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Victor French
French in 1977
Born	Victor Edwin French (1934-12-04)December 4, 1934 Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Died	June 15, 1989(1989-06-15) (aged 54) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor director
Years active	1954–1989
Known for	Gunsmoke Highway to Heaven Little House on the Prairie Carter Country
Spouses	Judith Schenz (m. 1959;div. 1975) Julie Cobb ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 1978)​
Children	3

Victor Edwin French (December 4, 1934 – June 15, 1989) was an American actor and director.^[1] He is remembered for roles on the television programsGunsmoke,Little House on the Prairie,Highway to Heaven, andCarter Country.

French appeared with his father in one episode ofGunsmoke, "Prime of Life", and another episode, "The Wishbone", where he was credited as "Victor Frence", both in 1966. Ted French died in 1978.^[2]

French appeared in the war filmThe Quick and the Dead (1963), which was produced by the theatre arts department ofLos Angeles Valley College inVan Nuys, which French attended.^[3][4][5] Also in 1963, he appeared as one of the "Spencer brothers" in the movie that was a forerunner of the television seriesThe Waltons titledSpencer's Mountain starringHenry Fonda andMaureen O'Hara. Both the movie and the series were based upon the same novel byEarl Hamner Jr.

Like his father, French began his television career as astuntman in mostly Westerns and anthology shows. He guest-starred in 39 television series. Though he had an uncredited role as an office clerk in the filmThe Magnificent Seven, French's first real Western role was the 1961 episode "The Noose" of thesyndicated seriesTwo Faces West. French was cast as Larrimore in the episode "Fargo" on theABC/Warner Bros. Western seriesThe Dakotas.^{[citation needed]}

French appeared a record 23 times onGunsmoke, often playing a dangerous or bumbling crook. On October 25, 1971, he portrayed cold-hearted robber and murderer Trafton. French guest-starred in another episode, "Matt's Love Story".

French appeared onThe Waltons a year later. In "The Fulfillment", French playsblacksmith Curtis Norton, whose wife could not have children and subsequently adopts an eight-year-old orphan boy who has come to spend the week on Walton's Mountain.

This led to his being cast in his most well-known role asMr. Edwards inLittle House on the Prairie, beginning in 1974.^[6]

In other work, French starred oppositeElvis Presley in the 1969 Western,Charro!, and played the recurring character Agent 44 in theNBC seriesGet Smart in 1965–1966, where he portrayed anundercover spy who showed up in the worst, most unlikely of places (such as a mailbox or a porthole in a boat), and appeared in a few episodes ofBonanza, withMichael Landon. Shortly before being teamed up once again, French made a guest appearance onKung Fu as a corrupt, bigoted sheriff in 1973. French also guest-starred in episode 24 ("Trial by Fury") of season two ofMission: Impossible, in which he played the informer in a prison. Continuing in that corrupt mode, in 1974 onGunsmoke, he played the part of "Sheriff Bo Harker", a ruthless & murderous town sheriff in "The Tarnished Badge" (S20E9).

In 1976, French appeared in an episode of the Western seriesSara. In 1982, he appeared in the filmAn Officer and a Gentleman as the stepfather of protagonist Paula Pokrifki, played byDebra Winger.

French co-starred withMichael Landon onLittle House on the Prairie (1974–1977, 1981–1984) asIsaiah Edwards. French also directed some episodes of the show.

From 1977 to 1979, he leftLittle House on the Prairie to star as a small-town Georgia police chief inCarter Country.

AfterLittle House on the Prairie, he appeared onHighway to Heaven (1984–1989) as Mark Gordon, co-starring with Landon.^[7]

French had two daughters and a son.^[8]

He died at the age of 54 on June 15, 1989, at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital in Los Angeles, California, three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer while filming the live-action segments forRock-a-Doodle inDublin. The remaining live-action segments for the film were directed byDon Bluth.^[8]Highway to Heaven aired its series finale two months after French’s death.

French was inducted into theWestern Performers Hall of Fame at theNational Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum inOklahoma City.^[9]

• Little House on the Prairie - 18 episodes (1974–1983)
• Gunsmoke - 5 episodes (1974–1975)
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - episode "The Satyr" (1981)
• Dallas - episode "Denial" (1982)
• Little House: Look Back to Yesterday - TV movie (1983)
• Little House: Bless All the Dear Children - TV movie (1984)
• Highway to Heaven - 12 episodes (1984–1986)
• Rock-a-Doodle - co-director (live action segments) (1991)

• Victor French atIMDb
• About Victor French

• 1934 births
• 1989 deaths
• 20th-century American male actors
• American male television actors
• American people of Armenian descent
• Male actors from Santa Barbara, California
• Deaths from lung cancer in California
• American directors
• American male film actors
• Western (genre) television actors

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