James Anderson (American actor)

James O. Anderson Jr. (July 13, 1921 – September 14, 1969), sometimes billed as Kyle James and known as Buddy Anderson, was an American television and film actor of the 1950s and 1960s. He is probably best known for his role as Bob E. Lee Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).

Early life

Anderson was born to J. O. Anderson and his wife. His sister was Mary Anderson, who also became an actor.

In 1938, while attending Shades-Cahaba High School, he played halfback in the American football team. He later studied acting for a year at the University of Alabama.

Career

After leaving Alabama for Los Angeles, Anderson trained under Max Reinhardt for six months. While there, he starred in the play Zero Hour, written by George Sklar and Albert Maltz. Weeks after starring in the play, in November 1940, Anderson signed a contract with Warner Bros.

He made more than 120 appearances, mostly in television and several films between 1941 and 1969. He made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Frank Anderson in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Pint-Sized Client," and murder victim Stanley Piper in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Ill-Fated Faker." He appeared in a number of westerns throughout his career, often playing a gun-for-hire or outlaw...including "Sanctuary at Crystal Springs", the controversial 1963 episode of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series The Dakotas, that led to the series' cancellation, where he played the main antagonist.. He also appeared on Gunsmoke in 1963, playing outlaw named “Harmon” in S12E7’s “The Wrong Man”. That same year he guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the 1963 episode “Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans” (S1E28).

In 2010, Mary Badham, who starred alongside Anderson in To Kill a Mockingbird praised his method acting style: "he gave everybody the willies and we were all intimidated by him".

Filmography

Television

References

External links

• James Anderson at IMDb
• James Anderson at Find a Grave
• Jim Anderson entry at Bustersoft blog