Paul Fix | |
|---|---|
 Fix in a dual role in a 1962 episode ofThe Rifleman as "Charming Billy" Carraway | |
| Born | Peter Paul Fix (1901-03-13)March 13, 1901 Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 14, 1983(1983-10-14) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1925–1981 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Harry Carey Jr. (son-in-law) |
Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and televisioncharacter actor who was best known for his work inWesterns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career between 1925 and 1981. Fix portrayed Marshal Micah Torrance, oppositeChuck Connors's character inThe Rifleman from 1958 to 1963. He later appeared with Connors in the 1966 Western filmRide Beyond Vengeance.
Fix born to Wilhelm Fix and Louise Walz on March 13, 1901 inDobbs Ferry, New York. His father was a brewer from Germany.[1]
Following the United States' entry intoWorld War I in April 1917, Fix joined theNational Guard, initially serving inPeekskill, New York. After three months of duty there, he deserted and enlisted in theU.S. Army. After serving atFort Slocum for three months, he again deserted and then enlisted in theU.S. Navy and was stationed inProvidence, Rhode Island. While serving in the Navy, Fix was recruited to perform on stage in a Navy Relief Organization production of the comic operaH.M.S. Pinafore. Later, he served as ahospital corpsman aboard ships transporting American troops to and from Europe, and continued that assignment until he was officially discharged from military service on September 5, 1919.[2]
Following the war, Fix became a busy character actor, starting in local productions in New York. By the 1920s, he had moved to Hollywood, and in the 1930s, he becameJohn Wayne's friend. He was Wayne's acting coach and eventually appeared as a featured player in many of Wayne's films.[3][4]
Fix worked in early films such asLucky Star (1929) withJanet Gaynor andCharles Farrell andLadies Love Brutes (1930), and became a regular performer for the film's director,Frank Borzage, eight more times. Fix later appeared as Richard Bravo inThe Bad Seed (1956),The Sea Chase (1955) andGiant (1956), portrayingElizabeth Taylor's father.
Fix appeared as the presiding judge inTo Kill a Mockingbird (1962), as the sheriff inThe Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and with Wayne inEl Dorado (1966). In 1972, he was cast in the filmNight of the Lepus, and the following year, he portrayed Pete Maxwell inPat Garrett and Billy the Kid withJames Coburn. In 1979, he appeared inWanda Nevada. Fix cowrote the screenplay for Wayne's filmTall in the Saddle.[5]
Fix had a recurring role as Marshal Micah Torrance onABC's Western seriesThe Rifleman, which was broadcast from 1958 to 1963.[6]
On Christmas Day 1958, Fix appeared in the episode "Medal for Valor" onCBS'sDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Fix plays a businessman who hires a desperate man to substitute for his son in the draft, later to interfere with the man's homesteading rights when it threatens his son's political aspirations.
Fix guest-starred on the short-lived detective seriesMeet McGraw,[citation needed] onRory Calhoun's Western seriesThe Texan onCBS and onJohn Payne's Western seriesThe Restless Gun onNBC.
In 1957, Fix appeared as General Phil Sheridan in an episode ofTales of Wells Fargo with actor Dale Robertson, star of the series. Fix played the historical role ofU.S. PresidentZachary Taylor in the 1960 episode "That Taylor Affair" of the NBC Western series,Riverboat, withDarren McGavin.Arlene Dahl was cast in this episode as Lucy Belle.[7]
In 1961, Fix appeared as Ramsey Collins in the series finale, "Around the Dark Corner", of the NBCcrime dramaDante. That same year, he played Dr. Abel in the episode "The Haven" onThe DuPont Show with June Allyson. His other television credits includeAdventures of Superman (1953–1954, withAnthony Caruso andElisha Cook Jr.) and the adventure series,Northwest Passage.
Fix played Dr. Mark Piper in the second pilot episode ofStar Trek, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". When the first season was filmed, his character was replaced byLeonard McCoy, played byDeForest Kelley.[8][9]
Fix made five appearances as District Attorney Hale onPerry Mason (1957–1963), showing great skill as an examiner who did not ask objectionable questions unlikeHamilton Burger, who often experienced a judge's ire for asking leading questions. He guest-starred on such television series asRawhide (1959),Wagon Train (1962),The Twilight Zone (1964),The F.B.I. (1965–1973),Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1966),The Time Tunnel (1966),The Wild Wild West (1966–1967),Gunsmoke (1967),Daniel Boone (1969),Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (1971),The Rockford Files episode "The House on Willis Avenue" (as Joe Tooley), and two episodes ofThe Streets of San Francisco, one in 1973 and again in 1975, each a different character/storyline. He appeared on the NBC seriesKentucky Jones (1964) as Judge Perkins in the episode "Spare the Rod". He played an aging suicidal novelist named Maxwell Hart on theEmergency! fourth-season episode "Kidding", where paramedic John Gage, played byRandolph Mantooth, was in charge of a small group of intellectual 10- and 11-year-old school children on a tour of Rampart General Hospital. In 1974, he made an appearance as an old friend of Steve Austin's in the TV seriesThe Six Million Dollar Man in the episode "Population Zero". He also appeared as Kronus, a retired fleet commander on the originalBattlestar Galactica.
Fix played the hardy pioneerJames Briton "Brit" Bailey in the 1969 episode "Here Stands Bailey" ofDeath Valley Days.
In 1922 Fix married Frances Harvey, and the couple had one daughter. They divorced in 1945. He married his second wife, Beverly Pratt, on August 20, 1949. She died on November 13, 1979.[1]
His daughter Marilyn married actorHarry Carey Jr., in 1944, and they had four children.[3][10][11]
Fix died ofkidney failure in Los Angeles at the age of 82.[10] He is buried beside his second wife at Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica.[1]
