| Richard Derr | |
| Birth Date: | 15 June 1917 |
| Birth Place: | Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
Richard Derr (June 15, 1917 – May 8, 1992) was an American actor who worked with stage, movie, and television drama, performing in both supporting and main roles.[1]
Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Derr graduated from Norristown High School in 1933. While he worked as a bank clerk, he acted with a little theater group in Norristown.[2]
Derr was a life member of The Actors Studio,[3] . He had several main roles for stage drama.[1] In 1955, he sang in the main role for the Broadway musical Plain and Fancy. His other Broadway credits include Dial M for Murder (1952), Invitation to a March (1960), Maybe Tuesday (1957), A Phoenix Too Frequent (1949), and The Closing Door (1949).[4]
For movies, Derr was primarily a character actor.[1] However, he had the main role in George Pal's 1951 science fiction movie from Paramount Pictures, When Worlds Collide. Derr later had the main role in The Invisible Avenger (1958), a movie based on the radio show and pulp magazine character The Shadow. The character also served as the basis for two television pilot episodes, neither of which was developed into a series.[5]
During the 1950s, most of Derr's work was done for television. On November 21, 1950, he co-featured in "The Perfect Type" on Armstrong Circle Theatre.[6] In 1959, he was the host of Fanfare, a summer dramatic anthology series by NBC-TV.[7]
In 1965, he played the role of Dr. Dwyer in the three-part serial, "The Adventures of Gallegher" for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and later made appearances in Barnaby Jones, in two episodes of Star Trek, and in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man Book II.
Derr served in the Army Transport Service for three years during World War II.[8]
Derr had a license as a real estate broker. He was an associate of the Beverly Hills Realty Company and a member of the Beverly Hills Realty Board.[2]
On May 8, 1992, at the age of 75, Derr died of pancreatic cancer in Santa Monica, California.[9]