In 1946, Long was cast in his first film, Tomorrow Is Forever, as Drew, the son of the characters played by Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles. The role had been unfilled for months, and producers selected Long, who most closely matched the credentials required.[4] It was made by International Pictures, which put him under contract.[5]
Long impressed Welles, who cast the actor in The Stranger (1946), from International, as the younger brother of Loretta Young's character.[6]
International Pictures merged with Universal Pictures, which took over Long's contract. His fourth film was The Egg and I (1947), playing Tom Kettle, the eldest son of Ma and Pa Kettle, the characters played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride. The movie was a huge hit – so much so that Universal decided to spin off the Kettles into their own series.
Long began guest-starring on TV shows such as Lux Video Theater ("I'll Never Love Again") and was finally given a lead role by Universal in Cult of the Cobra (1955) – though still billed under Faith Domergue.
Long signed a contract with Warner Bros. and guest-starred in many of their TV series, including Lawman.
Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick and Long as Gentleman Jack Darby in Maverick, 1959
He played the recurring role of gambler/con artist Gentleman Jack Darby in four episodes of the ABC/WB Western series, Maverick beginning in 1958, including the memorable "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" installment.[12] His character always interacted with Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, including in "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres", which starred both James Garner and Kelly. He also never appeared with later series regular Roger Moore. Gentleman Jack Darby was created by Maverick producer Roy Huggins as a replacement for "Dandy Jim Buckley", played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr., after Zimbalist had moved on to his own series, 77 Sunset Strip.
In 1963, Long guest-starred in the episode "Hear No Evil" of ABC's Going My Way, a drama series starring Gene Kelly about a Catholic priest in New York City loosely based on the 1944 Bing Crosbymovie. That same year, he was cast as Eddie Breech in the episode "Blood Bargain" of CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Long went to Finland to make a film, Make Like a Thief (1965), which he also helped direct. "I've had the longest awkward period in the history of Hollywood", he said around this time. "I sign more autographs than anyone in the industry. They either think I'm Robert Goulet, Gig Young, Robert Sterling, or myself. We don't look a thing alike if we're together, but there is a flash similarity."[17]
Long added that he hoped to play more character parts. "I'm rotting from the inside out and it's just gotten to my face", he said. "A man doesn't get interesting on screen until his 40s."[17]
The Big Valley
The Big Valley cast with Long at far left
In 1965, at the age of 38, Long began his role as attorney Jarrod Barkley, the oldest son of rancher Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck), in 112 episodes of The Big Valley, the last of the major Four Star Television series, a Western that ran on ABC from 1965 to 1969. The series was set in the 1870s. Long also directed 2 episodes of The Big Valley.[18][19] (In 1953, Long had costarred with Stanwyck in the film All I Desire.[12])
Long was twice married: his first wife, singer and actress Suzan Ball, whom he married April 11, 1954, died of cancer 14 months later, at age 21.[23][24][25][26] They had met in 1953, after her cancer diagnosis; her right leg was amputated in early 1954 and they wed in April.[27]
In 1957, he married actress/model Mara Corday in Las Vegas.[28] The couple had three children together during their troubled marriage: Carey (1957–2008), Valerie (b. 1958), and Gregory (b. 1960).[29][30][31] In 1961, Long was arrested by police after Corday accused him of attacking her while drunk.[32] Corday declined to pursue the charges, and after initially indicating she would file for divorce, she later reconciled with Long.[33]
Death
As a youth, Long contracted pneumonia, which apparently weakened his heart. He later experienced cardiac problems as an adult and suffered his first heart attack in 1961.[34] After a month-long stay in Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles to treat additional attacks, he died on December 21, 1974, four days after his 47th birthday.[1][2]
^Big Valley - Legend of a General [VHS] : Long, Richard, Allen, Lewis, Dobkin, Lawrence, Dubin, Charles S., Golden, Murray, Graham, William A., Lewis, Joseph H., Long, Richard, Mazzuca, Joseph, McEveety (II), Bernard, Nadel, Arthur H., Newman, Joseph M., Pevney, Joseph, Powell, Norman S., Roley, Sutton, Sarafian, Richard C., Senensky, Ralph, Taylor, Don, Vogel, Virgil W., Webster, Nicholas: Movies & TV. ASIN6300256812.
^"Big Valley". Fifties Web. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
United States
U.S. Army
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