American actor (1904–1980)
Milburn Stone
Stone in 1959
Born Hugh Milburn Stone
(1904-07-05 ) July 5, 1904
[1] Died June 12, 1980(1980-06-12) (aged 75)
[1] Resting place
El Camino Memorial Park ,
Sorrento Valley, California , U.S. Occupation Actor Years active 1919–1975 Spouses
Ellen Morrison Stone
(
m. 1925; died 1937)
Jane Garrison Stone
(
m. 1939;
div. 1940)
Children 1 Relatives
Fred Stone (uncle)
Madge Blake (cousin)
Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980)
[1] was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the
Western series
Gunsmoke .
Early life
Stone was born in
Burrton, Kansas , to Herbert Stone and the former Laura Belfield.
[2] There, he graduated from Burrton High School, where he was active in the drama club, played basketball, and sang in a
barbershop quartet . Stone's brother, Joe Stone, says their uncle
Fred Stone , was a versatile actor who appeared on
Broadway and in
circuses) .
[3]
Although Stone had a congressional appointment to the
United States Naval Academy , he turned it down, choosing instead to become an actor with a
stock theater company headed by Helen Ross.
[2]
Career
With
Dennis Weaver on the Gunsmoke set, 1961
In 1919, Stone debuted on stage in a Kansas tent show. He ventured into vaudeville in the late 1920s, and in 1930, he was half of the Stone and Strain song-and-dance act.
[2] His
Broadway credits include Around the Corner (1936) and Jayhawker (1934).
[4]
In the 1930s, Stone came to
Los Angeles ,
California , to launch his own screen career. He was featured in the
Tailspin Tommy adventure serial for
Monogram Pictures . In 1939 he played Stephen Douglass in the movie Young Mr. Lincoln with Henry Fonda and Ward Bond. In 1939 he appeared in When Tomorrow Comes as head busboy (uncredited). In 1940, he appeared with
Marjorie Reynolds ,
Tristram Coffin , and
I. Stanford Jolley in the comedy espionage film
Chasing Trouble . That same year, he co-starred with
Roy Rogers in the film
Colorado in the role of Rogers' brother-gone-wrong.
Stone appeared uncredited in the 1939 film
Blackwell's Island . Stone played Dr. Blake in the 1943 film
Gung Ho! and a liberal-minded warden in Monogram Pictures' Prison Mutiny also in 1943. Signed by
Universal Pictures in 1943, in the films
Captive Wild Woman (1943),
Jungle Woman (1943),
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death [Captain Pat Vickery], (1944), he became a familiar face in its features and serials, starring as hero Jim Hudson in
The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944). In 1944, he portrayed a Ration Board representative in the Universal-produced public service film Prices Unlimited for the
U.S. Office of Price Administration and the
Office of War Information . One of his film roles was a radio columnist in the
Gloria Jean -
Kirby Grant musical I'll Remember April . He made such an impression in this film that
Universal Studios gave him a starring role (and a similar characterization) in the 1945 serial
The Master Key . The same year, he was featured in the
Inner Sanctum murder mystery
The Frozen Ghost . In 1953, Stone appeared as
Charlton Heston 's
sidekick in
Arrowhead , a Western also featuring
Brian Keith and
Katy Jurado .
With
Ken Curtis , 1974
In 1955, one of
CBS Radio 's hit series, the Western
Gunsmoke , was adapted for television and recast with different actors for various reasons (
William Conrad was judged too obese to play Matt Dillon on camera,
Georgia Ellis wasn't viewed as quite telegenic enough to portray Kitty on television, etc.).
Howard McNear , the radio Doc Adams (who later played Floyd the barber on television's
The Andy Griffith Show ), was replaced by Stone, who gave the role a harder edge consistent with his screen portrayals. He stayed with Gunsmoke through its entire television run, with the exception of 7 episodes in 1971, when Stone required heart surgery and
Pat Hingle replaced him as Dr. Chapman. Stone appeared in 604 episodes through 1975, often shown sparring in a friendly manner with co-stars
Dennis Weaver and
Ken Curtis , who played, respectively,
Chester Goode and Festus Haggen.
Personal life
Stone's brother, Joe, was a writer who was the author of scripts for three episodes of Gunsmoke .
[5]
Stone was a cousin of the
character actress
Madge Blake .
[6]
In March 1971,
[7] Stone had
heart bypass surgery at
UAB Hospital in
Birmingham, Alabama . In June 1980, Stone died of a
heart attack
[8] in
La Jolla . He was buried at the
El Camino Memorial Park in
Sorrento Valley, San Diego .
[9]
Stone had a surviving daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason (born circa 1926) of
Costa Mesa , California, from his first marriage of 12 years to Ellen Morrison, formerly of
Delphos , Kansas, who died in 1937.
[10]
His second wife, the former Jane Garrison, a native of Hutchinson, Kansas, died in 2002. Stone had married, divorced, and remarried Garrison.
Legacy
In 1968, Stone received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama for his work on Gunsmoke .
[11]
Judith Allen and Stone in
The Port of Missing Girls (1938)
In 1975, Stone received an honorary doctorate from
St. Mary of the Plains College in
Dodge City, Kansas ,
[12] where Gunsmoke was set but not filmed.
For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn Stone has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801
Hollywood Boulevard .
[note 1]
[13] In 1981, Stone was inducted posthumously into the
Western Performers Hall of Fame at the
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in
Oklahoma City .
[14] After his death, he left a legacy for the
performing arts in
Cecil County in northeastern
Maryland , by way of the Milburn Stone Theatre
[15] in
North East , Maryland.
Selected filmography
Ladies Crave Excitement (1935) as Sailor (uncredited)
Cheers of the Crowd (1935) as Reporter (uncredited)
His Night Out (1935) as Salesman (uncredited)
Rendezvous (1935) as Carter's Aide (uncredited)
The Fighting Marines (1935, Serial) as Red - Henchman [Ch. 2,4-7,10,11] (uncredited)
The Milky Way (1936) as Reporter (uncredited)
The Princess Comes Across (1936) as American Reporter (uncredited)
Nobody's Fool (1936) as Clerk (uncredited)
China Clipper (1936) as Radio Operator
The Three Mesquiteers (1936) as John
Murder with Pictures (1936) as Operator (uncredited)
Two in a Crowd (1936) as Kennedy (uncredited)
Rose Bowl (1936) as Booster Club Band Member (uncredited)
The Man I Marry (1936) as Stage manager (uncredited)
The Accusing Finger (1936) as Convict (uncredited)
Banjo on My Knee (1936) as Eddie - Sailor (uncredited)
Three Smart Girls (1936) as Telegraph Desk Clerk (uncredited)
A Doctor's Diary (1937) as Fred Clark
Swing It, Professor (1937) as Lou Morgan
They Gave Him a Gun (1937) as Defense Attorney (uncredited)
Wings Over Honolulu (1937) as Telephone Operator (uncredited)
The Man in Blue (1937) as Henchman 'Dutch'
The Wildcatter (1937) as Ed
You Can't Beat Love (1937) as Reporter Wilson (uncredited)
The 13th Man (1937) as Jimmy Moran
Blazing Barriers (1937) as Joe Waters
Reported Missing! (1937) as Radio operator (uncredited)
Atlantic Flight (1937) as Henry Wadsworth 'Pokey' Schultz
Youth on Parole (1937) as Ratty
Music for Madame (1937) as Detective (uncredited)
Federal Bullets (1937) as Tommy Thompson, Federal Agent
Mr. Boggs Steps Out (1938) as Burns
The Port of Missing Girls (1938) as Jim Benton
Sinners in Paradise (1938) as Honeyman
Wives Under Suspicion (1938) as Kirk
Paroled from the Big House (1938) as Commissioner Downey
The Storm (1938) as Hagen - officer on SS Orion (uncredited)
California Frontier (1938) as Mal Halstead
Blackwell's Island (1938) as Max (deputy commissioner) (uncredited)
Made for Each Other (1939) as Newark Official (uncredited)
King of the Turf (1939) as Taylor
Tail Spin (1939) as Kansas City Mechanic (uncredited)
Society Smugglers (1939) as Peter Garfield
Mystery Plane (1939) as 'Skeeter' Milligan
The Spirit of Culver (1939) as Instructor (uncredited)
Blind Alley (1939) as Nick
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) as Stephen A. Douglas (uncredited)
Stunt Pilot (1939) as 'Skeeter' Milligan
When Tomorrow Comes (1939) as Head Busboy (uncredited)
Tropic Fury (1939) as Thomas E. Snell
Danger Flight (1939) as Skeeter Milligan
Fighting Mad (1939) as Cardigan
Crashing Thru (1939) as Delos Harrington
Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939) as Dave Krebs
The Big Guy (1939) as Publicity man (uncredited)
Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939) as Joe Felton (uncredited)
Chasing Trouble (1940) as Pat Callahan
Framed (1940) as Mathew Mattison
Black Friday (1940) as Reporter at Execution (uncredited)
Johnny Apollo (1940) as Main Reporter (uncredited)
Enemy Agent (1940) as Meeker
An Angel from Texas (1940) as 'Pooch' Davis (uncredited)
Lillian Russell (1940) as Jack - Reporter (uncredited)
Public Deb No. 1 (1940) as Reporter (uncredited)
Colorado (1940) as Don Burke alias Captain Mason
Give Us Wings (1940) as Tex Austin
The Great Plane Robbery (1940 film) as Krebber
The Phantom Cowboy (1941) as Stan Borden
The Great Train Robbery (1941) as Duke Logan
Death Valley Outlaws (1941) as Jeff
No Hands on the Clock (1941) as FBI Man (uncredited)
Frisco Lil (1942) as Mike
Reap the Wild Wind (1942) as Lieutenant Farragut
Pacific Rendezvous (1942) as Park Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Rubber Racketeers (1942) as Angel
Invisible Agent (1942) as German Sergeant (uncredited)
Police Bullets (1942) as Johnny Reilly
Eyes in the Night (1942) as Detective Pete (uncredited)
Silent Witness (1943) as Racketeer Joe Manson
You Can't Beat the Law (1943) as Frank Sanders
Submarine Alert (1943) as Lt. Winston - Naval Intelligence (uncredited)
Keep 'Em Slugging (1943) as Duke Redman
Captive Wild Woman (1943) as Fred Mason
Get Going (1943) as Mr. Tuttle
Destroyer (1943) as Radioman (uncredited)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) as Captain Vickery
Corvette K-225 (1943) as Canadian Captain (uncredited)
The Mad Ghoul (1943) as Macklin
Gung Ho! (1943) as Cmdr. Blake
The Impostor (1944) as Chauzel
Phantom Lady (1944) as District Attorney (voice)
Weird Woman (1944) as Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)
Hat Check Honey (1944) as David Courtland
Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944) as Bill Eaton
Moon Over Las Vegas (1944) as Jim Bradley
The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944, Serial) as Jim Hudson
Gambler's Choice (1944) as Doctor (uncredited)
Twilight on the Prairie (1944) as Gainsworth
Jungle Woman (1944) as Fred Mason
She Gets Her Man (1945) as 'Tommy Gun' Tucker
I'll Remember April (1945) as Willie Winchester
The Master Key (1945, Serial) as Agent Tom Brant
Swing Out, Sister (1945) as Tim Colby
The Frozen Ghost (1945) as George Keene
On Stage Everybody (1945) as Fitzgerald
The Beautiful Cheat (1945) as Lucius Haven
Strange Confession (1945) as Stevens
The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945, Serial) as Brad Taggart
The Daltons Ride Again (1945) as Parker W. Graham
The Scarlet Horseman (1946, Serial) as Narrator (voice, uncredited)
Little Giant (1946) as Prof. Watkins (voice, uncredited)
Smooth as Silk (1946) as John Kimble
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946) as Mr. Moore
Strange Conquest (1946) as Bert Morrow
Her Adventurous Night (1946) as Cop #1
Inside Job (1946) as District Attorney Sutton
Danger Woman (1946) as Gerald King
Little Miss Big (1946) as Father Lennergan
The Michigan Kid (1947) as Lanny Slade
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947) as Raven Club Announcer (voice), (uncredited)
Buck Privates Come Home (1947) as Announcer
Time Out of Mind (1947 film) as Stage Manager (uncredited)
Killer Dill (1947) as Maboose
Cass Timberlane (1947) as Nestor Purdwin (uncredited)
Heading for Heaven (1947) as Elwood Harding
Killer McCoy (1947) as Henchman (uncredited)
Train to Alcatraz (1948) as Bart Kanin
The Judge (1949) as Martin Strang
The Green Promise (1949) as Reverend Jim Benton
Sky Dragon (1949) as Capt. Tim Norton
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949) as Abe Jones
No Man of Her Own (1950) as Plainclothesman
Snow Dog (1950) as Dr. F. J. McKenzie
The Fireball (1950) as Jeff Davis
Branded (1950) as Dawson
Operation Pacific (1951) as Ground Control Officer (uncredited)
Flying Leathernecks (1951) as Fleet CIC Radio Operator (uncredited)
Roadblock (1951) as Ray Evans
The Racket (1951) as Member of Craig's Team (uncredited)
The Atomic City (1952) as Insp. Harold Mann
The Savage (1952) as Cpl. Martin
Invaders from Mars (1953) as Capt. Roth
The Sun Shines Bright (1953) as Horace K. Maydew
Pickup on South Street (1953) as Detective Winoki
Second Chance (1953) as Edward Dawson
Arrowhead (1953) as Sandy MacKinnon
Siege at Red River (1954) as Sgt. Benjamin 'Benjy' Guderman
Black Tuesday (1954) as Father Slocum
The Long Gray Line (1955) as Capt. John Pershing
White Feather (1955) as Commissioner Trenton
Smoke Signal (1955) as Sgt. Miles
The Private War of Major Benson (1955) as Maj. Gen. Wilton J. Ramsey
Gunsmoke (1955-1975, TV Series) as Doc Adams (final appearance)
Drango (1957) as Col. Bracken
Notes
^ The Hollywood Walk of Fame's website designates Stone as a Star of Motion Pictures and gives the address of his star as 6823 Hollywood Boulevard.
References
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Milburn Stone - Broadway Cast & Staff" .
Internet Broadway Database .
The Broadway League . Retrieved December 16, 2022 .
^
a
b
c Aaker, Everett (2017).
Television Western Players, 1960–1975: A Biographical Dictionary . McFarland. pp. 397–398.
ISBN
9781476628561 . Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
^
"Correspondence from Milburn Stone's brother, Joe Stone" . gunsmokenet.com. January 23, 1998. Retrieved July 29, 2014 .
^
"("Milburn Stone" search results)" . Internet Broadway Database . Archived from
the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
^ Lentz, Harris M. III (2004).
Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture . McFarland.
ISBN
9780786417568 . Retrieved September 21, 2017 .
^ Beccy Tanner (August 20, 2012).
"Madge Blake stood out in small roles" .
The Wichita Eagle . Retrieved July 29, 2014 .
^
"After heart surgery, 'Doc' continues to improve" , birminghamrewound.com; accessed May 5, 2014.
^
"Milburn Stone - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times" .
^
Cemeteries in San Diego
^
"Correspondence from Milburn Stone's brother, Joe Stone" . gunsmokenet.com. January 23, 1998. Retrieved July 29, 2014 .
^
"("Milburn Stone" search results)" . Emmy Awards . Television Academy. Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
^
"Milburn Stone" . kansapedia . Kansas Historical Society. Archived from
the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017 .
^
"Milburn Stone" . Hollywood Walk of Fame . Archived from
the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
^
"Great Western Performers" . National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum . Archived from
the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
^
"About Us" . Milburn Stone Theatre . Archived from
the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017 .
External links
1959–1975 1976–2000 2001–present
International National Artists