Biography
American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company. Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.
Movies & TV Shows
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) — Herbert Carruthers
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The Grapes of Wrath (1940) — Al Joad
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The Lion in Winter (1968) — Bishop of Durham
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The Horse Soldiers (1959) — Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins
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Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) — Mr. Newton
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Two Rode Together (1961) — Lt. Whitehead
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Perry Mason (1957) — Harry Beacom
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Gunsmoke (1955) — Hank Blenis
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Panic in Year Zero! (1962) — Hogan
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The Last Hurrah (1958) — Norman Cass Jr.
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Summer Magic (1963) — Mr. Perkins
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A Song Is Born (1948) — Professor Oddly
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Road House (1948) — Arthur
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Beware, My Lovely (1952) — Mr. Franks
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Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) — Isaac Goodpasture
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The Hoodlum (1951) — Breckenridge
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Comin' Round the Mountain (1951) — Zeke
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Ulysses (1967) — Alexander J. Dowie
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Hazel (1961)
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Ma and Pa Kettle (1949) — Mr. Billings
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The Scarf (1951) — Whoopie
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The Scoundrel (1935) — Calhoun
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Studio One (1948) — Peter Kovalesky
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Suspense (1949) — George Vance
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FBI Girl (1951) — Chauncey
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The San Francisco Story (1952)
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The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947) — Ninny Nat
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Philadelphia, Here I Come (1975) — Ben Burton
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For Men Only (1952) — Prof. Bixby
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Cavalcade of America (1952)
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Journey Into Light (1951) — Lippy
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My Brother Talks to Horses (1947) — Mr. Puddy
- The Body Beautiful (1953) — Oscar Blunt
- Hello, Stranger (1992)