# Fay Roope

Fay Roope (born Winfield Harding Roope; October 20, 1893 – September 13, 1961) was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from 1949 through 1961.

## Early life

Winfield Harding Roope was born October 20, 1893, in Allston, Massachusetts, near Boston, the only son of George Winfield Roope and Lucie Mattie Jacobs, a wealthy couple listed in Newton's Blue Book. He "prepared" at Stone School for Boys, a Boston boarding school, and attended Harvard University from 1912 to 1916. During his time there he appeared in varied dramatic and musical roles in school productions. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in 1916.

## Acting career

He began acting professionally on stage in New York City in the early 1920s, and continued to do so for almost thirty years, appearing both off and on Broadway. He moved into film around 1950. He did do some television in the early 1950s, but did most of his television work in dramas during the last five years of his life, from 1955 on.

### Broadway career

His first appearance on the Broadway stage was in the musical revue One Helluva Night, on June 4, 1924. From September 5, 1924, until September 12, 1925, he played Lieutenant Aldrich in the drama What Price Glory?. From March 30, 1949, to April 9, 1949, he played Colonel Jared Rumley in the comedy The Biggest Thief in Town. His last appearance on Broadway was in the first Broadway production of The Madwoman of Chaillot, June 13–25, 1950.

### Film career

Fay Roope portrayed generals, admirals, and colonels in such movies as From Here To Eternity, Rock Hudson's Seminole, the Gary Cooper comedy You're in the Navy Now, and the original version of the science-fiction classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still. He played Mexican president Porfirio Díaz in the movie Viva Zapata!.

#### Film roles

* You're in the Navy Now (1951) - Carrier Admiral (uncredited)
* The Frogmen (1951) - Adm. Dakers (uncredited)
* The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Major General (uncredited)
* Callaway Went Thataway (1951) - Tom Lorrison
* Indian Uprising (1952) - Maj. Gen. George Crook (uncredited)
* Viva Zapata! (1952) - President Porfirio Díaz
* My Six Convicts (1952) - Warden George Potter
* Deadline - U.S.A. (1952) - Surrogate Court Judge McKay (uncredited)
* Carbine Williams (1952) - Ed - District Attorney
* Young Man with Ideas (1952) - Kyle Thornhill
* The Brigand (1952) - Mons. De Laforce
* Washington Story (1952) - Caswell
* Assignment – Paris! (1952) - American Ambassador (uncredited)
* The Clown (1953) - Doctor Strauss
* Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953) - Colonel Thomas B. Richards (uncredited)
* All Ashore (1953) - Commodore Stanton
* Seminole (1953) - Col. Zachary Taylor
* The System (1953) - Roger Stuart
* The Charge at Feather River (1953) - Lt. Col. Kilrain
* From Here to Eternity (1953) - Gen. Slater (uncredited)
* Clipped Wings (1953) - Col. Davenport
* A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) - Governor Charles Snowden (uncredited)
* Man of Conflict (1953) - Ed Jenks
* Alaska Seas (1954) - Captain Walt Davis
* The Lone Gun (1954) - Mayor Booth
* Living It Up (1954) - Man
* The Black Dakotas (1954) - John Lawrence
* Naked Alibi (1954) - Commissioner F.J. O'Day
* The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) - City Editor (uncredited)
* The Atomic Kid (1954) - Gen. Lawlor
* Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955) - Fulton Andrews
* The Proud Ones (1956) - Markham
* The Rack (1956) - Col. Dudley Smith
* The True Story of Jesse James (1957) - Tom Trope (uncredited)
* The FBI Story (1959) - Dwight McCutcheon

### Television career

Faye Roope played judges in Raymond Burr's Perry Mason TV series, had a continuing role as Mr. Botkin in the long-lasting western Gunsmoke, and appeared as an older man of authority in many TV Westerns of the 1950s. He played the old-west hanging judge in the classic 1960 Twilight Zone time-travel episode Execution, and appeared in many of the classic drama anthology shows of American television's Golden Age.

#### Roles in television episodes

* The Philco Television Playhouse
    The Beautiful Bequest (1949)
* The Ford Television Theatre
    Junior (1952)
* Mr. & Mrs. North
    Till Death Do Us Part (1952) - Edward Barry
    House Behind the Wall (1953) - Richard Burton
* Fireside Theatre
    Grey Gardens (1953) - Justin
* Racket Squad
    The Knockout (1951) - Clayton Carswell
    The Strange Case of James Doyle (1952) - Jim Doyle
    Sting of Fate (1953) - Albert (Husband)
* The Lone Ranger
    Message to Fort Apache (1954) - Colonel Gaines
* City Detective
    The Blonde Orchid (1954) - Police Commissioner Ralph
* The Public Defender
    The Case of the Parolee (1954) - Mr. Marshall
* Climax!
    A Man of Taste (1955)
* The Millionaire
    The Jerome Wilson Story (1955) - Dr. Tom Evans
* Screen Directors Playhouse
    Want Ad Wedding (1955) - Reverend Walker
* Studio 57
    Cubs of the Bear (1954) - Amos Harlock
    The Senorita and the Texan (1955) - Don Luis
* Soldiers of Fortune
    The General (1955) - General DeSaba
* Celebrity Playhouse
    Tantrum Size 12 (1956)
* Ford Star Jubilee
    The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1956)
* Broken Arrow
    Indian Medicine (1957) - Tyoe
* Tales of Wells Fargo
    The Inscrutable Man (1957) - Mr. Harper
* Zane Grey Theater
    The Bitter Land (1957) - Morgan Batterson
* Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
    The Lonely Wizard (1957) - Dr. Elliott
* The Californians
    The Search for Lucy Manning (1957)
* Code 3
    The Man with Many Faces (1957) - Dr. Matthews
* Panic!
    Child's Play (1957) - Charlie Jennings
* Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal
    Dr. Means' Surgery (1955) (as Fay Roupe) - Chairman
    Love in White Shoes (1957)
* The Adventures of Jim Bowie
    Bayou Tontine (1957) - Etienne Broussard
    Curfew Cannon (1958) - Etienne Rochambeau
* The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
    Frontier Journalism was Fearless (1955) - Colonel Josh Clanton
    The Frontier Theatre (1956) - Older Actor
    The Underdog (1958) - Uncle George Jackson
* The Court of Last Resort
    The Westover Case (1958) - Dan Tackberry
* Dragnet
    The Big Oskar (1958) - Oskar Hovejg
* Perry Mason
    The Case of the Gilded Lily (1958) - Judge Kyle
    The Case of the Hesitant Hostess (1958) - Judge
* The Rifleman
    The Brother-in-Law (1958) - Jeff Stacey
    The Legacy (1959) - Doc Burrage
    The Spiked Rifle (1959) - Barton
    Panic (1959) - Doc Burrage
* Bonanza
    The Magnificent Adah (1959) - Castellan
* Gunsmoke
    Change of Heart (1959) - Mr. Botkin
    Murder Warrant (1959) - Mr. Botkin
    The F.U. (1959) - Mr. Botkin
* Have Gun, Will Travel
    Killer's Widow (1958) - E.J. Randolph
    Alaska (1959) - Wade
* Rawhide
    Incident on the Edge of Madness (1959) - Mayor Haslip
* Tate
    The Gunfighters (1960) - Keefer
* The Chevy Mystery Show
    Fear Is the Parent (1960) - Dow
* The Texan
    Desert Passage (1958) - Ben Atkins
    The Accuser (1960) - Mr. Benton
* The Twilight Zone
    Execution (1960) - Judge
* Cheyenne
    Gold, Glory and Custer - Prelude (1960) - Commissioner Brady
    Gold, Glory and Custer - Requiem (1960) - Commissioner Brady
* The Tom Ewell Show
    The Old Magic (1961) - Mr. Dutton (final appearance)

## Personal life

Fay Roope married Marie Teresa Roope. They had two children, Martha and George, and many grandchildren. He died on September 13, 1961, in Port Jefferson, New York, aged 67.