Actor

1928-08-23 · United States · Male

40 series in the catalog

John Rollin Lupton (August 23, 1928 – November 3, 1993) was an American film and television actor.

Early years

Lupton was the son of Adelma and Dorothy (née Marsh) Lupton. He developed an interest in drama while he was a student at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wisconsin. He pursued acting via an apprenticeship with a stock theater company in New York, and after graduating he toured with the Strawbridge Children's Theater Company.

Career

After completing his studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Lupton performed with stock companies in Ocean City, New Jersey and Saratoga Springs, New York. He later joined MGM in Hollywood, making his film debut in On the Town in 1949.

He co-starred in 1956 with Fess Parker in Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase. During the 1954–1955 television season, Lupton appeared as a college student in several episodes of the CBS sitcom, The Halls of Ivy. He also played Chris Lambert on the NBC series Fury (1955–1960), Indian agent Tom Jeffords on the TV series Broken Arrow (1956–1958), and Frank on the ABC serial Never Too Young (1965–1966).

In 1959, John Lupton was cast as a struggling writer in The Rebel Set. That same year, he played the historical figure Buffalo Bill Cody in the episode "The Grand Duke" of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days. The episode revolves around the friendship that forms when the skeptical Buffalo Bill Cody was assigned by the United States Army to escort the Grand Duke of Russia on a buffalo hunt in the West. In 1961, John Lupton was cast in another episode of Death Valley Days titled "South of Horror Flats," where he portrayed Pinkerton agent Allen Hodges, who is hired by a ghost-plagued woman to assist her and her gold fortune in traveling to San Francisco.

In 1960, John Lupton guest-starred as Andrew Sykes in the episode "The Triple Cross" of the syndicated crime drama, U.S. Marshal. During the same year, he appeared in other programs, including Sea Hunt, Men into Space, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Gunsmoke as Ben Tolliver and in another role as Carl, as well as Tales of Wells Fargo and Checkmate.

On April 25, 1961, John Lupton portrayed Fred Powers in the episode "Killers' Odds" of NBC's Laramie. In this episode, series character Jess Harper, played by Robert Fuller, encounters Powers, a stranger with a bounty on his head due to a fraudulent charge, as he had killed in self-defense. In 1961, Lupton also took on the role of Dr. John "Buzz" Neldrum in the episode "A Doctor Comes to Town" of the comedy-drama Window on Main Street, which starred Robert Young as an author returning to his hometown after the loss of his wife and child. Additionally, Lupton guest-starred as Amber in the 1961 episode "The Platinum Highway" of ABC's crime drama Target: The Corruptors. He appeared in the 1965 episode "What Television Show Does Your Dog Watch?" of the CBS sitcom The Cara Williams Show and also made an appearance on NBC's Daniel Boone

Lupton later appeared in the 1965 biblical film The Greatest Story Ever Told as the speaker of the town of Capernaum, and as Jesse James in the 1966 cult horror Western, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter.

His later film career included roles in The Day of the Wolves (1971), The Astronaut (1972), Cool Breeze (1972), Napoleon and Samantha (1972), The Slams (1973), The Phantom of Hollywood (1974) and Airport 1975 (1974).

Other film appearances were in Disney's The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) as the race starter, The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper (1976), The Young Runaways (1978) and The Secret of Lost Valley (1980).

He was featured from 1967 to 1980 on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives in a central role Dr. Tom (Tommy) Horton Jr.

Walk of Fame

John Lupton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located on the west side of the 1700 block of Vine Street.

Personal life

On April 7, 1956, Lupton married Anne Sills, and they had a daughter, Rollin. They divorced three years later, and on July 24, 1969, he wed Dian Friml in Las Vegas, Nevada, to whom he was still married at the time of his death.

Death

Lupton died on November 3, 1993, aged 65. His widow, Dian, died of cancer in 2005, aged 69. He was cremated, with his family receiving his ashes.