Gilman W. Rankin was a Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

-born actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 who appeared primarily in television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 westerns

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 between 1956 and 1975. Between 1957 and 1959, he had a supporting role as Deputy Charlie Riggs in seven episodes of the series Tombstone Territory

Tombstone Territory

Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...

. Rankin further guest starred nine times between 1960 and 1975 in various roles on CBS's Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....

with James Arness

James Arness

James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...

.

His first western role was as the Reverend Simon Peter Wheedle in the 1956 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Ghost Town, which also starred character actor

Character actor

A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...

 John Doucette

John Doucette

John Doucette was a film character actor. He was a balding, husky man remembered for playing mob muscle and western bad guys in movies...

. Other western roles followed: as Jed in the 1956 episode "Patrol" of NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

's Frontier

Frontier (1955 TV series)

This program should not be confused with Frontiers , the British program Frontier , Frontier Justice , Frontier Circus, or Frontier Doctor....

, as Tawanga in the 1957 episode "The Doctor" of NBC's Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow (TV series)

Broken Arrow is a Western series which ran on ABC-TV in prime time from 1956 through 1958 on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Repeat episodes were shown by ABC on Sunday afternoons during the 1959–60 season...

, as Judge Parnell in the 1957 film Black Patch

Black Patch (film)

Black Patch is a 1957 American Western film directed by Allen H. Miner and written by Leo Gordon, who also plays a supporting role. The film stars George Montgomery and Diane Brewster , and is the first film featuring a musical score by Jerry Goldsmith.-Cast:*George Montgomery as Marshal Clay...

, and as Cy Conway in the 1957 episode "Death on the Rock" of Rod Cameron

Rod Cameron

Rod Cameron was a Canadian-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror, war, action and science fiction movies, but is best remembered for his many Westerns....

's syndicated series State Trooper

State Trooper (TV series)

State Trooper is a half-hour television crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada State Troopers. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959...

.

Rankin guest starred in numerous drama programs, including his first television appearance as Vince in the 1955 episode "Prison Break" of Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...

's syndicated crime drama Highway Patrol

Highway Patrol (TV series)

Highway Patrol is a syndicated action crime drama series produced 1955-1959.-Overview:Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews, the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state...

. He appeared twice on CBS's The Millionaire fantasy drama in 1955 and 1957 and as an announcer in the 1957 episode "Blizzard" of NBC's The Loretta Young Show. He also appeared on NBC's Jane Wyman Presents, CBS's Lassie, NBC's Dragnet

Dragnet (series)

Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...

, CBS's Perry Mason

Perry Mason (TV series)

Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...

, ABC's The Untouchables

The Untouchables (1959 TV series)

The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...

, and the syndicated Border Patrol

Border Patrol (US TV series)

Border Patrol is a 34-episode syndicated half-hour adventure/drama television series which aired in the United States during calendar year 1959, with Richard Webb cast as Don Jagger, the fictitious deputy chief of the Border Patrol...

in the 1959 episode "The Logmen".

Other western roles included that of a foreman in the episode "Tom Horn" of Dale Robertson

Dale Robertson

Dayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson is an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but...

's NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo

Tales of Wells Fargo

Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series that ran from March 18, 1957 to June 2, 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour.-Synopsis:...

, twice on NBC's Laramie

Laramie (TV series)

Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...

in 1959 episodes "Stage Stop" and "The General Must Die", on Richard Boone

Richard Boone

Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.-Early life:...

's CBS series Have Gun - Will Travel, and the short-lived NBC Overland Trail

Overland Trail (TV series)

Overland Trail is a short-lived American Western series which aired on NBC from February 7 to June 6, 1960. The series starred William Bendix and Doug McClure,-Synopsis:...

series in the episode "Daughter of the Sioux". He appeared as Tully in the 1960 episode "Disaster at Gold Hill" of ABC's The Alaskans

The Alaskans

The Alaskans is a 1959 television series set in the port of Skagway, Alaska during the 1890s. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold...

. He portrayed the character Thornlee in the 1960 episode "Incident at Tupelo" of ABC's The Man From Blackhawk

The Man From Blackhawk

The Man From Blackhawk is a Western television series starring Robert Rockwell that aired on the ABC television network from October 9, 1959, until September 9, 1960. The Man From Blackhawk was created by Academy Award winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant.In The Man From Blackhawk, Rockwell...

. In 1960-61, he appeared on CBS's The Texan

The Texan (TV series)

The Texan is a Western television series starring popular B movie star Rory Calhoun. It aired on the CBS television network from 1958-1960.-Production notes:...

, starring Rory Calhoun

Rory Calhoun

Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...

, and NBC's Riverboat

Riverboat (TV series)

Riverboat is a western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds that was broadcast on the NBC television network from September 13, 1959 until January 2, 1961....

, with Darren McGavin

Darren McGavin

Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...

.

Rankin's later appearances were Grindl

Grindl

Grindl is an American situation comedy that began in the fall of 1963 on NBC, originally sponsored by Procter & Gamble. The show, starring Imogene Coca in the title role, lasted for one season.-Synopsis:...

(1963), NBC's The Long, Hot Summer

The Long, Hot Summer

The Long, Hot Summer is a 1958 film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury and Orson Welles...

(1965), the film Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John...

(1969), Raymond Burr

Raymond Burr

Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...

's NBC series, Ironside

Ironside (TV series)

Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...

(1971), and as Henry Cottle in the 1974 episode "The Graduation" of CBS's The Waltons

The Waltons

The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...

. Rankin's final appearance was as a bus driver in the 1976 film Assault on Precinct 13

Assault on Precinct 13

Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 American action-thriller film written and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Austin Stoker as a police officer who defends a defunct precinct against an attack by a relentless criminal gang, along with Darwin Joston as a convicted murderer who helps him. Laurie...

.

Rankin died, aged 82, in Huntington Beach, California

Huntington Beach, California

Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...

.