Henry Earl Holliman (born September , ) is an American actor, animal
rights activist and singer known for his many character roles in
films, mostly westerns and dramas, in the s and s. He won a Golden
Globe Award for the film The Rainmaker () and portrayed Sergeant Bill
Crowley on the television police drama Police Woman throughout its â€"
run.Earl Holliman was born on September , , in Delhi in Richland
Parish, located within northeastern Louisiana. Holliman's biological
father, William A. Frost (-), a farmer, died seven months prior to his
birth, and his biological mother, Mary Frost Smith (-), living in
poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at
birth. Earl was the seventh out of ten children overall, all of whom,
like himself, were sent to various orphanages, and in later years he
was able to reconnect and establish relationships with them. He was
adopted a week after his birth by Henry Holliman (-), an oil-field
worker, and his wife, Velma (-), a waitress, who then gave him the
name Henry Earl Holliman. Although the Holliman's living conditions
and family history have strong ties to Louisiana during Earl's teenage
years, he and his family lived in Kerrville, Texas for a period of
time as well as some parts of Arkansas (a fact, in which he was once
noted later on as being a "red-blooded Ark-La-Texan").Holliman's early
years were normal until his father died when he was . Earl credited
his parents with providing him with so much love and encouragement
growing up as their only child and helping him look within himself to
discover his self-confidence in converting his dreams into realism. In
addition, when Earl began his career in films, Velma was so supportive
of him she once even went to a theatre in their home state of
Louisiana an hour before it opened just so she could be the first
attendee present there to not only see her son in his first major role
appearance but to also work with the theatre manager, show columnist,
and a friend of the family who knew Earl from his schoolboy days, to
go through a vast set of stills for that particular film so she could
begin the composition of an album for him reflecting the start of his
professional career as an actor.He saved money from his position
ushering at the Strand Theatre, as well as from also being a newsboy
for the Shreveport Times and a magician's assistant, and then left
Louisiana hitchhiking to Hollywood. After an unsuccessful first
attempt finding work in the film industry, he soon returned to
Louisiana after being out in California for only one week. Meanwhile,
his adoptive mother had remarried, and Earl disliked his new
stepfather, Guy Bellotte (-). He lied about his age and enlisted in
the United States Navy during World War II. Assigned to a Navy
communications school in Los Angeles, he spent his free time at the
Hollywood Canteen, talking to stars who dropped by to support the
servicemen and women. A year after his enlistment, the Navy discovered
his real age and he was immediately discharged.
rights activist and singer known for his many character roles in
films, mostly westerns and dramas, in the s and s. He won a Golden
Globe Award for the film The Rainmaker () and portrayed Sergeant Bill
Crowley on the television police drama Police Woman throughout its â€"
run.Earl Holliman was born on September , , in Delhi in Richland
Parish, located within northeastern Louisiana. Holliman's biological
father, William A. Frost (-), a farmer, died seven months prior to his
birth, and his biological mother, Mary Frost Smith (-), living in
poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at
birth. Earl was the seventh out of ten children overall, all of whom,
like himself, were sent to various orphanages, and in later years he
was able to reconnect and establish relationships with them. He was
adopted a week after his birth by Henry Holliman (-), an oil-field
worker, and his wife, Velma (-), a waitress, who then gave him the
name Henry Earl Holliman. Although the Holliman's living conditions
and family history have strong ties to Louisiana during Earl's teenage
years, he and his family lived in Kerrville, Texas for a period of
time as well as some parts of Arkansas (a fact, in which he was once
noted later on as being a "red-blooded Ark-La-Texan").Holliman's early
years were normal until his father died when he was . Earl credited
his parents with providing him with so much love and encouragement
growing up as their only child and helping him look within himself to
discover his self-confidence in converting his dreams into realism. In
addition, when Earl began his career in films, Velma was so supportive
of him she once even went to a theatre in their home state of
Louisiana an hour before it opened just so she could be the first
attendee present there to not only see her son in his first major role
appearance but to also work with the theatre manager, show columnist,
and a friend of the family who knew Earl from his schoolboy days, to
go through a vast set of stills for that particular film so she could
begin the composition of an album for him reflecting the start of his
professional career as an actor.He saved money from his position
ushering at the Strand Theatre, as well as from also being a newsboy
for the Shreveport Times and a magician's assistant, and then left
Louisiana hitchhiking to Hollywood. After an unsuccessful first
attempt finding work in the film industry, he soon returned to
Louisiana after being out in California for only one week. Meanwhile,
his adoptive mother had remarried, and Earl disliked his new
stepfather, Guy Bellotte (-). He lied about his age and enlisted in
the United States Navy during World War II. Assigned to a Navy
communications school in Los Angeles, he spent his free time at the
Hollywood Canteen, talking to stars who dropped by to support the
servicemen and women. A year after his enlistment, the Navy discovered
his real age and he was immediately discharged.
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