Fay Roope

Fay Roope (born Winfield Harding Roope; October 20, 1893 – September 13, 1961) was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from 1949 through 1961.

Early life
Winfield Harding Roope was born October 20, 1893, in Allston, Massachusetts, near Boston, the only son of George Winfield Roope and Lucie Mattie Jacobs, a wealthy couple listed in Newton's Blue Book. He "prepared" at Stone School for Boys, a Boston boarding school, and attended Harvard University from 1912 to 1916. During his time there he appeared in varied dramatic and musical roles in school productions. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in 1916.

Acting career
He began acting professionally on stage in New York City in the early 1920s, and continued to do so for almost thirty years, appearing both off and on Broadway. He moved into film around 1950. He did do some television in the early 1950s, but did most of his television work in dramas during the last five years of his life, from 1955 on.

Broadway career
His first appearance on the Broadway stage was in the musical revue One Helluva Night, on June 4, 1924. From September 5, 1924, until September 12, 1925, he played Lieutenant Aldrich in the drama What Price Glory?. From March 30, 1949, to April 9, 1949, he played Colonel Jared Rumley in the comedy The Biggest Thief in Town. His last appearance on Broadway was in the first Broadway production of The Madwoman of Chaillot, June 13–25, 1950.

Film career
Fay Roope portrayed generals, admirals, and colonels in such movies as From Here To Eternity, Rock Hudson's Seminole, the Gary Cooper comedy You're in the Navy Now, and the original version of the science-fiction classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still. He played Mexican president Porfirio Díaz in the movie Viva Zapata!.

Film roles

 * You're in the Navy Now (1951) - Carrier Admiral (uncredited)
 * The Frogmen (1951) - Adm. Dakers (uncredited)
 * The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Major General (uncredited)
 * Callaway Went Thataway (1951) - Tom Lorrison
 * Indian Uprising (1952) - Maj. Gen. George Crook (uncredited)
 * Viva Zapata! (1952) - President Porfirio Díaz
 * My Six Convicts (1952) - Warden George Potter
 * Deadline - U.S.A. (1952) - Surrogate Court Judge McKay (uncredited)
 * Carbine Williams (1952) - Ed - District Attorney
 * Young Man with Ideas (1952) - Kyle Thornhill
 * The Brigand (1952) - Mons. De Laforce
 * Washington Story (1952) - Caswell
 * Assignment – Paris! (1952) - American Ambassador (uncredited)
 * The Clown (1953) - Doctor Strauss
 * Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953) - Colonel Thomas B. Richards (uncredited)
 * All Ashore (1953) - Commodore Stanton
 * Seminole (1953) - Col. Zachary Taylor
 * The System (1953) - Roger Stuart
 * The Charge at Feather River (1953) - Lt. Col. Kilrain
 * From Here to Eternity (1953) - Gen. Slater (uncredited)
 * Clipped Wings (1953) - Col. Davenport
 * A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) - Governor Charles Snowden (uncredited)
 * Man of Conflict (1953) - Ed Jenks
 * Alaska Seas (1954) - Captain Walt Davis
 * The Lone Gun (1954) - Mayor Booth
 * Living It Up (1954) - Man
 * The Black Dakotas (1954) - John Lawrence
 * Naked Alibi (1954) - Commissioner F.J. O'Day
 * The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) - City Editor (uncredited)
 * The Atomic Kid (1954) - Gen. Lawlor
 * Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955) - Fulton Andrews
 * The Proud Ones (1956) - Markham
 * The Rack (1956) - Col. Dudley Smith
 * The True Story of Jesse James (1957) - Tom Trope (uncredited)
 * The FBI Story (1959) - Dwight McCutcheon

Television career
Faye Roope played judges in Raymond Burr's Perry Mason TV series, had a continuing role as Mr. Botkin in the long-lasting western Gunsmoke, and appeared as an older man of authority in many TV Westerns of the 1950s. He played the old-west hanging judge in the classic 1960 Twilight Zone time-travel episode Execution, and appeared in many of the classic drama anthology shows of American television's Golden Age.

Roles in television episodes

 * The Philco Television Playhouse
 * The Beautiful Bequest (1949)
 * The Ford Television Theatre
 * Junior (1952)
 * Mr. & Mrs. North
 * Till Death Do Us Part (1952) - Edward Barry
 * House Behind the Wall (1953) - Richard Burton
 * Fireside Theatre
 * Grey Gardens (1953) - Justin
 * Racket Squad
 * The Knockout (1951) - Clayton Carswell
 * The Strange Case of James Doyle (1952) - Jim Doyle
 * Sting of Fate (1953) - Albert (Husband)
 * The Lone Ranger
 * Message to Fort Apache (1954) - Colonel Gaines
 * City Detective
 * The Blonde Orchid (1954) - Police Commissioner Ralph
 * The Public Defender
 * The Case of the Parolee (1954) - Mr. Marshall
 * Climax!
 * A Man of Taste (1955)
 * The Millionaire
 * The Jerome Wilson Story (1955) - Dr. Tom Evans
 * Screen Directors Playhouse
 * Want Ad Wedding (1955) - Reverend Walker
 * Studio 57
 * Cubs of the Bear (1954) - Amos Harlock
 * The Senorita and the Texan (1955) - Don Luis
 * Soldiers of Fortune
 * The General (1955) - General DeSaba
 * Celebrity Playhouse
 * Tantrum Size 12 (1956)
 * Ford Star Jubilee
 * The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1956)
 * Broken Arrow
 * Indian Medicine (1957) - Tyoe
 * Tales of Wells Fargo
 * The Inscrutable Man (1957) - Mr. Harper
 * Zane Grey Theater
 * The Bitter Land (1957) - Morgan Batterson
 * Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
 * The Lonely Wizard (1957) - Dr. Elliott
 * The Californians
 * The Search for Lucy Manning (1957)
 * Code 3
 * The Man with Many Faces (1957) - Dr. Matthews
 * Panic!
 * Child's Play (1957) - Charlie Jennings
 * Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal
 * Dr. Means' Surgery (1955) (as Fay Roupe) - Chairman
 * Love in White Shoes (1957)
 * The Adventures of Jim Bowie
 * Bayou Tontine (1957) - Etienne Broussard
 * Curfew Cannon (1958) - Etienne Rochambeau
 * The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
 * Frontier Journalism was Fearless (1955) - Colonel Josh Clanton
 * The Frontier Theatre (1956) - Older Actor
 * The Underdog (1958) - Uncle George Jackson
 * The Court of Last Resort
 * The Westover Case (1958) - Dan Tackberry
 * Dragnet
 * The Big Oskar (1958) - Oskar Hovejg
 * Perry Mason
 * The Case of the Gilded Lily (1958) - Judge Kyle
 * The Case of the Hesitant Hostess (1958) - Judge
 * The Rifleman
 * The Brother-in-Law (1958) - Jeff Stacey
 * The Legacy (1959) - Doc Burrage
 * The Spiked Rifle (1959) - Barton
 * Panic (1959) - Doc Burrage
 * Bonanza
 * The Magnificent Adah (1959) - Castellan
 * Gunsmoke
 * Change of Heart (1959) - Mr. Botkin
 * Murder Warrant (1959) - Mr. Botkin
 * The F.U. (1959) - Mr. Botkin
 * Have Gun, Will Travel
 * Killer's Widow (1958) - E.J. Randolph
 * Alaska (1959) - Wade
 * Rawhide
 * Incident on the Edge of Madness (1959) - Mayor Haslip
 * Tate
 * The Gunfighters (1960) - Keefer
 * The Chevy Mystery Show
 * Fear Is the Parent (1960) - Dow
 * The Texan
 * Desert Passage (1958) - Ben Atkins
 * The Accuser (1960) - Mr. Benton
 * The Twilight Zone
 * Execution (1960) - Judge
 * Cheyenne
 * Gold, Glory and Custer - Prelude (1960) - Commissioner Brady
 * Gold, Glory and Custer - Requiem (1960) - Commissioner Brady
 * The Tom Ewell Show
 * The Old Magic (1961) - Mr. Dutton (final appearance)

Personal life
Fay Roope married Marie Teresa Roope. They had two children, Martha and George, and many grandchildren. He died on September 13, 1961, in Port Jefferson, New York, aged 67.