Frank Overton


Frank Emmons Overton was an American actor.

Early life

Overton was born in Babylon, New York on March 12, 1918. He attended Bard College in upstate New York.

Career

Overton's acting career began on the stage in New York City. His Broadway credits include The Desperate Hours, The Trip to Bountiful, Truckline Cafe and Jacobowsky and the Colonel.
Overton appeared in numerous television programs during the early 1950s and through the late 1960s. In 1959, he appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone with Gig Young, called "Walking Distance".In an episode aired on January 31, 1963 Frank appeared in a Twilight Zone episode titled MUTE as sheriff Harry Wheeler in which actress Ann Jillian played a telepathic child. Other TV work included The Fugitive in 1963.
He played Sheriff Heck Tate in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1964, he played General Bogan in the film Fail-Safe.
Overton appeared in an episode of the 1961 ABC series The Asphalt Jungle. He made two guest appearances on the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason in diverse roles. In 1961 he played a priest, Father Paul, in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee," and in 1963 he played Deputy D.A. Nelson Taylor in "The Case of the Bluffing Blast."
Overton played Major Harvey Stovall in the TV series Twelve O'Clock High, and also played a significant role in the movie Wild River, where he appeared as the jilted fiancé of Lee Remick. His last TV role was that of Elias Sandoval in 's "This Side of Paradise", which originally aired in March 1967, just one month before his death at age 49.

Personal life

In 1962, Overton married actress Phyllis Hill in Los Angeles.

Death

Overton died after a heart attack in 1967 in Pacific Palisades, California. He was survived by his wife, Phyllis Hill, and a daughter. He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in the Garden of Memory, L-44, with his wife, who died in 1993.

Filmography