O. Z. Whitehead
American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company. Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.
Known For
Credits
- 1968 · The Lion in Winter as Bishop of Durham
- 1963 · Summer Magic as Mr. Perkins
- 1962 · Panic in Year Zero! as Hogan
- 1962 · The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance as Herbert Carruthers
- 1961 · Hazel as
- 1961 · Two Rode Together as Lt. Whitehead
- 1959 · The Horse Soldiers as Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins
- 1958 · The Last Hurrah as Norman Cass Jr.
- 1958 · Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! as Isaac Goodpasture
- 1958 · Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as
- 1957 · Perry Mason as Harry Beacom
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Mr. Newton
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Simms
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Hank Blenis
- 1953 · The Body Beautiful as Oscar Blunt
- 1952 · Cavalcade of America as
- 1952 · Beware, My Lovely as Mr. Franks
- 1952 · The San Francisco Story as Alfey
- 1952 · The San Francisco Story as
- 1952 · For Men Only as Prof. Bixby
- 1951 · FBI Girl as Chauncey
- 1951 · Journey Into Light as Lippy
- 1951 · Comin' Round the Mountain as Zeke
- 1951 · The Hoodlum as Breckenridge
- 1951 · The Scarf as Whoopie
- 1949 · Ma and Pa Kettle as Mr. Billings
- 1949 · Suspense as George Vance
- 1948 · Studio One as Peter Kovalesky
- 1948 · A Song Is Born as Professor Oddly
- 1948 · Road House as Arthur
- 1947 · The Romance of Rosy Ridge as Ninny Nat
- 1947 · My Brother Talks to Horses as Mr. Puddy
- 1940 · The Grapes of Wrath as Al Joad
- 1935 · The Scoundrel as Calhoun