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.
Movie | The Lion in Winter | Bishop of Durham | 1968-10-30 |
Movie | Summer Magic | Mr. Perkins | 1963-07-07 |
Movie | The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance | Herbert Carruthers | 1962-04-13 |
Movie | Panic in Year Zero! | Hogan | 1962-07-05 |
Movie | Two Rode Together | Lt. Whitehead | 1961-05-24 |
Series | Hazel | Unknown | 1961-09-28 |
Movie | The Horse Soldiers | Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins | 1959-06-11 |
Series | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Unknown | 1958-10-06 |
Movie | The Last Hurrah | Norman Cass Jr. | 1958-12-31 |
Movie | Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! | Isaac Goodpasture | 1958-12-23 |
Series | Perry Mason | Unknown | 1957-09-21 |
Series | Gunsmoke | Unknown | 1955-09-10 |
Series | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Unknown | 1955-10-02 |
Movie | The San Francisco Story | 1952-05-11 | |
Movie | For Men Only | Prof. Bixby | 1952-01-11 |
Movie | We're Not Married! | Jeff's Postman (uncredited) | 1952-07-11 |
Movie | Beware, My Lovely | Mr. Franks | 1952-08-29 |
Series | Cavalcade of America | Unknown | 1952-10-01 |
Movie | Feudin' Fools | Yancy Smith | 1952-09-21 |
Movie | The Scarf | Whoopie | 1951-04-06 |
Movie | The Hoodlum | Breckenridge | 1951-07-05 |
Movie | Comin' Round the Mountain | Zeke | 1951-07-26 |
Movie | FBI Girl | Chauncey | 1951-11-04 |
Movie | One Way Street | Gas Station Proprietor (uncredited) | 1950-04-01 |
Series | Suspense | Unknown | 1949-01-06 |
Movie | Ma and Pa Kettle | Mr. Billings | 1949-04-01 |
Series | Studio One | Unknown | 1948-11-07 |
Movie | Road House | Arthur | 1948-09-22 |
Movie | The Pirate | Hurtada (uncredited) | 1948-06-11 |
Movie | A Song Is Born | Professor Oddly | 1948-10-19 |
Movie | My Brother Talks to Horses | Mr. Puddy | 1947-02-04 |
Movie | The Romance of Rosy Ridge | Ninny Nat | 1947-08-04 |
Movie | The Grapes of Wrath | Al Joad | 1940-03-15 |
Movie | The Scoundrel | Calhoun | 1935-04-30 |