John Archer (May 8, 1915 – December 5, 1999) was an American movie and television actor.

Born Ralph Bowman in Osceola, Nebraska, Archer moved to California at the age of five. He attended Hollywood High School and the University of Southern California, where he studied cinematography with an eye on a job behind the camera.

When finding work in the field proved difficult, he drifted into acting, working as a radio announcer and actor (including one year in the starring role of Lamont Cranston in "The Shadow") appearing on Broadway in The Day Before Spring, and in film in a number of movie serials for Universal and Republic under his birth name. In a radio contest sponsored by Jesse L. Lasky, he won the top prize, an RKO contract in the name of "John Archer." His screen credits include Hello, Frisco, Hello, Guadalcanal Diary, White Heat, Destination Moon, Rock Around the Clock, Ten Thousand Bedrooms, and Blue Hawaii. In 1971, he was featured in Universal Pictures's movie How to Frame a Figg starring Don Knotts.

Archer appeared in dozens of television series, including Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Millionaire, The Loretta Young Show, Private Secretary, The Bob Cummings Show, Zane Grey Theater, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Sea Hunt, Maverick, The Twilight Zone, Surfside 6, 77 Sunset Strip, Wagon Train, Hawaiian Eye, McHale's Navy, Perry Mason, Bonanza, Mannix, and The Name of the Game.

In 1955, Archer portrayed L.H. Musgrove in the series finale of Jim Davis's syndicated western series, Stories of the Century.

Archer was married twice. From 1941-1955, he was wed to actress Marjorie Lord, thereafter co-star of The Danny Thomas Show. The couple had two children, including daughter Anne. He had two children with his second wife, Ann Leddy, as well, to whom he was married from 1956 until his death from lung cancer in Redmond, Washington.

[edit] External links

• John Archer at the Internet Movie Database
• John Archer at Allmovie

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