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Claude Akins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Claude Marion Akins was an American actor (born May 25, 1926, in Nelson, Georgia - died January 27, 1994, in Altadena, California). Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever (or less than clever) tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series B.J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spinoff series.
In movies, Akins portrayed prisoner Joe Berdett in the movie Rio Bravo (which also starred John Wayne and Angie Dickinson), Naval Lt. Commander Farber in Don't Give Up The Ship (starring Jerry Lewis), the Reverend Jeremiah Brown in the 1960 movie Inherit the Wind, outlaw Ben Lane in Comanche Station that same year, and later the gorilla leader Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the last original Apes movie in 1973.
In television, Akins had an early appearance in Adventures of Superman (episode number 69, "Peril by Sea"), playing a villainous co-conspirator. He had numerous roles in Western series, including Wagon Train, Death Valley Days, Zane Grey Theater, The Rifleman and Bonanza, and featured roles on the original The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
Before his signature character Lobo, he appeared as trucker Sonny Pruett in NBC's Movin' On, from 1974 to 1976. He also appeared in TV commercials for Polygrip and Aamco. He even appeared on an episode of CBS's I Love Lucy -- playing himself.