Wilton Graff

Wilton Graff, born Wilton Calvert Ratcliffe on August 13, 1903, was an American actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Graff and grew up in Connecticut, graduating from West Hartford High School in 1921. Before pursuing acting, he worked in journalism, contributing to publications including The Hartford Times, The Springfield Republican, and the Paris Herald.

Graff made his Broadway debut in Fantasia in 1933, launching a stage career that continued through 1941. During those years he appeared in a number of productions, among them Dame Nature, Pastoral, Romeo and Juliet, Cue for Passion, and Gabrielle, the last of which marked his final appearance on Broadway.

Beginning in the 1940s, Graff transitioned to film, eventually accumulating dozens of screen credits. He was most frequently cast as professionals and authority figures, including military officers. His sole starring role in film came in Bloodlust!, in which he played against type as a deranged villain. In the final decade of his career, television became his primary medium. Among his television appearances was a 1956 guest role on the Western series Gunsmoke, starring James Arness, in which Graff portrayed Troy Carver, an aging lawman contending with failing eyesight and doubts about his own capabilities, in the episode titled "20-20."

Graff died on January 14, 1969, in Pacific Palisades, California, at the age of 65.