Jeff York was an American film and television actor, who began his career in the late 1930s using his given name Granville Owen Scofield. He was also sometimes credited as Jeff Yorke.
Born in Los Angeles, he graduated from grammar school and high school there, as well as San Jose State Teachers College. In college, Jeff studied to be a writer. When he found that he had no talent for writing, he entered professional boxing and was runner up in the Pacific Coast Golden Gloves competition. He later bluffed his way into a stock company and then joined the Federal Theater Project.
During his early career, the tall, dark haired actor was a natural to play characters, such as Pat Ryan in the 1940 serial Terry and the Pirates and was given the lead in the 1940 film Li'l Abner. However, he is perhaps most remembered for his role as Bud Searcy in Disney's classic Old Yeller and its 1963 sequel Savage Sam. Beverly Washburn played Lisbeth Searcy, Bud's daughter. York also appeared in The Great Locomotive Chase, Westward Ho, the Wagons!, and Johnny Tremain, which were all part of Walt Disney's productions.
York attracted considerable attention in the mid-1950s with his television portrayal of Mike Fink, the flamboyant keelboat operator in two episodes of Disney's hugely popular Davy Crockett miniseries in the episodes "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates". York was cast opposite Fess Parker in the role. The first episode featured a memorable boasting contest and a keelboat race, with Fink's boat named The Gullywumper; in the second, Crockett and Fink join forces to fight a band of river pirates, who blame their depredations on local Native Americans.
Girls run and hide, brave men shiver...I'm Mike Fink, king of the river!
He also starred as mountain man/fur trapper Joe Crane in two different Disney series: The Saga of Andy Burnett, adapted from the Stewart Edward White novel The Long Rifle and Zorro.
You see before you Joe Crane, as big as life and twice as nasty!
In addition, York was a guest star on television shows, like The Lone Ranger, Waterfront, Studio 57, Medic, Fireside Theater, You Are There, The Californians, Peter Gunn, Bronco, Lawman, Cheyenne, The Rifleman, Outlaws, The Alaskans, Perry Mason, Daniel Boone, and The Iron Horse. His other film credits included The Yearling, The Asphalt Jungle, The Three Musketeers (1948), Father of the Bride (1950), They Were Expendable, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Isn't it Romantic?.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1955-1958 | The Magical World of Disney | Various Roles: Joe Crane - "The Saga of Andy Burnett" Hank Breckinridge - "Along the Oregon Trail" William Campbell - "Behind the Scenes with Fess Parker" "The Liberty Story" - Actor |
| 1956 | The Great Locomotive Chase | William Campbell |
| 1956 | Westward Ho, the Wagons! | Hank Breckenridge |
| 1956 | Davy Crockett and the River Pirates | Mike Fink |
| 1957 | Johnny Tremain | James Otis |
| 1957 | Old Yeller | Bud Searcy |
| 1959 | Zorro | Joe Crane |
| 1963 | Savage Sam | Bud Searcy |
Roles
(Old Yeller, Savage Sam)
(The Saga of Andy Burnett, Zorro)
(The Great Locomotive Chase)
(Davy Crockett films)
(Johnny Tremain)
(Westward Ho, the Wagons!)
Gallery
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Jeff York. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |