Will Wright

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. William Henry "Will" Wright (March 26, 1894, San Francisco, California - June 19, 1962, Los Angeles, California) was an American character actor. He was frequently cast in westerns and in curmudgeonly roles. Over the course of his career, Wright appeared in more than 200 film and television roles. He started his acting career in vaudeville and later moved to the stage, then on to movies, radio, and television. Among the films in which Wright appeared are Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), The Major and the Minor (1943), So Proudly We Hail! (1943), Road to Utopia (1946), Mother Wore Tights (1947), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), Little Women (1949), Walk Softly, Stranger (1950), Sunset in the West (1950), People Will Talk (1951), The Happy Time (1952), River of No Return (1954), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Jeanne Eagels (1957), and Gunman's Walk (1958). One of his most famous and memorable film roles was corrupt city official Dolph Pillsbury in the Academy Award-winning All the King's Men (1949). Wright provided the voice of Friend Owl in Walt Disney's animated film Bambi (1942). He guest starred on several television series. Will Wright died of cancer in 1962.

Known For: Acting

Born: San Francisco, California, USA, 1894-03-25

Died: 1962-06-19

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1934	Pure Feud	Lem (uncredited)	0
2	1935	It's A Small World	Courtroom spectator (uncredited)	45
3	1940	Blondie Plays Cupid	Mr. Tucker	67
4	1940	You, the People	Mr. Roberts	57
5	1941	Maisie Was a Lady	Judge Thatcher (Uncredited)	68
6	1941	Cracked Nuts	Sylvanus Boogle	0
7	1941	The Richest Man in Town	Frederick Johnson	0
8	1941	Blossoms in the Dust	Senator	65
9	1941	Honky Tonk	Townsman at Meeting House	64
10	1941	Mob Town	Pawnbroker (uncredited)	0
11	1941	Nothing But the Truth	Mr. Bart Prichard (uncredited)	71
12	1941	The Tell-Tale Heart	Second Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)	65
13	1941	Shadow of the Thin Man	Maguire - Nervous Ticket Seller (uncredited)	70
14	1942	USS VD: Ship of Shame	Commandant (uncredited)	44
15	1942	Bambi	Friend Owl (voice) (uncredited)	70
16	1942	Shut My Big Mouth	Jim Long	100
17	1942	Saboteur	J.C. Lormans - Company Official (uncredited)	69
18	1942	The Postman Didn't Ring	Mr. Slade	0
19	1942	Tales of Manhattan	Old Concertgoer (Laughton sequence) (uncredited)	62
20	1942	Wildcat	John 'Paw' Smithers	60
21	1942	A Letter From Bataan	Mr. Limpert	45
22	1942	The Major and the Minor	Ticket Agent #1 (uncredited)	70
23	1942	Tennessee Johnson	Alderman (uncredited)	61
24	1943	The Meanest Man in the World	Pawn Shop Owner (uncredited)	64
25	1943	Cowboy in Manhattan	Higgins	0
26	1943	The Good Fellows	Brother from Danville (uncredited)	0
27	1943	Sleepy Lagoon	Cyrus Coates	45
28	1943	So Proudly We Hail	Colonel Clark (Uncredited)	55
29	1943	Here Comes Elmer	Horace Parrot	0
30	1943	In Old Oklahoma	Doctor	63
31	1944	The Navy Way	Baldy - Triangle A Ranch Hand (uncredited)	57
32	1944	You Can't Ration Love	Judge Cary - Justice of the Peace (uncredited)	0
33	1944	Take It Big	Rodeo Judge (uncredited)	0
34	1944	Wilson	Hughes Campaign Orator in Maine (uncredited)	55
35	1944	The Town Went Wild	Judge Harry Schrank (uncredited)	50
36	1944	Dangerous Passage	Postal Clerk (uncredited)	49
37	1944	Practically Yours	Sen. Cowling (uncredited)	0
38	1945	Grissly's Millions	John Frey	60
39	1945	High Powered	Jeff Hines	0
40	1945	Fall Guy	Mr. Nedsen, Parkson's Attorney (uncredited)	0
41	1945	Salome, Where She Danced	Sheriff	37
42	1945	Rhapsody in Blue	Rachmaninoff	64
43	1945	You Came Along	Col. Dale V. Armstrong (uncredited)	70
44	1945	Bewitched	Mr. Herkheimer	53
45	1945	The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry	Mr. Nelson	63
46	1945	State Fair	Hog Judge (uncredited)	66
47	1945	The Loose Nut	Construction Worker (voice)	70
48	1945	Scarlet Street	Globe Loan Office Manager (uncredited)	76
49	1946	Prospecting for Petroleum	The Professor (voice)	0
50	1946	The Madonna's Secret	The Riverman	59
51	1946	Road to Utopia	Mr. Latimer (uncredited)	66
52	1946	The Hoodlum Saint	Allan 'Knucklehead' Smith - Times Editor (uncredited)	52
53	1946	Johnny Comes Flying Home	Foreman (uncredited)	0
54	1946	Apple Andy	Devil	62
55	1946	The Blue Dahlia	"Dad" Newell	66
56	1946	They Made Me a Killer	Henry, the Blacksmith	56
57	1946	Without Reservations	Pullman Conductor (uncredited)	63
58	1946	One Exciting Week	Otis Piper	60
59	1946	Who's Cookin Who?	Wolfie Wolf (voice)	78
60	1946	Hot Cargo	Tim Chapman	0
61	1946	Rendezvous with Annie	Elmer Snodgrass	60
62	1946	The Inner Circle	Henry Boggs	52
63	1946	Down Missouri Way	Prof. Morris	0
64	1946	Big Town	Station Agent (uncredited)	48
65	1946	The Reckless Driver	Wally Walrus (voice)	73
66	1946	The Jolson Story	Sourpuss Movie Patron (uncredited)	67
67	1946	Blue Skies	Dan - Stage Manager (uncredited)	60
68	1946	Fair Weather Fiends	Wolfie Wolf (voice)	73
69	1947	California	Chairman (uncredited)	65
70	1947	Blaze of Noon	Mr. Thomas	40
71	1947	The Long Night	Mr. Tully - the Janitor (uncredited)	58
72	1947	Danger Street	Police Chief Bullward	40
73	1947	The Trouble with Women	Commissioner (uncredited)	0
74	1947	Keeper of the Bees	Dr. Grayson	0
75	1947	Uncle Tom's Cabana	Uncle Tom (uncredited)	53
76	1947	Mother Wore Tights	Withers (uncredited)	53
77	1947	Cynthia	Gus Wood, Thatcher's Real Estate Rep	59
78	1947	Along the Oregon Trail	Jim Bridger	0
79	1947	Wild Harvest	Mike Alperson	0
80	1948	Speaking of Animals: Home Sweet Home	Babirusa / Pig (voice)	0
81	1948	California's Golden Beginning		0
82	1948	Jingle, Jangle, Jingle	Pop Williams	0
83	1948	The Inside Story	J. J. Johnson	65
84	1948	Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House	Eph Hackett (uncredited)	70
85	1948	So This Is New York	Uncle Fergus (uncredited)	60
86	1948	Green Grass of Wyoming	Jake Willis	66
87	1948	Relentless	Sam - the Horse Dealer	62
88	1948	Black Eagle	Sheriff Clancy	60
89	1948	The Walls of Jericho	Dr. Patterson (uncredited)	57
90	1948	Disaster	Pop Hansford	50
91	1948	An Act of Murder	Judge Jim Wilder	68
92	1948	Whispering Smith	Sheriff McSwiggin	65
93	1949	Act of Violence	Pop	69
94	1949	Little Women	Mr. Grace (uncredited)	74
95	1949	The Green Promise	Mr. Grenstedt	66
96	1949	Big Jack	Will Farnsworth	60
97	1949	Grape Nutty	Crow (Voice)	0
98	1949	The Price of Freedom	McTrees	0
99	1949	Lust for Gold	Parsons (uncredited)	59
100	1949	Brimstone	Martin Tredwell	65
101	1949	Miss Grant Takes Richmond	Roscoe Johnson (uncredited)	54
102	1949	They Live by Night	Mobley	68
103	1949	All the King's Men	Dolph Pillsbury	70
104	1949	Adam's Rib	Judge Marcasson	71
105	1949	Mrs. Mike	Dr. McIntosh	20
106	1950	House by the River	Inspector Sarten	67
107	1950	A Ticket to Tomahawk	Marshal Kit Dodge	58
108	1950	The Savage Horde	Judge Thomas Cole	58
109	1950	No Way Out	Dr. Cheney - Coroner (uncredited)	69
110	1950	Sunset in the West	Sheriff Tad Osborne	78
111	1950	Walk Softly, Stranger	Jake, Poker Player (uncredited)	50
112	1950	Dallas	Judge Harper	64
113	1951	Vengeance Valley	Mr. Willoughby	53
114	1951	My Forbidden Past	Luther Toplady	57
115	1951	Excuse My Dust	Race judge	72
116	1951	Never Trust a Gambler	Cap Douglas (uncredited)	54
117	1951	The Tall Target	Thomas Ogden (uncredited)	68
118	1951	People Will Talk	Uncle John Higgins (uncredited)	71
119	1952	The Las Vegas Story	Mike Fogarty	58
120	1952	Young Man with Ideas	Party Guest (uncredited)	47
121	1952	Paula	Raymond Bascom	65
122	1952	Lydia Bailey	Consul (uncredited)	61
123	1952	Lure of the Wilderness	Sheriff Brink	60
124	1952	Holiday for Sinners	The Man with a Cigar	55
125	1952	O. Henry's Full House	Manager (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)	65
126	1952	O. Henry's Full House	Hotel Desk Clerk (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)	65
127	1952	The Happy Time	Family Doctor	63
128	1953	Niagara	Boatman	68
129	1953	The Last Posse	Todd Mitchell	60
130	1953	The Wild One	Art Kleiner	66
131	1954	River of No Return	Trader (uncredited)	67
132	1954	Johnny Guitar	Ned - Bank Teller (uncredited)	74
133	1954	The Raid	Josiah Anderson	65
134	1955	Atomic Energy as a Force for Good	Tim Summers	0
135	1955	Not as a Stranger	Mr. Roberts (uncredited)	62
136	1955	The Kentuckian	John Decker (uncredited)	57
137	1955	The Tall Men	Gus - Bartender (uncredited)	63
138	1955	The Man with the Golden Arm		71
139	1955	The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell	Admiral William S. Sims	68
140	1956	These Wilder Years	Old Cab Driver	63
141	1957	The Iron Sheriff	Judge	62
142	1957	The Wayward Bus	Van Brunt	58
143	1957	Johnny Tremain	Ephraim Lapham	58
144	1957	Jeanne Eagels	Marshal (uncredited)	63
145	1958	The Missouri Traveler	Sheriff Marvin Peavy	64
146	1958	Quantrill's Raiders	Judge Wood	45
147	1958	Gunman's Walk	Judge	67
148	1958	Rock-a-Bye Baby	Fire Chief (uncredited)	68
149	1959	Alias Jesse James	Titus Queasley	59
150	1959	The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock	Pentagon General	59
151	1960	Inherit the Wind	Bible Salesman (uncredited)	77
152	1961	The Deadly Companions	Doctor Acton	57
153	1961	Twenty Plus Two	Newspaper morgue attendant	60
154	1962	Cape Fear	Dr. Pearsall	74
155	1964	Fail Safe	Bit Part (uncredited)	78

Television

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1949	The Lone Ranger	Uncle Ed	68
2	1950	The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show	Judge Kramer	68
3	1951	The Living Christ	Annas	50
4	1951	The Living Christ	Herod The Great	50
5	1951	The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok		45
6	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Pop	70
7	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars		70
8	1951	I Love Lucy	Mr. Walters	80
9	1951	I Love Lucy	Sheriff	80
10	1951	Dragnet		65
11	1952	Four Star Playhouse	Willie	61
12	1952	Four Star Playhouse	Scupper	61
13	1952	Cavalcade of America	George's Father	35
14	1952	The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet	Mr. Jackson	61
15	1953	General Electric Theater		60
16	1953	You Are There		57
17	1953	General Electric Theater	Jake Marley	60
18	1953	General Electric Theater	McCrain	60
19	1953	General Electric Theater	Grandpaw	60
20	1953	Letter to Loretta	Father Gourdian	62
21	1954	Lassie	Caleb Brown	61
22	1954	December Bride		55
23	1955	The Millionaire	Grandpa Costello	50
24	1955	The 20th Century Fox Hour	Judge O'Neill	52
25	1956	Hey, Jeannie!	McClish	55
26	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	King - Newspaper Editor	55
27	1957	Official Detective		0
28	1957	Sugarfoot	Charlie Cade	48
29	1957	Sugarfoot	John Chamberlain	48
30	1957	Sugarfoot	Job Turner	48
31	1957	Perry Mason	James Vardon	77
32	1957	Perry Mason	Adam Thompson	77
33	1957	Perry Mason	Chuck Clark	77
34	1957	Maverick		68
35	1957	Maverick	General Hoyt Bosco	68
36	1957	Maverick	Jabe Hallock	68
37	1957	Maverick	General Eakins	68
38	1957	Maverick	Sheriff Chester Bentley	68
39	1957	The Real McCoys		57
40	1957	Trackdown		64
41	1957	Leave It to Beaver	Pete at Firehouse #7	70
42	1958	Bronco		48
43	1958	The Donna Reed Show	Oliver	63
44	1958	Lawman		54
45	1958	Bat Masterson	Billy Willow	63
46	1958	77 Sunset Strip	Luther Hanks	67
47	1959	Rawhide	Grandfather	72
48	1959	Riverboat	J.C. Sickel	62
49	1959	Dennis the Menace	Merrivale	67
50	1959	Mr. Lucky	The Leadville Kid	70
51	1960	The Tall Man		63
52	1960	Thriller	Constable Tom Walker	64
53	1960	Pete and Gladys		65
54	1960	Outlaws		62
55	1960	The Andy Griffith Show	Ben Weaver	76
56	1961	Mister Ed	Mr. Thompson	67
57	1961	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Sam Petrie	74