Actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the stern Dave Walker in the cult classic "Attack of the Giant Leeches" (1959). After attaining his degree in communications from the State University of Illinois, he originally began his career as a director and screenwriter for WBKB. While directing an episode of "Chicagoland Mystery Players", he was discovered by film director Roger Corman who was in the area attending a film conference. Impressed by his dark good looks, professionalism, and dry sense of humor, he took notice of his potential and he arranged for him to begin a secondary career in the film industry as an actor going on to appear in over 80 features, often typecast as husbands, fathers, blue-collared guys, eccentrics, battle-axe neighbors, landlords, alcoholics, con-artists, cowboys, bartenders, guards, curmudgeons, clergymen, politicians, doctors, lawyers, educators, agents, waiters, servants, chauffeurs, reporters, detectives, hitmen, aristocrats, wealthy bachelors, and patriarchs. He appeared in such feature films as "The System" (1953), "Bait" (1954), "Rails into Laramie" (1954), "Kismet" (1955), "The Oklahoma Woman" (1956), "Gunslinger" (1956), "Rock All Night" (1957), "War of the Satellite" (1958), "I Mobster" (1959), "A Bucket of Blood" (1959), "Valley of the Redwoods" (1960), "Night Tide" (1961), "Patty" (1962), "The Haunted Palace" (1963), "Curse of Stone Hand" (1965), "Single Room Furnished" (1966), "The Perils of Pauline" (1967), "A Man Called Dagger" (1968), "Bunny O'Hare" (1971), and "Wild Rovers" (1971). During the advent of television, he became a familiar face appearing in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Passport to Danger," "I Led 3 Lives," "The Adventures of Jim Bowie," "Tightrope," "The Tall Man," "Leave It to Beaver," "The Rebel," "Follow the Sun," "The Hathaways," "The Untouchables," "My Mother the Car," "Daniel Boone," "Branded," "Hondo," "Bonanza," "Hogan's Heroes," "Mission: Impossible," "It Takes a Thief," "McMillian & Wife," and "Kojak." During his career, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, was supportive of the California State Democratic Committee, was one of the founding members of the Canyon Theatre Guild, was a chairman for his local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs, and he was married to fellow actress Jebbie VeSota from 1953 until his death (their union produced eight children). In 1974, he withdrew from acting and went on to enjoy a successful career as a communications instructor for the UCLA, where he taught for two years until his demise for the complications of a heart attack.