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IMDbPro

Claude Akins(1926-1994)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Claude Akins
Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Play trailer2:06
Falling from Grace (1992)
9 Videos
40 Photos
Broad-shouldered and beefy Claude Akins had wavy black hair, a deep booming voice and was equally adept at playing sneering cowardly villains as he was at portraying hard-nosed cops. The son of a police officer, Akins never seemed short of work and appeared in nearly 100 films and 180+ TV episodes in a career spanning over 40 years. He originally attended Northwestern University, and went on to serve with the US Army Signal Corps in World War II in Burma and the Phillipines. Upon returning, he reignited his interest in art and drama and first appeared in front of the camera in 1953 in From Here to Eternity (1953). He quickly began notching up roles in such TV shows as Dragnet (1951), My Friend Flicka (1955), Gunsmoke (1955) and Zane Grey Theatre (1956). He also turned in several strong cinematic performances, such as gunfighter Joe Burdette in the landmark western Rio Bravo (1959), Mack in the excellent The Defiant Ones (1958), Sgt. Kolwicz in Merrill's Marauders (1962) and Earl Sylvester in the gripping The Killers (1964). In the early 1970s Akins turned up in several supernatural TV films playing "no-nonsense" sheriffs in both The Night Stalker (1972) and The Norliss Tapes (1973), and was unrecognizable underneath his simian make-up as war-mongering Gen. Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). Akins continued starring in films and TV right up until the time of his death from cancer in 1994. By all reports a very gregarious, likable and friendly person off screen, Akins was married for over 40 years to Theresa "Pie" Fairfield, and had three children, Claude Marion Jr., Michele & Wendy.
BornMay 25, 1926
DiedJanuary 27, 1994(67)
BornMay 25, 1926
DiedJanuary 27, 1994(67)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Photos40

Claude Akins in McCloud (1970)
Claude Akins and J.D. Cannon in McCloud (1970)
Broderick Crawford, Claude Akins, Gene Reynolds, and Harlan Warde in Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
Claude Akins and Rafael Campos in The Sharkfighters (1956)
Victor Mature, Claude Akins, Philip Coolidge, and James Olson in The Sharkfighters (1956)
Victor Mature, Claude Akins, and Rafael Campos in The Sharkfighters (1956)
Claude Akins, Margo Moore, and Arthur O'Connell in Hound-Dog Man (1959)
John Cassavetes and Claude Akins in The Killers (1964)
Claude Akins in The Killers (1964)
Claude Akins in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Roddy McDowall and Claude Akins in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Claude Akins in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Known for

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
5.4
  • Aldo
  • 1973
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Inherit the Wind
8.1
  • Rev. Jeremiah Brown
  • 1960
John Wayne, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and John Russell in Rio Bravo (1959)
Rio Bravo
8.0
  • Joe Burdette
  • 1959
Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, and Fred MacMurray in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
The Caine Mutiny
7.7
  • Seaman Lugatch aka 'Horrible'
  • 1954

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Twisted Fear (1994)
    Twisted Fear
  • The Search
  • Logan Hall, Sam Hennings, and Leigh Lombardi in Seasons of the Heart (1993)
    Seasons of the Heart
  • Omri Katz in Eerie, Indiana (1991)
    Eerie, Indiana
  • Corbin Bernsen and Mel Harris in Grass Roots (1992)
    Grass Roots
  • Mariel Hemingway, Kay Lenz, and John Mellencamp in Falling from Grace (1992)
    Falling from Grace
  • Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls (1992)
    Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls
  • Where Evil Lives (1991)
    Where Evil Lives
  • Carroll O'Connor and Howard E. Rollins Jr. in In the Heat of the Night (1988)
    In the Heat of the Night
  • The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991)
    The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw
  • Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)
    Hunter
  • Mothers, Daughters and Lovers (1989)
    Mothers, Daughters and Lovers
  • Andy Griffith in Matlock (1986)
    Matlock
  • Pushed Too Far (1988)
    Pushed Too Far
  • If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium (1987)
    If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium

Soundtrack

  • Claude Akins, Frank Converse, and Merle Haggard in Movin' On (1974)
    Movin' On
    • (uncredited)

Videos9

Trailer
Trailer 3:16
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:51
Official Trailer
Comanche Station
Trailer 1:57
Comanche Station
The Curse
Trailer 1:38
The Curse
The Norliss Tapes
Trailer 2:12
The Norliss Tapes
Planet of the Apes Collection
Trailer 2:04
Planet of the Apes Collection
Monster In The Closet
Trailer 2:56
Monster In The Closet
Falling From Grace
Trailer 2:06
Falling From Grace
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Trailer 2:31
Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Personal details

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    • May 25, 1926
    • Nelson, Georgia, USA
    • January 27, 1994
    • Altadena, California, USA(stomach cancer)
    • August 25, 1952 - January 27, 1994 (his death, 3 children)
  • Other works
    (1980s-90s) TV commercial: AAMCO Transmissions.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Served as a Master Sergeant in the US Army Signal Corps during World War II.
  • Quotes
    Between the war movies I've been in and the heavies I've played, I have about 1,000 dead behind me. I've been killed a good many times, but I took a lot of guys with me.
    • The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
      (1979)
      $50,000 per 1 hour episode

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