Jeff Richards (actor, born 1924)

He then went to Hollywood to pursue a film career.[1] His first roles included uncredited bits at Warner Bros in The Big Punch (1948), Johnny Belinda (1948), Fighter Squadron (1948) and The Girl from Jones Beach (1949).

At 20th Century Fox, he had small roles in Mother Is a Freshman (1949), and Cheaper by the Dozen (1950). He went to Columbia to make Kill the Umpire (1950), cast as "Richard Taylor". He played a baseball player and publicity said he used to play for Salem in the Western League and that they had spent six weeks trying to cast the role.[2]

He got a screen test at Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and the studio changed his name to Jeff Richards.

Richards had uncredited roles in The Strip (1951), The Tall Target (1951), and The People Against O'Hara (1951) and a bigger credited part in Angels in the Outfield (1951) as a baseball player.[3] He was being sought to play Frank Merriwell.[4]

Richards had small roles in Just This Once (1952), The Sellout (1952), Desperate Search (1952), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Above and Beyond (1952), and Battle Circus (1953).[5] He had a slightly bigger part in Code Two (1953).[6]

Richards had his first sizeable one, billed third as a ball player, in Big Leaguer (1954).[7] Seagulls Over Sorrento (1954) was another decent sized role. Then Richards was the third lead in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), after Howard Keel and Jane Powell. It was a big hit and established him as a film name. MGM started to build him up as a star.[8] Dore Schary, head of the studio, said the actor had "tremendous personal charm" and "looks like a great bet [to become a star], based on his reception til now."[9]

MGM announced him as star of O'Kelley's Eclipse but it was not made.[10] He was announced for Forbidden Planet but did not appear in the final film.[11] Bar Sinister with Roger Moore was announced but not made.[12]

Richards was one of Eleanor Parker's brothers in Many Rivers to Cross (1955) and was finally given a star part in the Western The Marauders (1955) playing a hero opposite Dan Duryea. He played the lead in the box-office flop It's a Dog's Life (1955) and had one of the male leads in the musical The Opposite Sex (1956).[13]

The Marauders, It's a Dog's Life and The Opposite Sex all lost money and MGM began to lose enthusiasm for Richards. He began working on TV, guest starring in "Man with a Choice" for The Web (1957) and "The Other Side of the Curtain" for Suspicion.[14]

Richards supported Glenn Ford in MGM's popular comedy Don't Go Near the Water (1957) but it was a relatively minor role. In April 1957 he secured his release from the studio.[15]

Richards guest starred on The Millionaire, and Schlitz Playhouse, then co-starred with Mamie Van Doren in the Warner Bros rodeo drama Born Reckless (1958).

In 1958, on television, Richards played the title role in the NBC western television series Jefferson Drum (1958–59), the story of a crusading journalist, with Eugene Martin portraying his young son. The series was cancelled after twenty-six episodes aired over two seasons.[16]

He also had the lead in Island of Lost Women (1959) made by Jaguar Productions. Richards signed a five-year contract with Jaguar to make two films a year[17] but made no further films for them.

He guest starred in Behind Closed Doors, Alcoa Theatre, Adventures in Paradise, and Laramie and played the role in 1961 of Jubal Evans in the episode "Incident of His Brother's Keeper" of the CBS western Rawhide.

Richard's last lead role was in the underwater adventure The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960). His last role was in 1966 as Kallen in the film Waco.[18]