James Gregory
James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American actor. His best-known roles include Schaffer in Al Capone (1959), the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), and Inspector Frank Luger in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982). Gregory grew up in New Rochelle, NY. In high school, he was elected president of the Drama Club. He went to work on Wall Street as a runner shortly after the 1929 crash. Gregory performed in drama groups and achieved pro status as a summer stock player in 1935. He performed in plays throughout New York, New Jersey and Maryland. His troupe of performers toured small towns in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, towing a trailer full of theatre props; they performed in school gyms, churches and YMCAs, earning $25 for a week of one-night stands. In 1939, Gregory made his Broadway debut in a production of "Key Largo". Over the next 16 years, he performed in approximately 25 Broadway productions. His career was interrupted by WWII; he served for 3 years in the Navy and Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days on Okinawa. He married Anne Miltner in 1944; they were married for 58 years (until his death). During his Broadway career, Gregory earned consistently favorable reviews by drama critics from the New York Press, Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Gregory did a few TV spots as early as 1951, and in 1955 he made the transition from the Broadway stage to live television. The following year, after a couple of earlier uncredited movie appearances, he would also begin his movie career in earnest. He worked steadily throughout the early years of TV, working for major live television productions from New York to Hollywood. In 1959, Gregory made television history by costarring in the pilot episode of the The Twilight Zone (1959); the episode "Where Is Everybody?" concerning the relevant topic of the USA winning the space race by sending a manned spaceship to the moon sold the series. Gregory would play Dean Martin's exasperated boss MacDonald in the first 3 of the Matt Helm movies: The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). One of his final roles, perhaps his most acclaimed, was as Inspector Frank Luger for the entire run of Barney Miller (1975 - 1982). As the Inspector, he would be lovable, irritating, ingratiating, exasperating, and humorous, sometimes all at the same time. Gregory retired from acting in 1983, with over 100 TV and movie credits.
Filmography · 128
Columbo
1971 · David Buckner
The Love Boat
1977 · Milton Benson
Star Trek
1966 · Dr. Tristan Adams
The Fugitive
1963 · Pete Crandall
Hogan's Heroes
1965 · General Biedenbender
Hawaii Five-O
1968 · Jonathan Kaye
Bonanza
1959 · Mulvaney
Ironside
1967 · Herb Jarman
Rawhide
1959 · Owen Spencer
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
The Wild Wild West
1965
M*A*S*H
1972 · General Kelly
The Twilight Zone
1959 · Confederate Sergeant
Mission: Impossible
1966
Emergency!
1972
Daniel Boone
1964 · Captain Asa Webb
The Virginian
1962 · Slim Jessup
My Three Sons
1960
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962 · Fred Kruger
Quincy, M.E.
1976
Climax!
1954 · Joe McCarthy
Suspense
1949
Gunsmoke
1955 · Scanlon, Sr.
Barney Miller
1975 · Inspector Frank Luger
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Studio One
1948 · Gas Man
Cannon
1971
Thriller
1960 · Howard Yates
Night Gallery
1970
The F.B.I.
1965 · Bert Anslem
The High Chaparral
1967 · Jake Stoner
The Big Valley
1965 · Simon Carter
Ben Casey
1961
Medical Center
1969 · Col. Whittendale
The Defenders
1961 · Paul Tasso
All in the Family
1971 · William R. Kirkwood
The Partridge Family
1970 · Claude Tubbles
McCloud
1970
Laramie
1959
Tarzan
1966
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963 · Lieutenant Wade
Kraft Television Theatre
1947 · Steve
Sanford and Son
1972
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Mr. Wescott
That Girl
1966
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
The Mod Squad
1968
F Troop
1965
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
1974 · Captain Quill
Police Story
1973
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 · Martin Burke
Lancer
1968
Judd, for the Defense
1967
Sam Benedict
1962
The Lieutenant
1963
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 · John Kramer
Inner Sanctum
1954
The Outsider
1968
The Loner
1965
Temperatures Rising
1972 · James Jerome
The New Breed
1961 · Father Al
Cimarron Strip
1967
Search
1972
Flying High
1978
The Outcasts
1968
Detective School
1979
Target: The Corruptors!
1961
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1970 · Ursus
The Manchurian Candidate
1962 · Sen. John Yerkes Iseli...
Supertrain
1979 · Griswald
The Lawless Years
1959 · Barney Ruditsky
The Paul Lynde Show
1972
Letter to Loretta
1953 · Jim Patton
My World and Welcome to It
1969
General Electric Theater
1953 · Sandy Green
All's Fair
1976
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965 · Morgan Hastings
The Headmaster
1970
Shoot Out
1971 · Sam Foley
The Bastard
1978 · Will Campbell
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Morgan
The Strongest Man in the World
1975 · Chief Blair
Clambake
1967 · Duster Heyward
The Flight of Dragons
1982 · Bryagh / Smrgol (voice...
The Big Caper
1957 · Flood
The Naked City
1948 · Patrolman Albert Hicks...
Al Capone
1959 · Schaefler (narrator)
The Silencers
1966 · MacDonald
Nightfall
1956 · Ben Fraser
PT 109
1963 · Commander C.R. Ritchie
The Secret War of Harry Frigg
1968 · Gen. Homer Prentiss
The Million Dollar Duck
1971 · Rutledge
A Distant Trumpet
1964 · Maj. Gen. Alexander Up...
Murderers' Row
1966 · MacDonald
The Ambushers
1967 · MacDonald
The Main Event
1979 · Gough
Onionhead
1958 · Lt. Cmdr. Fox aka The...
Captain Newman, M.D.
1963 · Col. Edgar Pyser
The Hawaiians
1970 · Dr. Whipple Sr. (uncre...
Two Weeks in Another Town
1962 · Brad Byrd
The Love God?
1969 · Darrell Evans Hughes
The Scarlet Hour
1956 · Ralph Nevins
X-15
1961 · Tom Deparma
The Frogmen
1951 · Chief Petty Officer La...
Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home
1983 · Dan Peters
Miracle on 34th Street
1973 · District Attorney
A Rage to Live
1965 · Dr. O'Brien
Twilight of Honor
1963 · Norris Bixby
The Abduction of Saint Anne
1975 · Pete Haggerty
Gun Glory
1957 · Grimsell
The Hunted
1967 · Buckman
Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood
1981 · Leo Hackett
Hey Boy! Hey Girl!
1959 · Father Burton
The Young Stranger
1957 · Sergeant Shipley
The Comeback Kid
1980 · Scotty
A Very Missing Person
1972 · Oscar Piper
Cocoon
1968 · Jonathan Kaye
A Town Has Turned to Dust
1958 · Hennify
The Marshal of Madrid
1972 · Oil Tycoon
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976 · James Donovan
Journey to the Day
1960 · Endicott
Gridlock
1980 · Gen. Caribou Caruthers
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1960 · Editor
The Things People Want
1948 · Pete
Quick, Before It Melts
1965 · Vice Admiral
The Late Liz
1971 · Sam Burns
The Weekend Nun
1972 · Sid Richardson
At This Moment
1954 · Bill Ritter