Matinee Classics - Richard Jaeckel Biography & Filmography

Richard Jaeckel ACTOR

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RICHARD JAECKEL BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Richard Jaeckel was a famous American actor who appeared in television and film for fifty years. He was born in Long Beach, New York, on October 10, 1926. When he was in his teens, his family relocated to Los Angeles, California. After graduating from Hollywood High School at seventeen, Jaeckel was discovered by a casting director while employed as a mail carrier for 20th Century Fox. In need of a fresh faced young man to play an inexperienced marine private in “Guadalcanal Diary” (1943), Fox found themselves giving Jaeckel a screen test. Reluctantly, he accepted the job and was soon cast in the movie. However, he did so well in his debut that he continued to appear in numerous supporting roles, as well as some lead ones.

His next film, “Wing and a Prayer” (1944) was also a war movie. Ironically, after his first two roles, Jaeckel took a break from pretending to be a soldier and enlisted to serve in the Navy during World War II. However, he was back four years later with “Jungle Patrol” (1948), portraying a lieutenant. The actor continued to appear in more war films like “Battleground” (1949) with Van Johnson and “Sands of Iwo Jima” (1949) with John Wayne. He also performed in a number of westerns such as “The Gunfighter” (1950) and “Apache Ambush” (1955). In 1952 he won praise for his part in the award winning “Come Back, Little Sheba”, co starring Shirley Booth. Jaeckel‘s other prominent involvements in films include in the Golden Globe winning “Town Without Pity” (1962) starring Kirk Douglas and the Oscar winning “The Dirty Dozen” (1967) starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, George Kennedy, Telly Savales, Clint Walker, Donald Sutherland, John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson and Jim Brown. In 1970, the actor gave one of his most prestigious performances, alongside Paul Newman, for “Sometimes a Great Notion”. His humorous but tragic acting earned him an Oscar nomination in 1971 for Best Supporting Actor. Jaeckel’s last three feature films were “Ghetto Blaster” (1989), “The King of the Kickboxers” (1990), and “Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection” (1990).

While he was in nearly seventy pictures, he was more prominent in television, appearing in over one hundred and ten different TV shows. His television debut as a lead character was in “Frontier Circus”, which lasted only one season: 1961 to 1962. He had one or two time guest appearances more often though, like on “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1961), “Have Gun - Will Travel” (1962) starring Richard Boone, and “Bonanza” (1962, 1967). Jaeckel began to act in television movies in 1965, with “Luke and the Tenderfoot”. Following, he performed in over ten made for TV films, not limited to “Born Innocent” (1974), “Kit Carson and the Mountain Men” (1977), and “The $5.20 an Hour Dream” (1985). His final small screen picture, “The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission” (1985), was a continuation to another one of his critically acclaimed movies: “The Dirty Dozen”. Furthermore, in 1974 the actor started appearing regularly on the short lived ABC show “Firehouse”. Then, in 1979, he co-starred as an FBI agent on the also short lived series “Salvage 1” (1979). His second to last regular role on a television show was in the crime/drama “Spencer For Hire” from 1985 to 1987. He stayed with the show for the greatest amount of episodes: forty seven. Most recently, and lastly, he played Lt. /Captain Ben Edwards on the hit drama “Baywatch” from 1989 to 1994 for a duration of thirty episodes which also starred Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff. This show was his final contribution to television.

After “Baywatch”, the actor was unable to continue pursuance of his career, as he was beginning a battle with cancer. Richard Jaeckel passed away three years later with melanoma on June 14, 1997. The seventy year old died while rightfully in the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He died with one award, a Golden Boot, given to him in 1992 by the Motion Picture & Television Fund for his contributions to the western genre.

Filmography

1993 Martial Outlaw

1991 China Beach

1990 The King of the Kickboxers

1989 Baywatch

1989 Ghetto Blaster

1988 Supercarrier

1987 Murder, She Wrote

1986 Black Moon Rising

1985 Spencer For Hire

1985 The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission

1985 Cover Up

1984 Starman