Philip Bourneuf

Philip Bourneuf (January 7, 1908 – March 23, 1979) was an American character actor born in Somerville, Massachusetts, who built an extensive career across stage, film, and television spanning several decades. The son of engineer Ambrose Bourneuf and his wife, the former Josephine Comeau, he grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts. During his high school years, Bourneuf performed in vaudeville and with local stock theater companies, laying the groundwork for a professional career that would take him to Broadway and beyond.

Bourneuf's Broadway career ran from 1934 to 1963 and included productions across a range of genres. He starred in Alice in Wonderland and appeared in the comedy The Taming of the Shrew, as well as Dead End and On the Rocks, among other productions. In the 1930s, he worked as part of the Federal Theatre Project. He was also among the select group of distinguished actors who appeared in the original casts of the American Repertory Theater, a company founded by Eva Le Gallienne, Margaret Webster, and Cheryl Crawford. Additionally, Bourneuf was a founding member of the Actors Studio.

On screen, one of his most noted roles came in the 1956 film Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, in which he played the district attorney who maneuvers the apparently innocent Dana Andrews into the electric chair. He made three guest appearances on Perry Mason: in 1960 as Asa Culver in "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor," in 1963 as murder victim Edgar Thorne in "The Case of the Lawful Lazarus," and in 1965 as defendant Victor Montalvo in "The Case of the Golden Girls." Bourneuf also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dr. Kildare, and Gunsmoke, where he played injured murderer George Basset in the 1956 season three premiere "Legal Revenge" and Kelly in the same season's "Wild West." His final screen credit was the 1976 television miniseries Captains and the Kings.

In his personal life, Bourneuf was married to actress Frances Reid from 1940 until their divorce in 1973. They had no children. He died on March 23, 1979, when he was found dead in his apartment in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 71.