James Anderson (American actor)

This article is about the American actor. For other people named James Anderson, see James Anderson.

James O. Anderson Jr.^{[citation needed]} (July 13, 1921 – September 14, 1969), sometimes billed as Kyle James and known as Buddy Anderson, was an American television and film actor of the 1950s and 1960s. He is probably best known for his role as Bob E. Lee Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).

James Anderson
Anderson (right) with Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Born	(1921-07-13)July 13, 1921
Died	September 14, 1969(1969-09-14) (aged 48) Billings, Montana, U.S
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1941–1969
Family	Mary Anderson (sister)

Early life

Anderson was born to J. O. Anderson and his wife. His sister was Mary Anderson, who also became an actor.^[1]

In 1938, while attending Shades-Cahaba High School, he played halfback on the football team.^[2] He later studied acting for a year at the University of Alabama.^[3]

Career

After leaving Alabama for Los Angeles, Anderson trained under Max Reinhardt for six months. While there, he starred in the play Zero Hour,^[3] written by George Sklar and Albert Maltz.^[4] Weeks after starring in the play, in November 1940, Anderson signed a contract with Warner Bros.^[3]

He made more than 120 appearances, mostly in television and several films between 1941 and 1969. He made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Frank Anderson in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Pint-Sized Client," and murder victim Stanley Piper in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Ill-Fated Faker." He appeared in a number of westerns throughout his career, often playing a gun-for-hire or outlaw...including "Sanctuary at Crystal Springs", the controversial 1963 episode of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series The Dakotas, that led to the series' cancellation, where he played the main antagonist.^{[citation needed]}. He also appeared on Gunsmoke in 1963, playing outlaw named “Harmon” in S12E7’s “The Wrong Man”. That same year he guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the 1963 episode “Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans” (S1E28).

Death

On September 14, 1969 in Billings, Montana, Anderson died suddenly while on location for Little Big Man. He was survived by his mother and sister.^[5][6]

Legacy

In 2010, Mary Badham, who starred alongside Anderson in To Kill a Mockingbird, praised his method acting style: "[W]hen he walked on the set, he was that character. He gave everybody the willies and we were all intimidated by him".^[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1941	Sergeant York	Eb	Uncredited	[2]
	Dive Bomber	Pilot	Uncredited	[2]
1942	Reap the Wild Wind	Callboy in Café	Uncredited	[2]
1945	Mildred Pierce	Diner Customer	Uncredited
1949	Bride of Vengeance	Guard	Uncredited
	The Great Sinner	Nervous Young Gambler	Uncredited
1950	Johnny One-Eye	Apartment House Switchboard Operator	Uncredited
	The Fireball	Strong Arm Man	Uncredited
	Hunt the Man Down	Richard Kincaid / William H. Jackson
1951	Five	Eric
	Along the Great Divide	Dan Roden		[8]
	The Blue Veil	Jim Tappan	Uncredited
1952	The Last Musketeer	Russ Tasker
	Has Anybody Seen My Gal?	Chauffeur	Uncredited
	The Duel at Silver Creek	Rat Face Blake	As Kyle James
	Hellgate	Vern Brechene	As Kyle James
	The Star	Bailey – Actor playing Jed Garfield in The Fatal Winter	Uncredited
	Ruby Gentry	Jewel Corey
1953	The Great Jesse James Raid	Johnny Dorette
	Arrowhead	Jerry August
	China Venture	Cpl. Walters	Uncredited
	Donovan's Brain	Chief Tuttle
	Flight to Tangier	Dullah
1954	Riot in Cell Block 11	Guard Acton
	Drums Across the River	Jed Walker
	Pushover	Beery—Mechanic	Uncredited
	Dragnet	Fred Kemp	Uncredited
	Private Hell 36	Patrolman in Locker Room	Uncredited
	The Bamboo Prison	Progressive	Uncredited
	They Rode West	Wounded Trooper	Uncredited
	The Violent Men	Hank Purdue	Uncredited
1955	Highway Patrol	Gus Montana	Episode: "Phony Insurance"
	Seven Angry Men	Henry Thompson
	An Annapolis Story	Instructor	Uncredited
	The Marauders	Louis Ferber
	At Gunpoint	Barlow	Uncredited
1956	Inside Detroit	Reller	Uncredited
	Fury at Gunsight Pass	O'Neil
	The Rawhide Years	Deputy Wade
	Tension at Table Rock	Lerner	Uncredited
	Friendly Persuasion	Poor Loser Dunked by Jess	Uncredited
	Running Target	Strothers
	The Rack	Skinny	Uncredited
1957	The Big Land	Bob Cole
	Perry Mason (1957 TV series) (Season 1 Episode 9, “The Case of the Vagabond Vixen”)	Peter Handsell
1958	The Thing That Couldn't Die	Boyd Abercrombie
	As Young as We Are	Barney	Uncredited
	I Married a Monster from Outer Space	Weldon
1962	Pressure Point	Father	Uncredited
	To Kill a Mockingbird	Robert E. Lee "Bob" Ewell		[9]
1966	The Chase	Simmons	Uncredited
1969	Take the Money and Run	Chain Gang Warden
	The Ballad of Cable Hogue	Preacher
1970	Little Big Man	Sergeant	(final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Rawhide	Troxel	S1:E8, "Incident West of Lano"
1961	Rawhide	Morse	S3:E25, "Incident of the Running Man"
1961	Rawhide	Sheriff	S4:E7, "The Black Sheep"
1963	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Vince Cates	Season 1 Episode 28: "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans”
1964	Gunsmoke	Hewitt	S10:E4, "The Violators”
1964	Rawhide	Sheriff	S7:E2, "The Enormous Fist"

References

1. Croft, Lulu (April 10, 1957). "Birmingham star, hubby stop here between dates". The Birmingham News. p. 5. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
2. "Hollywood Star Buys Own Ducat to Game". The Birmingham News. October 19, 1941. p. 19. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
3. "Bebe Anderson's Brother Buddy Goes Into Movies; Warner Bros. Sign Him". The Birmingham Post. November 25, 1940. p. 5. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
4. "'Zero Hour' Due Tonight". Los Angeles Times. November 8, 1940. p. 17. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
5. "Obituaries: James Anderson". Variety. October 1, 1969. p. 79. ProQuest 1014854140. James Anderson, age unreported, screen actor, died suddenly Sept. 14 in Billings, Montana while on location for Cinema Center Films' 'Little Big Man.' Among credits were 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Take the Money and Run.' Mother survives.
6. Noland, Claire (April 8, 2014). "OBITUARIES; MARY ANDERSON, 1918 - 2014; Actress had role in 'Gone With the Wind'". Los Angeles Times. p. AA5. ProQuest 1513289253. Her brother, James, became an actor who specialized in westerns. He died in 1969.
7. Rotstein, Gary (July 4, 2010). "Scout recalls bonding with actors on the set". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. E4. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
8. Caldwell, Lily May (August 3, 1951). "Buddy Anderson steals show from vet actor". The Birmingham News. p. 36. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
9. Nickel, John (2004). "Disabling African American Men: Liberalism and Race Message Films". Cinema Journal. 44 (1): 40. ISSN 0009-7101. Retrieved February 5, 2024.

External links

• James Anderson at IMDb
• James Anderson at Find a Grave
• Jim Anderson entry at Bustersoft blog