One of the most beloved actors of all, James Gregory was born December 23, 1911, in the Bronx and grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y. In high school, he was elected president of the Drama Club. He went to work on Wall Street as a runner shortly after the 1929 crash. James Gregory performed in drama groups and achieved pro status as a summer stock player in 1935. He performed in plays throughout New York, New Jersey and Maryland. His troupe of performers toured small towns in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, towing a trailer full of theatre props; they performed in school gyms, churches and YMCAs, earning $25 for a week of one-night stands. In 1939, James Gregory made his Broadway debut in a production of "Key Largo". Over the next 16 years, he performed in approximately 25 Broadway productions. (His career was interrupted by W.W.II; he served for 3 years in the Navy and Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days on Okinawa.) One good thing that came out of the war years is that he married Anne in 1944, and they would stay together always. During his Broadway career, James Gregory earned consistently favorable reviews by drama critics from the New York Press, Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. James Gregory did a few TV spots as early as 1951, and in 1955 he made the transition from the Broadway stage to live television. The following year, after a couple of earlier uncredited movie appearances, he would also begin his movie career in earnest. He worked steadily throughout the early years of TV, working for major live television productions from New York to Hollywood. In 1959, James Gregory made television history by costarring in the pilot episode of the The Twilight Zone (1959); the episode "Where Is Everybody?" concerning the relevant topic of the USA winning the space race by sending a manned spaceship to the moon sold the series. James Gregory would play Dean Martin's exasperated boss MacDonald in the first 3 of the Matt Helm movies: The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). But he won his biggest acclaim as Inspector Frank Luger for the entire run of the TV series Barney Miller (1974) (1975-1982). This was his signature role; as the Inspector, he would be lovable, irritating, ingratiating, exasperating and humorous, sometimes all at the same time. He was Barney's buddy for 7 years, and the series ended with the Inspector getting himself a mail-order bride. James Gregory retired from acting in 1983, with over 100 TV and movie credits. He has entertained, uplifted and captivated us with his performances. He has endeared himself to a legion of fans. When asked to define his life's work, he simply said, "I am an actor". Fans would disagree with him. James Gregory is so much more -- role model and inspiration.
Movie | 4/20 Massacre | The Shape | 2018-04-03 |
Movie | Hail, Caesar! | Slave (uncredited) | 2016-02-05 |
Movie | Fist of the Warrior | Man with bat | 2007-06-04 |
Movie | Blood Revenge | Marshall | 1998-01-01 |
Movie | Carnival of Souls | Headless demon | 1998-08-21 |
Movie | Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home | Dan Peters | 1983-01-17 |
Movie | The Flight of Dragons | Bryagh / Smrgol (voice) | 1982-08-17 |
Movie | Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood | Leo Hackett | 1981-02-19 |
Movie | The Comeback Kid | Scotty | 1980-04-11 |
Movie | Gridlock | Gen. Caribou Caruthers | 1980-10-02 |
Movie | The Main Event | Gough | 1979-06-22 |
Series | Detective School | 1979-07-31 | |
Movie | The Bastard | Will Campbell | 1978-05-22 |
Series | Flying High | Unknown | 1978-09-29 |
Series | The Love Boat | Unknown | 1977-09-24 |
Series | All's Fair | Unknown | 1976-09-20 |
Series | Quincy, M.E. | Unknown | 1976-10-03 |
Movie | Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident | James Donovan | 1976-09-29 |
Series | Barney Miller | Unknown | 1975-01-23 |
Movie | The Strongest Man in the World | Chief Blair | 1975-02-06 |
Series | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Unknown | 1974-09-13 |
Series | Police Story | Unknown | 1973-03-20 |
Movie | Miracle on 34th Street | District Attorney | 1973-12-14 |
Movie | A Very Missing Person | Oscar Piper | 1972-03-04 |
Series | Emergency! | Unknown | 1972-01-22 |
Series | The Paul Lynde Show | Unknown | 1972-09-13 |
Movie | The Marshal of Madrid | Oil Tycoon | 1972-01-01 |
Series | Sanford and Son | Unknown | 1972-01-14 |
Movie | The Weekend Nun | Sid Richardson | 1972-12-21 |
Series | Search | Unknown | 1972-09-13 |
Series | The Streets of San Francisco | Unknown | 1972-09-23 |
Series | M*A*S*H | Unknown | 1972-09-17 |
Movie | The Million Dollar Duck | Rutledge | 1971-06-30 |
Series | All in the Family | Unknown | 1971-01-12 |
Movie | Shoot Out | Sam Foley | 1971-07-02 |
Movie | The Late Liz | Sam Burns | 1971-09-01 |
Series | Columbo | David Buckner) | 1971-09-15 |
Series | Cannon | Unknown | 1971-09-14 |
Series | McCloud | Unknown | 1970-02-17 |
Movie | Beneath the Planet of the Apes | Ursus | 1970-04-23 |
Series | Night Gallery | Unknown | 1970-12-16 |
Series | The Headmaster | Unknown | 1970-09-18 |
Movie | The Hawaiians | Dr. Whipple Sr. (uncredited) | 1970-06-17 |
Movie | The Love God? | Darrell Evans Hughes | 1969-08-01 |
Series | My World and Welcome to It | Unknown | 1969-09-15 |
Series | The Outsider | Unknown | 1968-09-18 |
Series | Premiere | Unknown | 1968-07-01 |
Movie | Cocoon | Jonathan Kaye | 1968-09-20 |
Movie | The Secret War of Harry Frigg | Gen. Homer Prentiss | 1968-02-29 |
Series | Hawaii Five-O | Unknown | 1968-09-20 |
Series | Lancer | Unknown | 1968-09-24 |
Series | The Mod Squad | Unknown | 1968-09-24 |
Series | The Outcasts | Unknown | 1968-09-23 |
Series | Cimarron Strip | Unknown | 1967-09-07 |
Series | Ironside | Unknown | 1967-03-28 |
Series | Judd for the Defense | Unknown | 1967-09-08 |
Movie | The Hunted | Buckman | 1967-10-05 |
Series | The High Chaparral | Unknown | 1967-09-10 |
Movie | The Ambushers | MacDonald | 1967-12-22 |
Movie | Clambake | Duster Heyward | 1967-12-04 |
Series | Tarzan | Unknown | 1966-09-08 |
Movie | The Silencers | MacDonald | 1966-02-18 |
Series | That Girl | Unknown | 1966-09-08 |
Movie | Murderers' Row | MacDonald | 1966-12-20 |
Series | Star Trek | Dr. Tristan Adams | 1966-09-08 |
Series | Mission: Impossible | Unknown | 1966-09-17 |
Series | F Troop | Unknown | 1965-09-14 |
Movie | The Sons of Katie Elder | Morgan Hastings | 1965-06-23 |
Movie | Quick, Before It Melts | Vice Admiral | 1965-01-20 |
Series | The Wild Wild West | Unknown | 1965-09-17 |
Series | The Big Valley | Unknown | 1965-09-15 |
Movie | A Rage to Live | Dr. O'Brien | 1965-10-20 |
Series | The F.B.I. | Unknown | 1965-09-19 |
Series | The Loner | Unknown | 1965-09-18 |
Series | Hogan's Heroes | Unknown | 1965-09-17 |
Movie | A Distant Trumpet | Maj. Gen. Alexander Upton Quaint | 1964-05-20 |
Series | Daniel Boone | Unknown | 1964-09-24 |
Series | The Lieutenant | Unknown | 1963-09-14 |
Movie | PT 109 | Commander C.R. Ritchie | 1963-06-26 |
Series | The Fugitive | Unknown | 1963-09-17 |
Series | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Unknown | 1963-10-10 |
Movie | Captain Newman, M.D. | Col. Edgar Pyser | 1963-12-25 |
Movie | Twilight of Honor | Norris Bixby | 1963-11-13 |
Movie | Two Weeks in Another Town | Brad Byrd | 1962-08-17 |
Series | Sam Benedict | Unknown | 1962-09-15 |
Series | The Virginian | Unknown | 1962-09-19 |
Movie | The Manchurian Candidate | Sen. John Yerkes Iselin | 1962-10-24 |
Series | The Dick Powell Show | Unknown | 1961-09-26 |
Series | Target: The Corruptors! | Unknown | 1961-09-29 |
Series | The New Breed | Unknown | 1961-10-03 |
Movie | X-15 | Tom Deparma | 1961-12-22 |
Series | Ben Casey | Unknown | 1961-10-02 |
Series | Thriller | Unknown | 1960-09-13 |
Series | My Three Sons | Unknown | 1960-09-29 |
Movie | Al Capone | Schaefler (narrator) | 1959-03-25 |
Series | The Lawless Years | Barney Ruditsky | 1959-04-16 |
Series | Rawhide | Unknown | 1959-01-09 |
Series | The Twilight Zone | Air Force General | 1959-10-02 |
Movie | Hey Boy! Hey Girl! | Father Burton | 1959-08-05 |
Series | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Unknown | 1959-09-21 |
Series | Laramie | Unknown | 1959-09-15 |
Movie | A Town Has Turned to Dust | Hennify | 1958-06-19 |
Movie | Underwater Warrior | Lt. William Arnold | 1958-02-14 |
Series | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Unknown | 1958-10-06 |
Movie | Onionhead | Lt. Cmdr. Fox aka The Skipper | 1958-10-25 |
Movie | The Young Stranger | Sergeant Shipley | 1957-02-01 |
Movie | The Big Caper | Flood | 1957-03-28 |
Movie | Gun Glory | Grimsell | 1957-07-19 |
Movie | The Scarlet Hour | Ralph Nevins | 1956-04-01 |
Movie | Nightfall | Ben Fraser | 1956-11-09 |
Series | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Unknown | 1955-10-02 |
Series | Gunsmoke | Unknown | 1955-09-10 |
Series | Playwrights '56 | Unknown | 1955-10-04 |
Movie | At This Moment | Bill Ritter | 1954-01-01 |
Series | Inner Sanctum | Unknown | 1954-01-09 |
Series | Climax! | Unknown | 1954-10-07 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Unknown | 1953-02-01 |
Series | Letter to Loretta | Unknown | 1953-09-20 |
Movie | The Frogmen | Chief Petty Officer Lane | 1951-01-25 |
Series | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Unknown | 1951-10-05 |
Series | Danger | Unknown | 1950-09-26 |
Series | Robert Montgomery Presents | Unknown | 1950-01-30 |
Series | Lux Video Theatre | Unknown | 1950-10-02 |
Series | Suspense | Unknown | 1949-01-06 |
Movie | The Naked City | Patrolman Albert Hicks (uncredited) | 1948-03-04 |
Series | Studio One | Unknown | 1948-11-07 |
Series | The Philco Television Playhouse | Unknown | 1948-10-03 |