John Ericson obit

John Ericson, Actor in 'Honey West,' Dies at 93

He was not on the list.

The rugged star also appeared in several movies for MGM, including 'Bad Day at Black Rock' and 'Rhapsody.'

John Ericson, who starred alongside Anne Francis on TV's Honey West and with Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock and with Angela Lansbury in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, has died. He was 93.

Ericson died Sunday of pneumonia in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he had been living since the mid-1990s, a family spokesman said.

Ericson appeared on Broadway in the original production 1951 of Stalag 17, directed by José Ferrer, and he made his film debut in Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. Three years later, he starred with Elizabeth Taylor in Rhapsody (1954).

Ericson played "Man Friday" Sam Bolt opposite Francis' private eye title character and a pet ocelot named Bruce on ABC's Honey West, produced by Aaron Spelling. The action show lasted just one 30-episode season (1965-66), but Francis' karate kicks lived long afterward in reruns and in syndication.

He and Francis had played brother and sister in John Sturges' classic Bad Day at Black Rock (1955).

Born Joseph Meibes on Sept. 25, 1926, in Düsseldorf, Germany, Ericson studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in the same class as Grace Kelly, Jack Palance and Don Rickles.

He went on to portray the title bad guy in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), and his credits also included Forty Guns (1957), starring Barbara Stanwyck, and Day of the Badman (1958), featuring Fred MacMurray.

He played the title role in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), and his other film appearances included roles in Under Ten Flags (1960), Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), Operation Atlantis (1965), The Money Jungle (1968), The Bamboo Saucer (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Crash! (1977), and The Far Side of Jericho (2006).

For the next 30 years, his career continued mostly on television. He appeared in the lead role in "The Peter Bartley Story" of the CBS drama The Millionaire. He appeared with Dorothy Malone in the episode "Mutiny" of CBS's Appointment with Adventure (which aired on January 1, 1956). He made guest appearances in The Restless Gun (1958) and Target: The Corruptors! (1961). Ericson also guest starred twice on Bonanza: he played Vince Dagen in the 1960 episode "Breed of Violence" and he portrayed Wade Hollister in the 1967 episode "Journey to Terror"

On television before and after Honey West, Ericson showed up on Shirley Temple's Storybook; Wagon Train; The Fugitive; Bonanza; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Police Woman; CHiPs; General Hospital; and many other shows.

He was in the Disney productions: The Ghosts of Buxley Hall and Hog Wild. He guest starred on CHiPs, Knight Rider, the A-Team, Vega$, Police Woman, Nero Wolfe, Murder She Wrote and the mini-series Robert Kennedy and His Times.

Survivors include his wife, Karen, and daughter, Nicole.