Melville Ruick

Melville Ruick (July 8, 1898 – December 24, 1972) was an American actor born in Boise, Idaho, to Amanda (née Hughes) and Norman Ruick. His father served as a U.S. district attorney in Idaho, and Ruick pursued legal studies at the University of California before World War I redirected his path. He enlisted and earned his wings in the Air Service, Signal Corps, completing pilot training two weeks before the armistice. At 17 he was the youngest American flier in the war, and by 18 he had attained the rank of lieutenant.

Before establishing himself as an actor, Ruick spent five years as master of ceremonies for the Fanchon and Marco shows. During the Depression he worked simultaneously as a bandleader and a theatrical stock actor. While leading a dance band in Los Angeles, he accepted an offer from CBS to work as a local radio announcer, which led to an audition for the announcer position on the CBS radio program Lux Radio Theater. He remained with that show for six years.

When World War II began, Ruick returned to military service as a captain in the USAAF, attached to the Radio Production Unit as a producer-director. After the war he reentered show business, touring with Leo Carrillo in a revival of The Bad Man. During this period he also received an offer to direct Paul Whiteman's radio show for the U.S. National Guard.

Ruick's Broadway career spanned 1948 to 1958 and included appearances in My Romance and the comedy The Pleasure of His Company. On television he starred as Chief John Randolph in the NBC adventure series The Door with No Name in 1951 and as Dr. Barton Crane in the dramatic series City Hospital, which aired on both ABC-TV and CBS radio. He later guest-starred in several prominent 1960s series, among them The Fugitive, The Wild Wild West, and The Invaders.

In his personal life, Ruick was married to actresses Lurene Tuttle and Claire Niesen. With Tuttle he had a daughter, actress Barbara Ruick. Through Barbara he became the father-in-law of composer and conductor John Williams and the maternal grandfather of Joseph Williams. Ruick died in Los Angeles on December 24, 1972, at the age of 74.