Tristram Chockley Coffin (August 13, 1909 â€" March 26, 1990) was a
film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s,
usually in westerns or other B-Movie action-adventure
productions.Coffin was born in the gold and silver mining community of
Mammoth in central Utah and reared in the state capital of Salt Lake
City. His mother was actress Elizabeth Christie, and his uncle was
writer Robert P. T. Coffin.He began acting while he was in high school
and thereafter joined traveling stock companies. He earned a Bachelor
of Arts degree in speech from the University of Washington at Seattle,
Washington. He worked as a news analyst and sportscaster until spotted
by a Hollywood talent scout. His stolid looks were said to have served
him well in his later roles.[according to whom?]In 1940, Coffin
appeared as Phillips in Chasing Trouble, a comedy espionage film. He
is perhaps best known for his role as Jeff King in Republic Pictures'
King of the Rocket Men (1949), the first of three serials starring the
"Rocketman" character. During the 1940s and into the early 1950s
Coffin appeared in other movie serials, including Dick Tracy's G-Men
(1939), Jesse James Rides Again (1947), Bruce Gentry (1949), Pirates
of the High Seas (1950), Mysterious Dr. Satan (1940), Sky Raiders
(1941), Holt of the Secret Service (1941), Perils of Nyoka (1942),
Federal Agents vs. the Underworld (1949), and Radar Patrol vs. Spy
King (1950).
film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s,
usually in westerns or other B-Movie action-adventure
productions.Coffin was born in the gold and silver mining community of
Mammoth in central Utah and reared in the state capital of Salt Lake
City. His mother was actress Elizabeth Christie, and his uncle was
writer Robert P. T. Coffin.He began acting while he was in high school
and thereafter joined traveling stock companies. He earned a Bachelor
of Arts degree in speech from the University of Washington at Seattle,
Washington. He worked as a news analyst and sportscaster until spotted
by a Hollywood talent scout. His stolid looks were said to have served
him well in his later roles.[according to whom?]In 1940, Coffin
appeared as Phillips in Chasing Trouble, a comedy espionage film. He
is perhaps best known for his role as Jeff King in Republic Pictures'
King of the Rocket Men (1949), the first of three serials starring the
"Rocketman" character. During the 1940s and into the early 1950s
Coffin appeared in other movie serials, including Dick Tracy's G-Men
(1939), Jesse James Rides Again (1947), Bruce Gentry (1949), Pirates
of the High Seas (1950), Mysterious Dr. Satan (1940), Sky Raiders
(1941), Holt of the Secret Service (1941), Perils of Nyoka (1942),
Federal Agents vs. the Underworld (1949), and Radar Patrol vs. Spy
King (1950).
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