry Holcombe
Holcombe in King Kong vs. Godzilla, 1963
Born
Harry John Holcombe

(1906-11-11)November 11, 1906
Malta, Ohio, U.S.
DiedSeptember 15, 1987(1987-09-15) (aged 80)
Valencia, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Commercial, film, radio, television, theatre actor and radio director
Spouse
Betty Nielsen Holcombe
​
​
(died. 1982)​
[1]
Children2[1]

Harry John Holcombe (November 11, 1906 – September 15, 1987)[2] was an American actor and radio director.[3] He was perhaps best remembered as the grandfather in the Country Time commercials,[4] playing the role for almost a decade.[5] Holcombe also played the recurring role of the doctor in the western television series Bonanza.[6]

Life and career

Holcombe was born in Malta, Ohio.[6] He began his career in Chicago, Illinois, directing radio programs including Benny Goodman's program Camel Caravan.[5] He also worked as a poetry reader for the radio program Moon River at WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] After that, he moved to California, where he began his film and television career,[1] appearing in the 1943 film The Purple V.[6]

Holcombe guest-starred in numerous television programs including The Andy Griffith Show, Harbor Command, 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason, The Farmer's Daughter, That Girl, The Law and Mr. Jones, Leave It to Beaver, Here's Lucy and Bewitched, and appeared in films such as The Fortune Cookie, Birdman of Alcatraz,[7] King Kong vs. Godzilla,[4] The Unsinkable Molly Brown,[7] Kisses for My President,[7] When the Boys Meet the Girls and Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. Holcombe also starred in the television sitcom Barefoot in the Park, where he played Arthur Kendricks.[6]

Death

Holcombe died in September 1987 at his son's home in Valencia, California, at the age of 80.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Betty Nielsen Holcombe". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. October 13, 1982. p. 21. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Cox, Jim (2001). The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows: Seventeen Programs from the 1940s and 1950s. McFarland. p. 90. ISBN 9780786410712 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Holcombe Signed For Film". Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. May 29, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  4. ^ a b Ryfle, Steve (April 1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. p. 88. ISBN 9781550223484.
  5. ^ a b c "H. Holcombe; Radio, Stage, Movie Actor". Los Angeles Times. September 16, 1987. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Cox, Jim (2007). Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. pp. 140–141. ISBN 9780786427802 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b c "Harry Holcombe, actor". The Daily Item. Sunbury, Pennsylvania. September 18, 1987. p. 8. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

External links

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