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IMDbPro

Peter Whitney(1916-1972)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
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Peter Whitney
Trailer for this drama about merchant marines
Play trailer2:16
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
1 Video
16 Photos
Peter Whitney's over-powering frame, swarthy looks, bushy brows and maniacal look in his eye made him one of the most fearsome character actors to lump around in 1940s-60s film and TV.

Born on May 24, 1916 in New Jersey of German ancestry, Peter King Engle was educated at Exeter Academy. He eventually moved to the Los Angeles area and trained with the Pasadena Community Playhouse, gaining valuable experience in summer stock as well. He made a play for films in the early 1940s, deciding also to use his wife Adrienne's middle name for his own stage moniker. He felt his real name sounded too German and might be detrimental to his WWII-era career. He and Adrienne went on to have three children. His mammoth features and pudding-like puss reminded one easily of a Charles Laughton without table manners.

Whitney started his supporting career off promisingly at Warner Bros. at the outbreak of America's involvement in WWII showing potential in such films as Underground (1941), his debut, Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941) and Blues in the Night (1941) as assorted henchmen, cronies and just downright mean guys. Taking part in "A" quality casts such as in Action in the North Atlantic (1943) and Mr. Skeffington (1944), Whitney played two of his most notorious roles at war's end, that of murderous hillbilly twins Mert and Bert Fleagle in the riotous Fred MacMurray comedy Murder, He Says (1945) and as Peter Lorre's seedy partner in the film noir Three Strangers (1946). Whitney broke with Warner Bros. in the post-war years but still yielded some fine entertainment with roles in such "B" fare as The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946), Blonde Alibi (1946), and an odd, romantic turn as Lt. Gates in the creepy Rondo Hatton crimer The Brute Man (1946).

In the mid-1950s, television took over a larger portion of his career. His imposing mug was featured in about every popular western and crime drama there was including "Gunsmoke", "Wagon Train", "The Rifleman", "Bonanza", "Perry Mason", and "Peter Gunn". He finally cut loose a bit and spoofed his own grubby rube image with guest turns on such bucolic series as "Petticoat Junction", and "The Beverly Hillbillies", the latter playing a greedy ne'er-do-well fellow rustic. His obesity contributed to an early fatal heart attack at age 55 in 1972, which robbed Hollywood of a wonderfully unappetizing and scurrilous character actor. In addition to his wife and three children, Whitney was survived by four grandchildren.
BornMay 24, 1916
DiedMarch 30, 1972(55)
BornMay 24, 1916
DiedMarch 30, 1972(55)
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Photos16

Alan Hale and Peter Whitney in Destination Tokyo (1943)
Peter Whitney in Destination Tokyo (1943)
John Garfield, Dane Clark, Tom Tully, and Peter Whitney in Destination Tokyo (1943)
Dana Andrews and Peter Whitney in Canyon Passage (1946)
Timothy Scott, William Watson, and Peter Whitney in In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Peter Whitney in Death Valley Days (1952)
Peter Whitney and Francine York in Death Valley Days (1952)
John Alderson, Marianna Hill, and Peter Whitney in Death Valley Days (1952)
Ronald Reagan and Peter Whitney in Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941)
Alan Hale, Iris Adrian, Dane Clark, Alec Craig, Dick Wessel, and Peter Whitney in Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Kim Novak, John Fiedler, Zero Mostel, and Peter Whitney in The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
Tod Andrews, Keye Luke, Irene Manning, and Peter Whitney in Spy Ship (1942)

Known for

Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat (1953)
The Big Heat
7.9
  • Tierney
  • 1953
Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, and Warren Oates in In the Heat of the Night (1967)
In the Heat of the Night
7.9
  • Courtney
  • 1967
Three Strangers (1946)
Three Strangers
7.0
  • Timothy Delaney aka Gabby
  • 1946
Stewart Granger, Robert Taylor, and Ann Blyth in All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)
All the Brothers Were Valiant
6.2
  • James Finch
  • 1953

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Bob Terry in The Forsaken Westerns (2017)
    The Forsaken Westerns
  • Rod Serling in Night Gallery (1969)
    Night Gallery
  • Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, and Pernell Roberts in Bonanza (1959)
    Bonanza
  • Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)
    Hawaii Five-O
  • San Francisco International Airport (1970)
    San Francisco International Airport
  • Jason Robards and Stella Stevens in The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
    The Ballad of Cable Hogue
  • Mike Connors in Mannix (1967)
    Mannix
  • Joan Blondell, Robert Brown, Bridget Hanley, Bobby Sherman, and David Soul in Here Come the Brides (1968)
    Here Come the Brides
  • Higgins in Petticoat Junction (1963)
    Petticoat Junction
  • James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)
    The Virginian
    • ...
  • Kim Novak, Mako, Zero Mostel, and Clint Walker in The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
    The Great Bank Robbery
  • Darren McGavin in The Outsider (1968)
    The Outsider
  • Susan Strasberg and Christopher Jones in Chubasco (1968)
    Chubasco
  • Tarzan (1966)
    Tarzan
  • The Mothers-In-Law (1967)
    The Mothers-In-Law

Soundtrack

  • Elia Kazan, Jack Carson, Betty Field, Priscilla Lane, and Richard Whorf in Blues in the Night (1941)
    Blues in the Night
    • (uncredited)

Videos1

Action In The North Atlantic
Trailer 2:16
Action In The North Atlantic

Personal details

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    • May 24, 1916
    • Long Branch, New Jersey, USA
    • March 30, 1972
    • Santa Barbara, California, USA(heart attack)
    • January 23, 1948 - March 30, 1972 (his death, 2 children)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Had three children: Christopher, Joan and Kaaren. His daughter Kaaren provided him with four grandchildren.

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