# Richard Crenna

Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American actor and television director.
Crenna starred in such motion pictures as Made in Paris (1966), Marooned (1969), Breakheart Pass (1975), The Evil (1978), First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), The Flamingo Kid (1984), Summer Rental (1985) and Sabrina (1995). His first success came on radio in 1948 as high school student Walter Denton co-starring with Eve Arden and Gale Gordon in the series Our Miss Brooks. Crenna continued with the comedy in its 1952 move into television. He also starred as Luke McCoy in the television series The Real McCoys (1957–1963). In 1985, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his portrayal of the title role in The Rape of Richard Beck (1985).

## Early life

Crenna was born November 30, 1926, in Los Angeles, the only child of Edith Josephine (née Pollette), who was a hotel manager in Los Angeles, and Domenick Anthony Crenna, a pharmacist. His parents were both of Italian descent. Crenna attended Virgil Junior High School, followed by Belmont Senior High School in Los Angeles, from which he graduated in 1944. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, entering the Army in February 1945 and serving until August 1946.
After his Army service, Crenna attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature, and he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.

## Acting career
### Radio years

Crenna got his acting start on radio. In 1937, he had gained his first role, that of "the kid who did everything wrong" on Boy Scout Jamboree, a show on which he continued to appear occasionally in numerous roles until 1948. In the following year, he started playing Walter "Bronco" Thompson on The Great Gildersleeve, a role he played until 1954. He also originated the role of geeky Walter Denton on the radio comedy Our Miss Brooks alongside Eve Arden and Gale Gordon in 1948, and followed that role when the series moved to television in 1952. He remained in that role until 1957. He appeared as a delivery boy in My Favorite Husband (episode "Liz Cooks Dinner for 12"), was Oogie Pringle on A Date With Judy (episode "The Competitive Diet", among several other episodes of the show) and as a teenager on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (episode "Watching the Neighbor's Daughter").

### Early television years

Crenna played Walter Denton on radio's Our Miss Brooks, remaining with the cast when it moved into television in 1952. He remained with the show until it was canceled in 1957. He guest-starred on the I Love Lucy episode "The Young Fans", with Janet Waldo and on the 1955–56 anthology series Frontier, in the lead role of the episode titled "The Ten Days of John Leslie". In 1955, he was the guest star on The Millionaire in the episode "The Ralph McKnight Story".
Crenna appeared in 1956 on the television series Father Knows Best in the episode "The Promising Young Man" as a young man named Woody. In 1957, he played a bank robber on Cheyenne (season 2, episode 19).
After Our Miss Brooks was canceled in 1957, Crenna joined the cast of the comedy series The Real McCoys as Luke McCoy; his co-star was Walter Brennan, who played Grandpa Amos McCoy. Crenna ultimately became one of the series's four directors during its six-year run (1957–1963).

### 1960s–1970s

Credited as Dick Crenna, he directed eight episodes of The Andy Griffith Show during its 1963-1964 season, including "Opie the Birdman," "The Sermon for Today," and the Gomer Pyle-instigated "Citizen's Arrest." Crenna also directed "Henhouse," a 1977 episode of Lou Grant.
Crenna portrayed California state senator James Slattery in the series Slattery's People (1964–1965). For his acting in this series, he was twice nominated for an Emmy Award with slightly different names: for Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment and for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series, both in 1965. Crenna was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Male for this same role in 1965. In 1966, Crenna played beside Steve McQueen as an ill-fated captain of an American gunboat in 1920s China in The Sand Pebbles.
During the 1970s, Crenna continued acting in Western dramas such as The Deserter, Catlow, The Man Called Noon, and Breakheart Pass. He made a notable performance in Jean-Pierre Melville's final film Un Flic in 1972. In 1976, Crenna returned to weekly network television in the sitcom All's Fair, a political satire co-starring Bernadette Peters. Despite high expectations and good critical reviews, it lasted just a single season. The 1978 miniseries Centennial, based on James A. Michener's historical novel of the same name saw Crenna in the role of deranged religious fanatic Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn, who ordered the 1864 massacre of Colorado American Indians.

### 1980s–early 2000s

Crenna won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1985 film The Rape of Richard Beck.
Crenna played John Rambo's ex-commanding officer Colonel Sam Trautman, in the first three Rambo films, a role for which he was hired after Kirk Douglas left the production a day into filming. Trautman became the veteran actor's most famous role; his performance received wide critical praise. He also spoofed the character in Hot Shots! Part Deux in 1993.
Crenna starred as NYPD lieutenant of detectives Frank Janek in a series of seven popular made-for-television films, beginning in 1988 and ending in 1994. The character of Janek had originally appeared in a series of novels by William Bayer.
In 2001, Crenna played US President Ronald Reagan in the Showtime film The Day Reagan Was Shot, a fictionalised account of the attempted assassination attempt of Reagan in 1981.

## Legacy

Crenna was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6714 Hollywood Boulevard.

## Illness and death

Crenna died of heart failure at age 76 on January 17, 2003, in Los Angeles. At the time of his death he was also suffering from pancreatic cancer.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1950 | Let's Dance | Bit Part | Uncredited |
| 1951 | Starlift | Movie Theater Usher | Uncredited |
| 1952 | Red Skies of Montana | Noxon | Uncredited |
| 1952 | The Pride of St. Louis | Paul Dean | |
| 1952 | It Grows on Trees | Ralph Bowen | |
| 1956 | Over-Exposed | Russell Bassett | |
| 1956 | Our Miss Brooks | Walter Denton | |
| 1965 | John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! | John Goldfarb | |
| 1966 | Made in Paris | Herb Stone | |
| 1966 | The Sand Pebbles | Captain Collins | |
| 1967 | Wait Until Dark | Mike Talman | |
| 1968 | Star! | Richard Aldrich | |
| 1969 | Midas Run | Mike Warden | |
| 1969 | Marooned | Jim Pruett | |
| 1971 | Doctors' Wives | Dr. Peter Brennan | |
| 1971 | The Deserter | Major Wade Brown | |
| 1971 | Red Sky at Morning | Frank Arnold | |
| 1971 | Catlow | Marshal Ben Cowan | |
| 1972 | Un flic | Simon | |
| 1973 | The Man Called Noon | Noon | |
| 1973 | Jonathan Livingston Seagull | Father (voice) | |
| 1975 | Breakheart Pass | Governor Richard Fairchild | |
| 1978 | Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell | Mike Barry | |
| 1978 | The Evil | C.J. Arnold | |
| 1979 | Stone Cold Dead | Sergeant Boyd | |
| 1979 | Wild Horse Hank | Pace Bradford | |
| 1980 | Death Ship | Trevor Marshall | |
| 1980 | Joshua's World | Dr. Joshua Torrance | |
| 1981 | Body Heat | Edmund Walker | |
| 1982 | First Blood | Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman | |
| 1983 | Table for Five | Mitchell | |
| 1984 | The Flamingo Kid | Phil Brody | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture |
| 1985 | Rambo: First Blood Part II | Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman | |
| 1985 | Summer Rental | Al Pellet | |
| 1988 | Rambo III | Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman | |
| 1989 | Leviathan | Dr. Glen "Doc" Thompson | |
| 1993 | Hot Shots! Part Deux | Colonel Denton Walters | |
| 1995 | A Pyromaniac's Love Story | Tom Lumpke | Uncredited |
| 1995 | Jade | Governor Lew Edwards | |
| 1995 | Sabrina | Patrick Tyson | |
| 1998 | Wrongfully Accused | Lieutenant Fergus Falls |
| | Legendary Lighthouses | Narrator |
| 2008 | Rambo | Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman | Archival footage; uncredited |
| 2019 | Rambo: Last Blood | Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman | Archival footage; uncredited |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1952 | I Love Lucy | Arthur Morton | episode: "The Young Fans" |
| 1952–1955 | Our Miss Brooks | Walter Denton | 94 episodes |
| 1955 | The Millionaire | Ralph McKnight | episode: "The Ralph McKnight Story" |
| 1956 | Frontier | John Leslie | episode: "The 10 Days of John Leslie" |
| 1956 | Medic | Donny | episode: "Don't Count the Stars" |
| 1956 | Father Knows Best | Elwood Seastrom | episode: "The Promising Young Man" |
| 1956–1958 | Matinee Theatre | Sergeant James | 3 episodes |
| 1957 | The Silent Service | Lieutenant Commander L. L. "Jeff" Davis | episode: "The U.S.S. Pampanito Story" |
| 1957 | Cheyenne | "Curley" Galway | episode: "Hard Bargain" |
| 1957–1963 | The Real McCoys | Luke McCoy | 225 episodes nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1959) |
| 1960 | The Deputy | Andy Willis | episode: "A Time to Sow" |
| 1963 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Edward Smalley | episode: "The Long, Lost Life of Edward Smalley" |
| 1964–1965 | Slattery's People | James Slattery | 36 episodes nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1965) nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment (1965) nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1966) |
| 1971 | Thief | Neal Wilkinson | television film |
| 1971–1972 | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Guest Performer | 3 episodes |
| 1972 | Footsteps | Paddy O'Connor | television film |
| 1973 | Double Indemnity | Walter Neff | television film |
| 1974 | Nightmare | Howard Faloon | television film |
| 1974 | Shootout in a One-Dog Town | Zack Wells | television film |
| 1974 | Double Solitaire | | television film |
| 1974 | Honky Tonk | "Candy" Johnson | television film |
| 1975 | A Girl Named Sooner | R.J. "Mac" McHenry | television film |
| 1976–1977 | All's Fair | Richard C. Barrington | 24 episodes |
| 1977 | The War Between the Tates | Professor Brian Tate | television film |
| 1978 | Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell | Mike Barry | television film |
| 1978 | First, You Cry | David Towers | television film |
| 1978 | A Fire in the Sky | Jason Voight | television film |
| 1978–1979 | Centennial | Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn | television miniseries |
| 1979 | Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure | William Brewster | television film |
| 1979 | Better Late Than Never | The Director | television film |
| 1980 | Fugitive Family | Brian Roberts / Matthews | television film |
| 1981 | The Ordeal of Bill Carney | Mason Rose | television film |
| 1981 | Daniel Boone | voice | television film |
| 1981 | Look at Us | Host | |
| 1982 | The Day the Bubble Burst | Jesse Livermore | television film |
| 1982–1983 | It Takes Two | Dr. Sam Quinn | 22 episodes |
| 1984 | Squaring the Circle | The Narrator | television film |
| 1984 | London and Davis in New York | John Greyson | television film |
| 1984 | Passions | Richard Kennerly | television film |
| 1985 | The Rape of Richard Beck | Richard Beck | television film Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1985 | Doubletake | Frank Janek | television miniseries |
| 1986 | A Case of Deadly Force | Lawrence O'Donnell Sr. | television film |
| 1986 | On Wings of Eagles | H. Ross Perot | television miniseries |
| 1986 | The High Price of Passion | Bill Douglas | television film |
| 1987 | Police Story: The Freeway Killings | Deputy Chief Bob Devers | television film |
| 1987 | Kids Like These | Bob Goodman | television film |
| 1987 | Plaza Suite | Roy Hubley | television film |
| 1988 | Internal Affairs | Frank Janek | television film |
| 1989 | The Case of the Hillside Stranglers | Sergeant Bob Grogan | television film |
| 1989 | Stuck with Each Other | Bert Medwick | television film |
| 1990 | Murder in Black and White | Frank Janek | television film |
| 1990 | Montana | Hoyce Guthrie | television film |
| 1990 | Last Flight Out | Dan Hood | television film |
| 1990 | Murder Times Seven | Frank Janek | television film |
| 1991 | And the Sea Will Tell | Vincent Bugliosi | television film |
| 1991–1992 | Pros and Cons | Mitch O'Hannon | 12 episodes |
| 1992 | Intruders | Dr. Neil Chase | television miniseries |
| 1992 | Terror on Track 9 | Detective Frank Janek | television film |
| 1993 | A Place to Be Loved | George Russ | television film |
| 1994 | The Forget-Me-Not Murders | Frank Janek | television film |
| 1994 | Jonathan Stone: Threat of Innocence | Jonathan Stone | television film |
| 1994 | Janek: The Silent Betrayal | Lieutenant Frank Janek | television film |
| 1995 | In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy | Lucas Constable Sr. | television film |
| 1995–1998 | JAG | Lieutenant Harmon Rabb Sr. | 4 episodes |
| 1996 | Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah | John Porter | television film |
| 1996 | Nova | Narrator | Episode: B-29: Frozen in Time |
| 1996 | Texas Graces | Virgil Grace | television film |
| 1997 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Professor Aronnax | television film |
| 1997 | Deep Family Secrets | Clay Chadway | television film |
| 1997 | Heart Full of Rain | Arliss Dockett | television film |
| 1997 | Cold Case | Host | television film |
| 1999 | To Serve and Protect | Howard Carr | television film |
| 1999 | The Man Who Makes Things Happen: David L. Wolper | Narrator | television film |
| 1999 | Chicago Hope | Dr. Martin Rockwell | episode: "Teacher's Pet" |
| 2000 | Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For | Warren Pierce | television film |
| 2000 | By Dawn's Early Light | Ben Maxwell | television film |
| 2000–2003 | Judging Amy | Jared Duff | 13 episodes |
| 2001 | The Day Reagan Was Shot | Ronald Reagan | television film |
| 2003 | Out of the Ashes | Jake Smith | television film |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Rambo: The Video Game | Colonel Samuel "Sam" Trautman | character likeness / uncredited |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1959 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | The Real McCoys | Nominated |
| 1965 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Slattery's People | Nominated |
| 1965 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment | Slattery's People | Nominated |
| 1966 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | Slattery's People | Nominated |
| 1984 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | The Flamingo Kid | Nominated |
| 1985 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film | The Rape of Richard Beck | Nominated |
| 1985 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | The Rape of Richard Beck | Won |