Don Keefer obit

 

Don Keefer, Who Was Turned Into a Jack-in-the-Box on ‘The Twilight Zone,’ Dies at 98

The actor was in 'Caine Mutiny,' 'Sleeper' and the original 'Death of a Salesman' on Broadway

He was not on the list.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Keefer created and performed the titular role in An Evening With Anton Chekhov, a one-man show based on the writer’s early comedic works, at such venues as the Fringe Theater Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. That led to an invitation to visit Stanislavski’s Moscow Arts Theater as part of a State Department-sponsored cultural exchange program during the Cold War.

A native of Highspire, Pa., Keefer was a regular on the short-lived 1960-61 Desilu CBS series Angel, featuring French starlet Annie Fargue; had fun as a beatnik musician on The Jack Benny Show; was Mission Control Director Cromwell on an episode of Star Trek; and appeared in multiple installments of Gunsmoke (twice with his wife), Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Andy Griffith Show.

He guest-starred on dozens of other series, including Have Gun, Will — Travel, Bonanza, The Real McCoys, Bewitched, The Munsters, Mission: Impossible, Starsky and Hutch, Ben Casey, The F.B.I., Columbo, ER and Highway to Heaven.

Actor Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and his sister, Mary McCarthy — author of the 1963 best-selling novel The Group — served as best man and matron of honor at the Keefers’ 1950 wedding, and actor Montgomery Clift was there too, as a guest.

Keefer’s survivors include two other sons, John and Thomas, and grandchildren Bryson and Samantha.

Films roles

 

Death of a Salesman (1951) - Bernard

The Girl in White (1952) - Dr. Williams

Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) - Reporter

The Caine Mutiny (1954) - Court Stenographer - Yeoman 1st Class (uncredited)

The Human Jungle (1954) - Detective Cleary

Six Bridges to Cross (1955) - Sherman

An Annapolis Story (1955) - Air Officer (uncredited)

Away All Boats (1956) - Ensign Twitchell

Hellcats of the Navy (1957) - Jug

Torpedo Run (1958) - Ensign Ron Milligan

Cash McCall (1960) - Junior Partner (uncredited)

The Clown and the Kid (1961) - Moko

Incident in an Alley (1962) - Roy Swanson

The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966) - Over-Vain Spy (uncredited)

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) - Irving Christiansen

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - Fireman

Gaily, Gaily (1969) - (uncredited)

R.P.M. (1970) - Dean George Cooper

Rabbit, Run (1970) - Mr. Springer

The Grissom Gang (1971) - Doc Grissom

Walking Tall (1973) - Dr. Lamar Stivers

The Young Nurses (1973) - Chemist

Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973) - Mr. Parsons

The Way We Were (1973)

Sleeper (1973) - Doctor Tryon

Candy Stripe Nurses (1974) - Dr. Wilson

Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) - Bailey Associate

The Car (1977) - Dr. Pullbrook

Fire Sale (1977) - Banker

Mirrors (1978) - Peter

The Kid from Not-So-Big (1978) - Hank 'Gramps' Goodman

The Last Word (1979) - Mayor Wenzel

Creepshow (1982) - Mike the Janitor (segment "The Crate")

The Marrying Man (1991) - Justice #3

Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter (1991) - Grandpa Ball

Liar Liar (1997) - Beggar at Courthouse (final film role)

Western roles

Keefer's Gunsmoke appearances included three half-hour episodes and seven full one-hour broadcasts that aired from 1957-1973

"Wrong Man" (13 April 1957) - as the character Sam Rickers

"Bad Sheriff" (7 January 1961) - Chet

"Coventry" (17 March 1962) - Rankin

"Quint-Cident" (27 April 1963) - Nally

"The Pariah" (17 April 1965) - Newspaper editor

"Taps for Old Jeb" (16 October 1965) - Milty Sims

"Champion of the World" (24 December 1966) - Wally

"Gentry's Law" (12 October 1970) - Floyd Babcock

"Waste: Part 1" (27 September 1971) - Drunk

"Kitty's Love Affair" (22 October 1973) - Turner

Keefer appeared in more than a dozen other western series

Gunsmoke as Sam (robber) in Bad Sheriff" (CBS, 1960)

Wagon Train in "The Tom Tuckett Story" (NBC, 1960)

Hotel de Paree as Red Porterfield in "Sundance and the Barren Soil" (CBS, 1960)

Rawhide as Hames in "Incident of the Druid Curse" (CBS, 1960)

Have Gun - Will Travel, three episodes (CBS, 1957–1960)

Whispering Smith as Dr. Johnson in "The Deadliest Weapon" (NBC, 1961)

The Dakotas as a minister in "Feud at Snake River" (ABC, 1963)

Death Valley Days as a Military Officer in "The Hero of Apache Pass" (Syndicated, 1966)

Dundee and the Culhane as Johnson in "The Dead Man's Brief" (CBS, 1967)

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color as John Prentice in two episodes of the Gallegher miniseries. Roger Mobley played the part of Gallegher. (NBC, 1967)

The Iron Horse as Blake in "Sister Death" (ABC, 1967)

The Outcasts in "The Man from Bennington" (ABC, 1968)

Cimarron Strip as Bolt in "The Judgment" (CBS, 1968)

The Guns of Will Sonnett in two episodes (ABC, 1968–1969)

The Virginian in three episodes (NBC, 1966–1969)

The High Chaparral as a telegrapher in "Spokes" (NBC, 1970)

Alias Smith and Jones as Dr. Hiram Wilson in "The Man Who Murdered Himself" (ABC, 1971)

Nichols in "The Specialists" (NBC, 1971)

Bonanza as Billy Harris in "The Running Man" and as Tobias Temple in "The Rattlesnake Brigade" (NBC, 1971)

Kung Fu in two episodes (ABC, 1974 and 1975)

 

Angel and other comedies

On Angel, Keefer portrayed the neighbor "George", husband of "Susie", a character played by Doris Singleton, a veteran of the original I Love Lucy series. Marshall Thompson (1925–1992) played Johnny Smith, a young architect and the husband of Fargé's Angel Smith character. Keefer's Angel roles include:

 

"Goodbye Young Lovers"

"Voting Can Be Fun" (13 October 1960)

"Angel's Temper" (10 November 1960)

"The Valedictorian" (15 December 1960)

"The Dowry" (19 January 1961)

"The Joint Bank Account" (2 February 1961)

"Call Me Mother" (9 February 1961)

"Phone Fun" (22 March 1961)

"Unpopular Mechanics" (19 April 1961)

"The Trailer" (10 May 1961)

The following are a selection of other sitcoms in which Keefer performed

Window on Main Street in "Girl with the Rose Colored Eyes" (CBS, 1962)

Car 54, Where Are You? as Dr. R.L. Mitchell, psychiatrist, in "Remember St. Petersburg" (1962)

The Real McCoys as Harry Porter in "The Peacemakers" (CBS, 1963)

My Favorite Martian, two episodes (CBS, 1964)

The Munsters (CBS, 1965)

The Jack Benny Program (NBC, 1965)

The Farmer's Daughter (ABC, 1966)

Petticoat Junction (CBS, 1966)

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming as Irving Christiansen (film, 1966)

Bewitched (ABC, 1966)

That Girl (ABC, 1966)

Love on a Rooftop in "My Father, the TV Star" (ABC, 1967)

The Andy Griffith Show, two episodes (CBS, 1967 and 1968)

The Good Guys (CBS, 1969)

Green Acres (CBS, 1970)

Alice (CBS, 1984)

Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter as Grandfather Ball in television movie (CBS, 1991)

Dramatic episodes

Keefer appeared as Cromwell in the 1968 episode "Assignment: Earth" of the NBC science fiction series Star Trek. Earlier, he had roles in the following three episodes of CBS's The Twilight Zone: as Dan Hollis in "It's a Good Life" (1961), as Spiereto in "Passage on the Lady Anne" (1963), and as Fred Danziger in "From Agnes - With Love" (1964).

 

His other drama roles include

Appointment with Adventure ("The Royal Treatment" episode of the CBS anthology series, 1955)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 2 Episode 37: "The Indestructible Mr. Weems") as (Lodge) Brother Dr. Elkins

Richard Diamond, Private Detective, as Reagan in "The Big Score" (1957)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) (Season 3 Episode 14: "The Percentage") as Pete Williams

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 21: "The Kiss-Off") as Tax Clerk

Going My Way, as Mr. Ewbank in "One Small Unhappy Family" (ABC, 1963)

The Fugitive as Ben Haddock in "Where the Action Is" (ABC, 1964)

Slattery's People as George Farnum in "Question: What Did You Do All Day, Mr. Slattery? (CBS, 1965)

Mission: Impossible as Zubin in "The Trial" (CBS, 1967)

Felony Squad as Harry Jocelyn in "A Most Proper Killing" (ABC, 1967)

The F.B.I., four episodes (ABC, 1966–1971)

Chase in "Vacation for a President" (NBC, 1974)

Marcus Welby, M.D. as Dr. Marvin in "Don't Talk About Darkness" (1972) and as Larry Sabberly in "The Mugging" (ABC, 1974)

S.W.A.T. as Captain Wallen in "Terror Ship" (ABC, 1975)

The Streets of San Francisco as Dr. Mayhill in "Clown of Death" (ABC, 1976)

The Waltons as Arnie Shimerdy in "The Go-Getter" (CBS, 1977)

Barnaby Jones as Mr. Greening in "Programmed for Killing" (1974), as Dave Blevins in "Silent Vendetta" (1976), as Professor Albertson in "The Killer on Campus" (1977), and Tully Kupper in "Target for a Wedding" (CBS, 1979)

Quincy, M.E., three episodes (NBC, 1979–1982)

Highway to Heaven as Dr. Washburn in "For the Love of Larry" (NBC, 1986)

All My Children as Horace Willoughby (ABC, 1986)

Picket Fences as Billy Shauger in "The Snake Lady" (1992) and "Heart of Saturday Night" (CBS, 1995)

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Old Benny Rockland in "Brutal Youth" (ABC, 1996),

Keefer's last role was as a beggar at a courthouse in the 1997 film Liar Liar.