Myron Healey
Encyclopedia
Myron Daniel Healey was an American
actor
. He began his Hollywood, California
, career during the early 1940s in bit parts and minor supporting roles at various studios.
, and served in World War II
as an Air Corps
navigator
and bombardier
, flying in B-26
Martin Marauders in the European Theatre. He continued that military duty, retiring in the early 1960s as a captain in the United States Air Force Reserve.
films. In the post-war period, he was often seen in Monogram
studio films, which starred Johnny Mack Brown
, Jimmy Wakely
and Whip Wilson
.
In the 1950s, Healey moved to more bad guy roles in other films, including the Bomba and Jungle Jim series, crime dramas, and more westerns. Playing a good guy for a change, he was Phyllis Coates
's partner in Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955). During the 1950s and 1960s, he was a frequent performer on such television series as The Adventures of Kit Carson
(1951–1955), in which he guest starred seven times as Captain Bandcroft.
Healey appeared in a string of TV westerns:
Non-western appearances include:
Feature films include:
Healey appeared as Johnny Ringo
in the syndicated
western series Tombstone Territory
, with Pat Conway
as Sheriff
Clay Hollister, in the episode "Johnny Ringo's Last Ride". He was also a semi-regular on shows produced by Gene Autry
's Flying-A production company: Annie Oakley
, Buffalo Bill Jr.
, The Range Rider
, and The Gene Autry Show
. Collectively, Healey appeared in some 140 films, including 81 westerns and 3 serials. Among his non-western films, he appeared in at least two horror films: the Americanized version of the Japanese giant-monster movie Varan the Unbelievable
(1958) and The Incredible Melting Man
(1977).
near his home in Simi Valley, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He began his Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, career during the early 1940s in bit parts and minor supporting roles at various studios.
Early years
Healey was born in Petaluma, CaliforniaPetaluma, California
Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
, and served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as an Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
and bombardier
Bombardier (air force)
A bombardier , in the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force, or a bomb aimer, in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, was the crewman of a bomber responsible for assisting the navigator in guiding the plane to a bombing target and releasing the aircraft's bomb...
, flying in B-26
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
Martin Marauders in the European Theatre. He continued that military duty, retiring in the early 1960s as a captain in the United States Air Force Reserve.
Acting career
Returning to film work after the war, Healey played villains and henchmen in low budget westernWestern (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
films. In the post-war period, he was often seen in Monogram
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
studio films, which starred Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown was an All-American college football player and film actor originally billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career.-Early life:...
, Jimmy Wakely
Jimmy Wakely
James Clarence Wakeley , better known as Jimmy Wakely, was an American country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following World War II...
and Whip Wilson
Whip Wilson
Whip Wilson was an American cowboy film star of the late 1940s and into the 1950s, known for his roles in B-westerns....
.
In the 1950s, Healey moved to more bad guy roles in other films, including the Bomba and Jungle Jim series, crime dramas, and more westerns. Playing a good guy for a change, he was Phyllis Coates
Phyllis Coates
Phyllis Coates is an American film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men, and during the first season of the Adventures of Superman television series.-Early life and career:After graduating from high...
's partner in Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955). During the 1950s and 1960s, he was a frequent performer on such television series as The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Kit Carson is an American Western series that aired in syndication from August 1951 to November 1955, originally sponsored by Coca-Cola. It stars Bill Williams in the title role as frontier scout Christopher "Kit" Carson...
(1951–1955), in which he guest starred seven times as Captain Bandcroft.
Healey appeared in a string of TV westerns:
- Stories of the CenturyStories of the CenturyStories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
(1954) as outlaw Bob DaltonDalton GangThe Dalton Gang, also known as The Dalton Brothers, was a family of both lawmen and outlaws in the American Old West during 1890-1892. They specialized in bank and train robberies. They were related to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James, though they acted later and independently of... - CheyenneCheyenne (TV series)Cheyenne is a western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season...
- Judge Roy BeanJudge Roy Bean (TV series)Judge Roy Bean is a syndicated American Western series starring Edgar Buchanan as the legendary Kentucky-born Judge Roy Bean, a justice of the peace known as "The law west of the Pecos".-Synopsis:...
in four episodes - Sheriff of CochiseSheriff of CochiseSheriff of Cochise , renamed U.S. Marshal , is a 58-episode syndicated western-themed crime drama set in Arizona and starring John Bromfield as law enforcement officer Frank Morgan. In the first two seasons, Morgan was sheriff of Cochise County...
- The Cisco KidThe Cisco Kid (TV series)The Cisco Kid is a half-hour American Western television series starring Duncan Renaldo in the title role, The Cisco Kid, and Leo Carrillo as the jovial sidekick, Pancho...
- State TrooperState Trooper (TV series)State Trooper is a half-hour television crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada State Troopers. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959...
- The Road WestThe Road WestThe Road West is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1966 to May 1, 1967 for twenty-nine episodes with rebroadcasts continuing until August 28. The hour-long series, sponsored by Kraft Foods, aired in the 9 p.m...
- Whispering SmithWhispering Smith (TV series)Whispering Smith is a short-lived American Western series that aired on NBC. Based on a 1948 movie, the series stars Audie Murphy as Tom "Whispering" Smith, a police detective in Denver, Colorado...
- GunsmokeGunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
- Wagon TrainWagon TrainWagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
- BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
- The Adventures of Rin Tin TinThe Adventures of Rin Tin TinThe Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is an American children's television program which originally aired in 166 episodes on ABC from October 1954 until August 1959. It starred child actor Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian raid, who was being raised by the soldiers at a US Cavalry post known...
.
Non-western appearances include:
- TightropeTightrope (TV series)Tightrope is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 1959 to September 1960. Produced by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene in association with Screen Gems, the series stars Mike Connors as an undercover agent named "Nick" who was assigned to infiltrate criminal gangs...
- DanteDante (TV series)Dante is a short-lived NBC adventure/drama television series starring Howard Duff as Willie Dante, a former gambler who operates Dante's Inferno, a San Francisco, California, nightclub. Alan Mowbray co-starred as Stewart Styles, the Maitre d'; Tom D'Andrea as Biff, Dante's "man Friday", and Mort...
- Daniel BooneDaniel Boone (TV series)Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
- Perry MasonPerry Mason (TV series)Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
- Behind Closed DoorsBehind Closed Doors (1958 TV series)Behind Closed Doors is an American drama series set during the Cold War hosted by and occasionally starring Bruce Gordon in the role of Commander Matson. The series, which aired on NBC from October 2, 1958, to April 9, 1959, focuses, among other themes, on how the former Soviet Union stole American...
Feature films include:
- Kansas PacificKansas Pacific (film)Kansas Pacific is a 1953 U.S. Cinecolor western film released by Allied Artists Pictures and directed by Ray Nazarro. It stars Sterling Hayden and Eve Miller. The movie offers a fictionalized account of the struggle to build the Kansas Pacific Railway in the 1860s during the American Civil War...
(1953) - Texas Bad Man (1953)
- Cattle Queen of MontanaCattle Queen of MontanaCattle Queen of Montana is a 1954 American Western film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan. The supporting cast includes Jack Elam, Chubby Johnson, and Morris Ankrum, and the movie was directed by Allan Dwan.-Plot:...
(1954) - The Young Guns (1956)
- Shoot-Out at Medicine BendShoot-Out at Medicine BendShoot-Out at Medicine Bend is a 1957 Western film directed by Richard L. Bare and starring Randolph Scott, James Garner and Angie Dickinson. This was the final film that Scott made with Warner Bros.-Plot synopsis:...
(1957) - The Restless BreedThe Restless BreedThe Restless Breed is a 1957 western film, directed by Allan Dwan and starring Scott Brady and Anne Bancroft.-Cast:*Scott Brady *Anne Bancroft *Jay C. Flippen *Jim Davis *Rhys Williams The Restless Breed is a 1957 western film, directed by Allan Dwan and starring Scott Brady and Anne...
(1957) - Apache TerritoryApache TerritoryApache Territory is a 1958 Western film released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Ray Nazarro and produced by and starring Rory Calhoun. The story is based on the novel Last Stand at Papago Wells by Louis L'Amour.-Plot:...
(1958) - Quantrill's Raiders (1958)
- Cavalry Command (1963)
Healey appeared as Johnny Ringo
Johnny Ringo
John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...
in the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western series Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...
, with Pat Conway
Pat Conway
Patrick Douglas Conway, known as Pat Conway , was an American actor best known for his role as young but tough Sheriff Clay Hollister on the ABC and then syndicated western television series Tombstone Territory . He was a maternal grandson of silent film star Francis X...
as Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Clay Hollister, in the episode "Johnny Ringo's Last Ride". He was also a semi-regular on shows produced by Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
's Flying-A production company: Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley (TV series)
Annie Oakley is an American Western television series which fictionalized the life of famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley. It ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. ABC showed reruns on Saturday and Sunday daytime from 1959–1960 and from 1964-1965...
, Buffalo Bill Jr.
Buffalo Bill Jr.
Buffalo Bill, Jr. is an American Western television series starring Dickie Jones that aired in syndication from March 1, 1955, until September 21, 1956.-Synopsis:...
, The Range Rider
The Range Rider
The Range Rider is an American Western television series that aired in syndication from 1951-1953. A single lost episode was first shown in 1959...
, and The Gene Autry Show
The Gene Autry Show
The Gene Autry Show is an American western/cowboy television series which aired for 91 episodes on CBS from July 23, 1950 until August 7, 1956, originally sponsored by Wrigley's Doublemint chewing gum.-Overview:...
. Collectively, Healey appeared in some 140 films, including 81 westerns and 3 serials. Among his non-western films, he appeared in at least two horror films: the Americanized version of the Japanese giant-monster movie Varan the Unbelievable
Varan the Unbelievable
Varan the Unbelievable, released in Japan as , is a 1958 Kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya , and their last black-and-white monster film. The title character Varan is one of Toho Studios' least-famed creations. Although shown in Japanese-language theaters in the USA, the film...
(1958) and The Incredible Melting Man
The Incredible Melting Man
The Incredible Melting Man is a 1977 American science fiction horror film about an astronaut whose body begins to melt after he is exposed to radiation during a space flight to Saturn, driving him to commit murders and consume human flesh to survive...
(1977).
Death
In 2005, Healey broke his hip in a fall and never recovered. He died at the age of 82 at a hospitalHospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
near his home in Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
.