John Richard Erdman (June 1, 1925 â€" March 16, 2019) was an American
character actor and occasional film and television director. He
appeared in more than 160 films, and television productions between
1944 and 2017, mostly in supporting roles. He is most known for his
roles in the classic films, Stalag 17 (1953), and Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970). More recently, he is known for the recurring role Leonard in
the critically acclaimed comedy series Community (2009â€"2015).Erdman
was born John Richard Erdmann in Enid in northern Oklahoma. His mother
was Allie J. Erdman. His parents divorced during his childhood.
Erdman, his sibling, and his mother moved to Colorado Springs when he
was a teenager. He graduated from Palmer High School, where he would
perform on stage. During his youth, he worked as a paper boy for the
Colorado Springs Evening Telegraph. A stage director named Newton
Winburne encouraged him to try his luck in Hollywood.Erdman started
his career at Warner Bros. where he signed a studio contract. Two of
his first roles were in the films Mr. Skeffington, starring Bette
Davis and Claude Rains and Janie, starring Joyce Reynolds. After a few
smaller roles he achieved success as a character actor in supporting
roles. In a career that spanned seven decades, his best-known roles
are that of the barracks chief Hoffy in Stalag 17, and the garrulous,
tedious barfly McNulty in the Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a
Stopwatch". He also appeared in The Men (1950) with Marlon Brando and
the film noir Cry Danger (1951) with Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming.
In Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) he played Colonel Edward F. French, the
officer who responded to the failure to transmit the warning to Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.He has guest starred in a wide variety of shows such as
Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Dick
Van Dyke Show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, The
Beverly Hillbillies, Here's Lucy, That Girl, The Six Million Dollar
Man, The Bionic Woman, One Day at a Time, Lou Grant, Quincy, M.E.,
Cheers, and Murder, She Wrote.
character actor and occasional film and television director. He
appeared in more than 160 films, and television productions between
1944 and 2017, mostly in supporting roles. He is most known for his
roles in the classic films, Stalag 17 (1953), and Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970). More recently, he is known for the recurring role Leonard in
the critically acclaimed comedy series Community (2009â€"2015).Erdman
was born John Richard Erdmann in Enid in northern Oklahoma. His mother
was Allie J. Erdman. His parents divorced during his childhood.
Erdman, his sibling, and his mother moved to Colorado Springs when he
was a teenager. He graduated from Palmer High School, where he would
perform on stage. During his youth, he worked as a paper boy for the
Colorado Springs Evening Telegraph. A stage director named Newton
Winburne encouraged him to try his luck in Hollywood.Erdman started
his career at Warner Bros. where he signed a studio contract. Two of
his first roles were in the films Mr. Skeffington, starring Bette
Davis and Claude Rains and Janie, starring Joyce Reynolds. After a few
smaller roles he achieved success as a character actor in supporting
roles. In a career that spanned seven decades, his best-known roles
are that of the barracks chief Hoffy in Stalag 17, and the garrulous,
tedious barfly McNulty in the Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a
Stopwatch". He also appeared in The Men (1950) with Marlon Brando and
the film noir Cry Danger (1951) with Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming.
In Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) he played Colonel Edward F. French, the
officer who responded to the failure to transmit the warning to Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.He has guest starred in a wide variety of shows such as
Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Dick
Van Dyke Show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, The
Beverly Hillbillies, Here's Lucy, That Girl, The Six Million Dollar
Man, The Bionic Woman, One Day at a Time, Lou Grant, Quincy, M.E.,
Cheers, and Murder, She Wrote.
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