Classic Film Club

RICHARD WEBB

Richard Webb

Richard Webb

Biography

BIO

Richard Webb was born in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1915.

He made his Broadway debut in 1934, at the age of 19.   He appeared in his first film, at the age of 26, for Paramount in 1941.

Webb went on to appear in over 50 films.   His last film role was in 1977.

Webb also appeared in many television guest roles and was the star of the TV series Captain Midnight (1954-1956).   He also co-starred in Border Patrol (1959).

In the 1970s Webb became a writer and published four books on psychic phenomena.

He married Elizabeth Sterns in 1942. They had two children and were divorced in 1948.   He also had two children with his second wife, Florence Mendelsohn, whom he married in 1949.

Webb committed suicide by gunshot after suffering a long-term respiratory illness, in Los Angeles, in 1993.   He was 77 years old.


Films

NOTED FILMS

Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels
  • Sullivan's Travels
  • 1941
  • A wealthy film director decides to find out what it's like to be poor. Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake star.

This Gun for Hire

This Gun for Hire
  • This Gun for Hire
  • 1942
  • After he finds he’s been framed, a contract killer goes after his client. Along the way, he kidnaps a girl and uses her to help him through some tough spots.

Out of the Past

Out of the Past
  • Out of the Past
  • 1947
  • Robert Mitchum stars as a gas station owner getting on with his life when a man from the past shows up and coerces him back to make amends. Jacques Tourneur directs.

Sands of Iwo Jima

Sands of Iwo Jima
  • Sands of Iwo Jima
  • 1949
  • This re-telling of the famous World War II South Pacific battle for an island controlled by the Japanese is from the point of view of a squad of Marines. Actual battle footage is interspersed amongst the staged scenes. John Wayne stars.
Full filmography at:

Television

TV SERIES

Captain Midnight

Captain Midnight
  • Captain Midnight
  • 1954-1956
  • as Captain Midnight
  • CBS

Border Patrol

Border Patrol
  • Border Patrol
  • 1959
  • as Deputy Chief Don Jagger