Paul Birch (actor)

Paul Birch (born Paul Lowery Smith; January 13, 1912 – May 24, 1969) was an American actor. He was a film star of 39 movies, 50 stage dramas, and numerous television series, including the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951).

Early life
Birch was born Paul Lowery Smith in Atmore, Alabama. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute.

Television
In the late 1950s, Birch starred along with William Campbell in the syndicated Canadian series Cannonball (1958), a half-hour drama/adventure show about truck drivers. He also was a regular in The Court of Last Resort on NBC (1957-58).

Birch appeared in “Torn Flag”, a 1958 episode of the western series The Restless Gun. In the mid-1950s he appeared in magazine and TV ads as the first widely publicized "Cowboy" Marlboro Man.

In 1959, he was cast as Sergeant Major Carmody, with Doug McClure as Corporal Jenkins, in the episode "The Face of Courage" of the NBC western series, Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds. In the story line, amid the threat of Sioux attack, Carmody commandeers the vessel the Enterprise while it is delivering military cargo to an Army outpost on the Missouri River. Joanna Moore appears in the episode as Kitty McGuire.

Birch also appeared as President Grant in the 1960 episode "Mr. Simpson" of ABC's Black Saddle western series starring Peter Breck. He portrayed President Grant in two episodes of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Birch also had a recurring role as Captain Carpenter, the boss of Lt. Phillip Gerard (Barry Morse) in the first two seasons of ABC's adventure/drama series The Fugitive.

In 1961 Paul Birch appeared as Sgt. Bart Huntington in an episode of Wagon Train, “Path of the Serpent”.

Stage
Birch appeared on Broadway in a production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1954-55). He portrayed both Union Army General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee in several historical plays.

He was among the original members of the Pasadena Playhouse, the first actor to be one of that group's repertory players.

Film
Birch appeared as the police captain with the megaphone in Rebel Without A Cause (1955), and was one of the first to be "disintegrated" in the original movie The War of the Worlds (1953).

He starred in some low-budget science-fiction films in the 1950s, including The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), Day the World Ended (1955), Not of This Earth (1957), and the cult classic Queen of Outer Space (1958). Birch also had small roles in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1967).

Teaching
While he acted at the Pasadena Playhouse, he also was "employed full-time as an instructor and director working with students in the Playhouse College of Theatre Arts."

Personal life
Birch was married twice and was survived by his second wife, the former Betsy Ann Ross Smith, and their three children, Don, Jennifer, and Michael. By his first marriage, to Margaret Evelyn Farish, he had a daughter named Cindy, whose son is actor Ned Luke (born 1958).

Death
Birch died of cancer at age 57 on May 24, 1969, at St. George's, the capital of the Caribbean island of Grenada. Survived by his widow and three children, he is buried in a cemetery outside the capital.

Selected filmography

 * The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945) - Highwayman #2 (uncredited)
 * The Daltons Ride Again (1945) - Wilkins Henchman (uncredited)
 * Adventure (1945) - First Mate (uncredited)
 * The Fighting Guardsman (1946) - Sergeant (uncredited)
 * The Scarlet Horseman (1946) - Ace (uncredited)
 * Till the End of Time (1946) - Marine Wanting Farm (uncredited)
 * Check Your Guns (1948) - Member The Plainsmen (uncredited)
 * The Third Man (1949) - Military Policeman (uncredited)
 * Bonzo Goes to College (1952) - Coach Duff (uncredited)
 * Assignment – Paris! (1952) - Col. Mannix (uncredited)
 * The War of the Worlds (1953) - Alonzo Hogue (uncredited)
 * The System (1953) - Police Lt. Gordon (uncredited)
 * The Eddie Cantor Story (1953) - (uncredited)
 * Ride Clear of Diablo (1954) - Fred Kenyon
 * Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) - Col. Carrington
 * Man Without a Star (1955) - Mark Toliver
 * Strange Lady in Town (1955) - Sheriff
 * Five Guns West (1955) - J.C. Haggard
 * The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) - Allan Kelley
 * Apache Woman (1955) - Sheriff
 * Rebel Without a Cause (1955) - Police Chief (uncredited)
 * Day the World Ended (1955) - Jim Maddison
 * The Fighting Chance (1955) - Auctioneer
 * When Gangland Strikes (1956) - Sheriff Mack McBride
 * The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) - Yellowfork Sheriff Bill Toledo
 * The White Squaw (1956) - Thad Arnold
 * Everything But the Truth (1956) - Sen. Winter
 * Gun for a Coward (1957) - Andy Niven
 * Not of This Earth (1957) - Paul Johnson
 * The Tattered Dress (1957) - Prosecutor Frank Mitchell
 * The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) - Blythe (uncredited)
 * Cheyenne (1957, TV series) - Col. Preston
 * The 27th Day (1957) - Admiral
 * Joe Dakota (1957) - Frank Weaver
 * The World Was His Jury (1958) - Martin Ranker
 * Gunman's Walk (1958) - Bob Selkirk
 * The Restless Gun (1958) Episode "The Torn Flag"
 * Wild Heritage (1958) - Jacob 'Jake' Breslin
 * Queen of Outer Space (1958) - Prof. Konrad
 * The Gun Runners (1958) - Sy Phillips
 * Gunmen from Laredo (1959) - Marshal Matt Crawford
 * Too Soon to Love (1960)
 * Portrait in Black (1960) - Detective Lieutenant
 * Pay or Die (1960) - Mayor
 * The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) - Jonah Mills
 * Two Rode Together (1961) - Judge Edward Purcell
 * Sea Hunt (7th Jan 1961), Season 4, Episode 1, Point of No Return
 * A Public Affair (1962) - Malcomb Hardy
 * The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - Mayor Winder
 * Gunsmoke (1962, TV series) - Jesse Ott
 * It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) - Santa Rosita Police Department Officer at the intersection
 * The Raiders (1963) - Paul King
 * The Glory Guys (1965) - Commanding General
 * Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) - Bill Simpson
 * A Covenant with Death (1967) - Governor
 * Welcome to Hard Times (1967) - Mr. Fee
 * Counterpoint (1968, uncredited)