- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- March 1, 1911
- Place of Birth
- New York City, New York, USA
- Died
- July 29, 1998
O.Z. Whitehead
American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company. Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.
Filmography
Hello, Stranger
movieHello, Stranger
1992
moviePhiladelphia, Here I Come
1975 · Ben Burton
movieThe Lion in Winter
1968 · Bishop of Durham
movieUlysses
1967 · Alexander J. Dowie
movieSummer Magic
1963 · Mr. Perkins
moviePanic in Year Zero!
1962 · Hogan
movieThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962 · Herbert Carruthers
tvHazel
1961
movieTwo Rode Together
1961 · Lt. Whitehead
movieThe Horse Soldiers
1959 · Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins
movieThe Last Hurrah
1958 · Norman Cass Jr.
movieRally 'Round the Flag, Boys!
1958 · Isaac Goodpasture
tvPerry Mason
1957 · Harry Beacom
tvAlfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Mr. Newton, Simms
tvGunsmoke
1955 · Hank Blenis
The Body Beautiful
movieThe Body Beautiful
1953 · Oscar Blunt
tvCavalcade of America
1952
movieBeware, My Lovely
1952 · Mr. Franks
movieThe San Francisco Story
1952 · Alfey
movieFor Men Only
1952 · Prof. Bixby
movieFBI Girl
1951 · Chauncey
movieJourney Into Light
1951 · Lippy
movieComin' Round the Mountain
1951 · Zeke
movieThe Hoodlum
1951 · Breckenridge
movieThe Scarf
1951 · Whoopie
movieMa and Pa Kettle
1949 · Mr. Billings
tvSuspense
1949 · George Vance
tvStudio One
1948 · Peter Kovalesky
movieA Song Is Born
1948 · Professor Oddly
movieRoad House
1948 · Arthur
movieThe Romance of Rosy Ridge
1947 · Ninny Nat
movieMy Brother Talks to Horses
1947 · Mr. Puddy
movieThe Grapes of Wrath
1940 · Al Joad
movieThe Scoundrel
1935 · Calhoun