Dick Foran

Dick Foran
John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor and singer, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.
Early years
Foran was born in Flemington, New Jersey, the first of five sons to Arthur F. Foran and Elizabeth Foran. His father was a Republican member of the New Jersey Senate, as was Dick Foran's younger brother, Walter E. Foran.
He attended Mercersburg Academy, where he competed on the track team under Scots-American athletics coach Jimmy Curran. After graduation he attended the Hun School, a college preparatory school in nearby Princeton, and then enrolled at Princeton University, pursuing a degree in geology. He played on the football team while taking courses in the arts, where he developed an interest in the theater.
Foran studied music at the Leibling Studio in New York before singing on radio. As Nick Foran, he went on to become a lead singer with a band and later formed his own orchestra.
Film
Foran was still billed as Nick Foran when he signed a contract with Fox in 1934. In 1935, Foran, who stood 6-foot-2 and had red hair, was hired by Warner Bros. as a supporting actor, changing his first name to Dick. He could also croon when called upon in films such as Change of Heart (1934) with Janet Gaynor, made for Fox Film Corporation. His handsome appearance and good-natured personality made him a natural choice for the supporting cast. He first appeared as a singing cowboy in his first starring role, in Moonlight on the Prairie (1935). His other singing-cowboy features included Song of the Saddle (1936), Guns of the Pecos (1937), Empty Holsters (1937), and Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938). He appeared in dozens of movies of every type during his lengthy career, often with top stars leading the cast.
In 1938, Foran moved to Universal Studios, where he acted in many different genres of film from horror to comedies with Abbott and Costello, such as Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942). Foran appeared in The Petrified Forest (1936) with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, The Sisters (1938) with Errol Flynn and Bette Davis, The Fighting 69th (1940) with James Cagney, My Little Chickadee (1940) with Mae West and W.C. Fields, and Rangers of Fortune (1940) with Fred MacMurray, and played the top-billed hero in The Mummy's Hand (1940) with Tom Tyler as the Mummy. Foran reprised the same role in the sequel The Mummy's Tomb (1942), this time with Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy, and had also appeared in another comedy with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello titled Keep 'Em Flying (1941) the previous year. In 1942, Foran starred as Lon Prentice, a singing cowboy who joins the army in a 68-minute war-support film, Private Buckaroo with Harry James, the Andrews Sisters, and Shemp Howard.
One of his last film roles was a small one in Donovan's Reef (1963), starring his longtime friend John Wayne and Lee Marvin. His final film appearance was as the prospector "Old Timer" in the sentimental film Brighty of the Grand Canyon (1967) with Joseph Cotten, Pat Conway, and Karl Swenson.
Stage
In 1943, Foran starred on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hart musical comedy A Connecticut Yankee, based on Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Television
In 1954, Foran guest-starred on NBC's Justice, a legal drama starring Dane Clark and Gary Merrill, on CBS's The Public Defender starring Reed Hadley and Hugh Beaumont, and on NBC's The Martha Raye Show, a comedy/variety show.
Foran appeared in at least four episodes of Science Fiction Theatre (1955). One of these, "The Miracle Hour", aired December 22, 1956. Foran appeared three times (1955–1956) as Father Brophy on the ABC anthology series Crossroads. He guest-starred in the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise starring John Bromfield. He also appeared as Burt, a carnival hustler, in 1957 on NBC's Father Knows Best with Robert Young.
Foran was prominently featured as a sheriff in the episode "The Third Rider" in the first season (1957) of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series Maverick starring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, the brother of James Garner's character Bret Maverick. He also portrayed Tuck Degan in the 1957 episode "Final Payment" of another ABC/WB Western series, Colt .45 starring Wayde Preston.
In the January 1959 episode "The Spurs", he portrayed Sheriff Wilkes on Wanted Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen. He made another guest appearance in the December 1960 episode: "The Choice", portraying aging bounty hunter Frank Koster. Also in 1959, Foran portrayed defendant Dr. David Craig on CBS's Perry Mason in the episode "The Case of the Bedeviled Doctor". Later that year, he played defendant Steve Benton in another Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Garrulous Gambler". He was also featured as Perry Mason's client in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Renegade Refugee". In 1959, Foran was cast as David Steele in the episode "The Adjuster" of the NBC crime drama series Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen. Dabbs Greer and DeForest Kelley also appeared in this episode.
In 1962, Foran appeared with Marie Windsor in the roles of Frank and Ann Jesse in the episode "The Wanted Man" of the ABC/WB Western series Lawman, starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop.
Foran later appeared as Gabriel Marion, brother of title character Francis Marion (Leslie Nielsen), in the Walt Disney Presents miniseries The Swamp Fox. In 1965–1966, he had his only regular role on a TV series playing "Slim" on O.K. Crackerby!. In 1968, Foran was cast in the role of "Fred Haines" in season one, episode 13, of the NBC television series Adam-12.
Death
On August 10, 1979, Foran died aged 69 of respiratory ailments and pneumonia in Burbank, California. He was buried in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
Recognition
Foran has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to television, at 1600 Vine Street. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.
Selected filmography
Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) as Nick Foran
Change of Heart (1934) as Nick
Student Tour (1934) as Assistant Manager (uncredited)
Gentlemen Are Born (1934) as Smudge Casey
The Lottery Lover (1935) as Cadet
One More Spring (1935) as Park Policeman
It's a Small World (1935) as Cop
Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) as Walt Lansing (uncredited)
Accent of Youth (1935) as Butch
Ladies Love Danger (1935) as Sergeant Bender
Shipmates Forever (1935) as Gifford
Moonlight on the Prairie (1935) as Ace Andrews
Dangerous (1935) as Teddy
The Petrified Forest (1936) as Boze Hertzlinger
Song of the Saddle (1936) as Frank Wilson Jr. aka The Singing Kid
Treachery Rides the Range (1936) as Captain Red Taylor
The Golden Arrow (1936) as Tommy Blake
The Big Noise (1936) as Don Andrews
Public Enemy's Wife (1936) as Thomas Duncan McKay
Earthworm Tractors (1936) as Emmet McManus
Trailin' West (1936) as Lieutenant Red Colton
California Mail (1936) as Bill Harkins
Guns of the Pecos (1937) as Steve Ainslee
Black Legion (1937) as Ed Jackson
Land Beyond the Law (1937) as John 'Chip' Douglas Jr.
The Cherokee Strip (1937) as Dick Hudson
Blazing Sixes (1937) as Red Barton
Empty Holsters (1937) as Clay Brent
The Devil's Saddle Legion (1937) as Tal Holladay
Prairie Thunder (1937) as Rod Farrell
The Perfect Specimen (1937) as Jink Carter
She Loved a Fireman (1937) as James 'Red' Tyler
Love, Honor and Behave (1938) as Pete Martin
Over the Wall (1938) as Jerry Davis
Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) as Sam Thorne
Four Daughters (1938) as Ernest
Boy Meets Girl (1938) as Larry Toms
The Sisters (1938) as Tom Knivel
Secrets of a Nurse (1938) as Lee Burke
Heart of the North (1938) as Sergeant Alan Baker
Inside Information (1939) as Danny Blake
Daughters Courageous (1939) as Eddie Moore
I Stole a Million (1939) as Paul Carver
Hero for a Day (1939) as Brainy Thornton
Private Detective (1939) as Jim Rickey
Four Wives (1939) as Ernest Talbot
The Fighting 69th (1940) as Lt. 'Long John' Wynn
My Little Chickadee (1940) as Wayne Carter
The House of Seven Gables (1940) as Matthew Holgrave
Winners of the West (1940, Serial) as Jeff Ramsay
Rangers of Fortune (1940) as Johnny Cash
The Mummy's Hand (1940) as Steve Banning
Four Mothers (1941) as Ernest Talbot
Horror Island (1941) as Bill Martin
In the Navy (1941) as Dynamite Dugan
Riders of Death Valley (1941) as Jim Benton
Unfinished Business (1941) as Frank
The Kid from Kansas (1941) as Kansas
Mob Town (1941) as Sgt. Frank Conroy
Keep 'Em Flying (1941) as Jinx Roberts
Road Agent (1941) as Duke Masters
Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942) as Bronco Bob Mitchell
Butch Minds the Baby (1942) as Dennis Devlin
Private Buckaroo (1942) as Lon Prentice
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) as Stephen Banning
Behind the Eight Ball (1942) as Bill Edwards
Hi, Buddy (1943) as Dave O'Connor
He's My Guy (1943) as Van Moore
Guest Wife (1945) as Christopher Price
Easy Come, Easy Go (1947) as Dale Whipple
Fort Apache (1948) as Sgt. Quincannon
El Paso (1949) as Sheriff La Farge
Deputy Marshall (1949) as Joel Benton / Jed Northey
Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951) as Frank Jennings
Treasure of Ruby Hills (1955) as Alan Doran
Please Murder Me (1956) as Joe Leeds
Sierra Stranger (1957) as Bert Gaines
Chicago Confidential (1957) as Arthur 'Artie' Blane
Violent Road (aka Hell's Highway) (1958) as Frank 'Sarge' Miller
Thundering Jets (1958) as Lt. Col. Henry Spalding
The Fearmakers (1958) as Jim McGinnis
The Atomic Submarine (1959) as Cmdr. Dan Wendover
The Big Night (1960) as Ed
Studs Lonigan (1960) as Patrick Lonigan
Lassie as the fire chief Ed Washburne (TV series, 7 episodes, 1961–64)
Donovan's Reef (1963) as Australian Navy Officer Sean O'Brien
Taggart (1964) as Adam Stark
Brighty of the Grand Canyon (1966) as Old Timer, the Prospector
Selected television
References
External links
"Dick Foran, 'The Singing Cowboy'", The Old Corral
1910 births
1979 deaths
Male Western (genre) film actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Singing cowboys
People from Flemington, New Jersey
Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery
Male actors from Los Angeles
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from New Jersey
Singers from New Jersey
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers