Starting out as a child actor in silent films--he made his film debut at five years of age in
The Sunbeam (1916), but didn't make another film for almost 30 years, in 1943's
This Is the Army (1943)--Warner Anderson appeared
in burlesque and vaudeville as a teenager, and enjoyed a career in
Broadway plays. His
no-nonsense demeanor and commanding voice served him well in playing
corporate executives, judges, army officers and other authority
figures. His most famous role, however, was as the detective paired
with
Tom Tully in the early TV series
The Lineup (1954), the pilot of
which was directed by
Don Siegel and
was so well received it was released as a feature film. In contrast to
his usual upstanding--if somewhat stern--roles, Anderson turned in a
first-rate performance as a cowardly, treacherous and murderous soldier
in the
Gregory Peck western
Only the Valiant (1951).
He made his last film in 1966--an uncredited part in
The Bubble (1966)--and then turned to television. He died of cancer in Santa Monica, CA, in 1976.
The Rockford Files(1974)as Alfred Bannister
Ironside(1967)as Matty Millane
Mannix(1967)as Prof. Thompson
O'Hara, U.S. Treasury(1971)as Harley Buchanan
Bearcats!(1971)as Mr. Huddleston
The Ed Sullivan Show(1948)as Self
The Cinematographer(1951)as Narrator
City at Night(1949)as Self (1950)
Let's Go to the Movies(1949)as Self - Narrator
Compression(1995)as Self
Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us(2005)as Dr. Charles Cargraves
Hollywood and the Stars(1963)as Capt. Blakely (clip from The Caine Mutiny (1954))
