---
name: "Richard Eastham"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/richard-eastham"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "22 June 1916"
died: "10 July 2005"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-19T16:48:28.647678+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Richard Eastham

Actor. Born 22 June 1916 in Opelousas, Louisiana, USA. Died 10 July 2005.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 22 June 1916, Opelousas, Louisiana, USA
- **Died:** 10 July 2005
- **Also known as:** Dickenson Eastham
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Eastham, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1528694, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0247604/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/18678

## Biography

Richard Eastham (born Dickinson Swift Eastham) was an American actor of stage, film and television, and a concert singer with a deep baritone voice. Born on 22 June 1916 in Opelousas, Louisiana, he studied at Washington University in St. Louis and performed with the St. Louis Grand Opera before serving in the US Army during the Second World War.

After the war he trained at the American Theatre Wing in New York and understudied Ezio Pinza as Emile de Becque in the original Broadway production of *South Pacific*, later taking over the role and touring nationally. He appeared in films including *There's No Business Like Show Business* (1954), *That Darn Cat!* (1965), *Tom Sawyer* (1973), *Battle for the Planet of the Apes* (1973) as a mutant captain, and *McQ* (1974). On television he was a regular as newspaperman Harris Claibourne on the western series *Tombstone Territory* (1957–1960) and had recurring roles on *Wonder Woman* (as General Phil Blankenship) and *Falcon Crest*.

Eastham also guest-starred on series such as *Perry Mason*, *Bonanza* and *Kojak*. He was married to Betty Jean Van Allen from 1942 until her death in 2002, and died on 10 July 2005 in Pacific Palisades, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Battle for the Planet of the Apes* (1973), Fi1m 36, as Mutant — [page](https://film.one/film/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes.md)

## Complete filmography (48)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Tales of the Gold Monkey* (1982), series, Actor
- *A Wedding on Waltons Mountain* (1982), as Mr. Northridge
- *Falcon Crest* (1981), series, as Dr. Howell
- *Conquest of the Earth* (1980), as Gen. Cushing
- *Condominium* (1980), series, as Tom Forrester
- *Galactica 1980* (1980), series, as Gen. Cushing
- *Hart to Hart* (1979), series, as Man at Restaurant
- *Salvage* (1979), as Commentator
- *Run, Jimmy, Run* (1978), Actor
- *Quincy, M.E.* (1976), series, as Baine, Drug Industry Council Member
- *Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence* (1976), as Executive
- *Wonder Woman* (1975), series, as General Phil Blankenship
- *Baretta* (1975), series, Actor
- *Doubletalk* (1975), as father
- *The Missiles of October* (1974), as Gen. David M. Shoup, USMC Commandant
- *McQ* (1974), as Walter Forrester
- *Kojak* (1973), series, as Jack Seymour — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/kojak.md)
- *The President's Plane Is Missing* (1973), as Gen. Colton
- *Battle for the Planet of the Apes* (1973), as Mutant — Fi1m 36, [page](https://film.one/film/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes.md)
- *Tom Sawyer* (1973), as Doc Robinson
- *Barnaby Jones* (1973), series, as Lawrence Adams
- *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, as Jack Leist, Jules Rhinelander
- *The Waltons* (1972), series, Actor
- *McMillan & Wife* (1971), series, as Thomas Ewing
- *Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law* (1971), series, as Prof. Gannett
- *Cannon* (1971), series, Actor
- *Silent Night, Lonely Night* (1969), as Paul Johnson
- *The Bill Cosby Show* (1969), series, as Lionel Schallert
- *The Mod Squad* (1968), series, as Harrison Cochran
- *Adam-12* (1968), series, as Mr. Courtnay
- *The Invaders* (1967), series, as Carl Vanders
- *Murderers' Row* (1966), as Dr. Norman Solaris
- *Not With My Wife, You Don't!* (1966), as General Walters
- *That Darn Cat!* (1965), as Supervisor Newton
- *The F.B.I.* (1965), series, as Special Agent Howard Armstrong
- *The Barbara Stanwyck Show* (1960), series, as Sam Verner
- *The Aquanauts* (1960), series, as Sinclair
- *Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus* (1960), as Colonel Sam Castle
- *Bonanza* (1959), series, as Stanton
- *Bat Masterson* (1958), series, as Orin Dilts
- *Tombstone Territory* (1957), series, as Harris Claibourne / Narrator
- *Perry Mason* (1957), series, as Deputy D.A. Parness, Prosecutor Parness, Roland Canfield, Oliver Stone
- *Man on Fire* (1957), as Bryan Seward
- *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* (1956), series, as Jim Amber
- *Heidi* (1955), as Grandfather
- *There's No Business Like Show Business* (1954), as Lew Harris
- *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, as Colonel Sam Castle
- *The Six Men* (1951), Screenplay

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/richard-eastham