John Craig

A familiar face, if not a familiar name, actor John Craig worked on stage, television and occasionally on screen from the late 1940s on. A tall, handsome, robust performer, he was born Joseph Cline, Jr. in 1928. The son of an insurance executive and former Army man, John received a Bachelor of Science degree from Butler University in Indianapolis, and, for all intents and purposes, was planning on post-graduate work at George Washington University when fate stepped in. At a formal French embassy gathering John sang by chance and was encouraged to try a professional musical career along the lines of an Alfred Drake, Howard Keel or John Raitt. Inspired, he headed to New York and eventually won a role in a touring company of "South Pacific," Broadway's biggest hit at the time. He went on to perform in other plays as well before breaking into TV work on episodes of such established shows as "I Remember Mama." Broadway came his way with the Ethel Merman musical "Happy Hunting" and then an understudy job in the title role of "Li'l Abner" starring Peter Palmer. John eventually replaced Palmer in the popular country bumpkin role. While singing in Las Vegas, he was spotted by a talent scout and signed by the William Morris agency for films and TV. John made the typical rounds in such rugged fare as Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), Surfside 6 (1960), The Rifleman (1958), Rawhide (1959), and Wagon Train (1957), as well as an occasional sitcom like Here's Lucy (1968). Although he worked sporadically in films, including The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961), Shock Corridor (1963), Devil's Angels (1967). The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Sweet Charity (1969), The Late Liz (1971), Homebodies (1974) and Pennies from Heaven (1981), his parts were by and large minor.BG: John would stay true to the theater and was a solid presence for the duration of his career, particularly in musicals. He appeared with both Vivian Blaine and Gale Storm in separate productions of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and performed in "Damn Yankees" with Julie Newmar. He retired in the 1980s and moved to Palm Desert where he has been involved in animal causes.