Milburn Stone

actor, soundtrack

Milburn Stone was born on Jul 05, 1904 in USA. Milburn Stone's big-screen debut came with Ladies Crave Excitement directed by Nick Grinde in 1935, strarring Sailor (uncredited). Milburn Stone is known for Gunsmoke directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, James Arness stars as Matt Dillon and Milburn Stone as Doc. Milburn Stone has got 4 awards and 1 nominations so far. The most recent award Milburn Stone achieved is Western Heritage Awards. The upcoming new movie Milburn Stone plays is The Private War of Major Benson which will be released on Dec 02, 1955.

Character actor Milburn Stone, the beloved "Doc Adams" on TV's long-running western classic Gunsmoke (1955), was born in Kansas on July 5, 1904. Acting must have been in his blood as the nephew of Broadway comedian Fred Stone for Milburn left home as a teenager to find work with touring repertory troupes. Emulating his famous uncle Fred, he appeared in vaudeville as part of a song-and-dance team called "Stone and Strain."Following a minor appearance on Broadway in "The Jayhawkers," Milburn moved to Los Angeles in 1935 to try his luck in films. He toiled for years in mostly unbilled parts for 'poverty row' Monogram Pictures and a few major studios, apprenticing in a number of background roles as both benign fellows (clerks, reporters, sailors, detectives) and bad guys (convicts, robbers, henchmen) in such films as La joyeuse aventure (1935), The Fighting Marines (1935), Une princesse est à bord (1936), Saint-Louis Blues (1936) and On lui donna un fusil (1937)Out of the blue he would occasionally nab a heroic film lead in films as the crime drama Federal Bullets (1937) and The Judge (1949) or serial thrillers as The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944) and The Master Key (1945), then would invariably go right back to unbilled status in his very next role. One memorable featured part (which was also unbilled) was as debater Stephen A. Douglass in John Ford's Vers sa destinée (1939). In addition he played a regular support role as pal/co-pilot "Skeeter Milligan" in the "Tommy Tailspin" airborne film quickies Mystery Plane (1939), Sky Patrol (1939) and Danger Flight (1939).Other higher visible support roles occurred in such films as the Roy Rogers western Colorado (1940), as well as La femme gorille (1943), The Frozen Ghost (1945), Roadblock (1951), Mardi, ça saignera! (1954), La rivière de la dernière chance (1955). He also went on to appear in a couple of John Ford's later features such as Simone Bär and Ce n'est qu'un au revoir... (1955).When the crusty but lovable role of "Doc Adams" finally landed at his feet in 1955, Milburn was only too appreciative to experience a steady paycheck. He became an "overnight" star and, along with Matt Dillon's James Arness, earned an Emmy Award for "supporting actor" and stayed a citizen of Dodge City throughout its entire 20-year run (500 episodes). In 1971, Stone was temporarily sidelined by a heart attack and briefly replaced by another "doc" played by Pat Hingle. The ever-durable Stone missed only seven episodes, however, and did return on a more limited bases.Fully retired to his ranch in 1975 after the show's cancellation, he was eventually awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College in (of course) Dodge City, Kansas. Married to Jane Garrison, the 75-year-old veteran died of a heart attack on June 12, 1980 in La Jolla, California. His wife passed away much later in 2002.