John Ericson

John Ericson, born Joachim Alexander Ottokar Meibes on September 25, 1926, in Düsseldorf, Germany, was a German-born American actor who worked across stage, film, and television until the mid-1990s. He died of pneumonia on May 3, 2020, at the age of 93. His mother, Ellen Wilson, was a Swedish actress and operatic star, and his father, Carl F. Meibes, later became president of a New York food extract corporation. The family relocated from Belgium to the United States when Ericson was three years old. Following service in the United States Army during the latter part of World War II, he trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Grace Kelly and Don Rickles.

Before reaching Broadway, Ericson built his early stage experience through stock company work at the Gateway Theatre in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. His Broadway career spanned from 1951 to 1967 and included two productions: the play Stalag 17 and the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. In the original 1951 production of Stalag 17, directed by José Ferrer, Ericson played the lead role of JJ Sefton. The success of that production led directly to an MGM contract.

At MGM, Ericson appeared in a series of films in rapid succession. His first studio picture was Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann, followed by Rhapsody, The Student Prince, and Green Fire, all released in 1954. He also appeared in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) and co-starred with Barbara Stanwyck in Forty Guns (1957). In 1958 he portrayed Sheriff Barney Wiley in Day of the Badman, which starred Fred MacMurray. His additional film credits included the title role in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), Under Ten Flags (1960), Slave Queen of Babylon (1963), 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), Operation Atlantis (1965), The Money Jungle (1968), The Bamboo Saucer (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Crash! (1976).

Television occupied the majority of Ericson's career over the following three decades. He took the lead role in the episode "The Peter Bartley Story" on the CBS drama The Millionaire and appeared alongside Dorothy Malone in the episode "Mutiny" on CBS's Appointment with Adventure, which aired on January 1, 1956. He made guest appearances on The Restless Gun in 1958 and Target: The Corruptors! in 1961. On Bonanza, he appeared twice: as Vince Dagen in the 1960 episode "Breed of Violence" and as Wade Hollister in the 1967 episode "Journey to Terror." From 1965 to 1966, he co-starred with Anne Francis on the ABC series Honey West, playing private detective Sam Bolt — a role for which he became particularly well known. Ericson and Francis had previously appeared together in Bad Day at Black Rock, in which they played brother and sister. In 1971 he appeared as Jack Bonham in the episode "The Political" on The Men From Shiloh.

In the mid-1990s, Ericson retired from acting and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife. He briefly returned to the screen for the film The Far Side of Jericho (2006) and an episode of Crash, and also participated in local stage productions in Santa Fe. In his personal life, Ericson was engaged to Anne Bancroft in 1951. His first marriage, to Milly Coury, produced a son and a daughter. He was subsequently married to Karen Huston Ericson for 46 years.