Victor Edwin French (December 4, 1934 â€" June 15, 1989) was an
American actor and director. He is remembered for roles on the
television programs Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven and
Carter Country.Born in Santa Barbara, California, to an Armenian
mother and Ted French, an actor and stuntman who appeared in westerns
in the 1940s, French later appeared with his father in one episode of
Gunsmoke, titled "Prime Of Life", in 1966, as well as a war film in
1963 called The Quick and The Dead which was produced by the Theatre
Arts department of Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys which Victor
French attended. Ted French died in 1978.Following in his father's
footsteps, French also began his television career as a stuntman in
mostly westerns and anthology shows. During this period, he guest
starred in some thirty-nine television series. Though he had an
uncredited role as an office clerk in the film The Magnificent Seven,
French's first real western role was the 1961 episode "The Noose" of
the syndicated series Two Faces West; his fellow guest star on the
segment was L.Q. Jones, another actor destined to become well known in
western roles. French was cast as Larrimore in the episode "Fargo" on
the ABC/Warner Brothers western series The Dakotas.French appeared
twenty-three times on Gunsmoke, often playing a crook, whether
dangerous or bumbling. On October 25, 1971, he portrayed a
cold-hearted gunman named "Trafton" who, while robbing the communion
vessels in a Roman Catholic church, murders a priest. As the clergyman
lies dying, he forgives his killer, a development which dogs Trafton,
who holds human life in low regard, for the entire episode until he is
shot to death by Marshal Matt Dillon. French guest starred in another
episode, titled Matt's Love Story, in which Dillon falls in love with
a character played by Michael Learned.
American actor and director. He is remembered for roles on the
television programs Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven and
Carter Country.Born in Santa Barbara, California, to an Armenian
mother and Ted French, an actor and stuntman who appeared in westerns
in the 1940s, French later appeared with his father in one episode of
Gunsmoke, titled "Prime Of Life", in 1966, as well as a war film in
1963 called The Quick and The Dead which was produced by the Theatre
Arts department of Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys which Victor
French attended. Ted French died in 1978.Following in his father's
footsteps, French also began his television career as a stuntman in
mostly westerns and anthology shows. During this period, he guest
starred in some thirty-nine television series. Though he had an
uncredited role as an office clerk in the film The Magnificent Seven,
French's first real western role was the 1961 episode "The Noose" of
the syndicated series Two Faces West; his fellow guest star on the
segment was L.Q. Jones, another actor destined to become well known in
western roles. French was cast as Larrimore in the episode "Fargo" on
the ABC/Warner Brothers western series The Dakotas.French appeared
twenty-three times on Gunsmoke, often playing a crook, whether
dangerous or bumbling. On October 25, 1971, he portrayed a
cold-hearted gunman named "Trafton" who, while robbing the communion
vessels in a Roman Catholic church, murders a priest. As the clergyman
lies dying, he forgives his killer, a development which dogs Trafton,
who holds human life in low regard, for the entire episode until he is
shot to death by Marshal Matt Dillon. French guest starred in another
episode, titled Matt's Love Story, in which Dillon falls in love with
a character played by Michael Learned.
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