Milburn Stone
Encyclopedia
Milburn Stone was an American
television actor
, a nephew of Broadway comedian Fred Stone
and the son of a shopkeeper, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS western series Gunsmoke
. He also played a doctor, CDR Blake, in the 1943 film Gung Ho!
.
Stone was born in Burrton
in Harvey County
in central Kansas
. He began his screen career in the 1930s, having been featured in Monogram Pictures
' series of "Tailspin Tommy" adventures. In 1940, he appeared with Marjorie Reynolds
, Tristram Coffin, and I. Stanford Jolley
in the comedy espionage film Chasing Trouble
. He also played the liberal minded warden in Monogram Pictures', "Prison Mutiny", in 1943. Stone was signed by Universal Pictures
in 1943 and became a familiar face in its features and serials. One of his film
roles was a radio
columnist
in the Gloria Jean
-Kirby Grant
musical I'll Remember April. He made such an impression in this film that Universal gave him a starring role (and a similar characterization) in the 1945 serial The Master Key.
One of CBS Radio's hit series, the western Gunsmoke
, was adapted for television in 1955 and recast with experienced screen actors. Howard McNear
, radio's "Doc Adams," was replaced by Milburn Stone, who gave the role a harder edge consistent with his screen portrayals. He stayed with Gunsmoke
through its entire run and was often shown sparring in a friendly manner with costars Dennis Weaver
and Ken Curtis
, who played, respectively, Chester Goode and deputy Festus Haggen
. His other co-stars were James Arness
, Amanda Blake
, Burt Reynolds
, Glenn Strange
, Buck Taylor
and Roger Ewing
.
In March of 1971, Milburn Stone had heart bypass surgery at UAB Hospital
, in Birmingham, Alabama
. Afterward, he had to be revived two times after his heart had stopped.
A painting of the Doc Adams character was commissioned from Gary Hawk, a painter from Stone's home state of Kansas. When then-President Ronald Reagan
, a friend of Milburn Stone, heard about the painting, Gary Hawk was invited to the Oval Office
to present the artwork to the President. Stone lived to see Reagan emerge as the likely Republican
nominee for President in 1980 but not to witness Reagan's election.
For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn Stone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. He died of a heart attack
in La Jolla, California
. In 1981, he was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
.
After his death he left a legacy for the Performing Arts
in Cecil County, MD by way of the Milburn Stone Theater at Cecil Community College in North East, MD. In 2007, the name of the College was changed to Cecil College.
He is survived by his one daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason of Costa Mesa, California.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television 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...
, a nephew of Broadway comedian Fred Stone
Fred Stone
Fred Andrew Stone was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act on vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Biography:He was particularly famous for appearing...
and the son of a shopkeeper, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS western series 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....
. He also played a doctor, CDR Blake, in the 1943 film Gung Ho!
Gung Ho! (1943 film)
Gung Ho! is a 1943 war film starring Randolph Scott. The story is based on the real-life World War II Makin Island raid led by Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson's 2nd Marine Raider Battalion.-Plot:The film begins with a tough Greek Lieutenant Gung Ho! (full title: Gung Ho!: The Story of Carlson's...
.
Stone was born in Burrton
Burrton, Kansas
Burrton is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. It is named after Isaac T. Burr, former vice-president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 901.-Geography:...
in Harvey County
Harvey County, Kansas
Harvey County is a county located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 34,684. Its county seat and most populous city is Newton. The county is a part of the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area which also includes Butler,...
in central Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. He began his screen career in the 1930s, having been featured in Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
' series of "Tailspin Tommy" adventures. In 1940, he appeared with Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 70 films.Born Marjorie Goodspeed, in Buhl, Idaho, as her parents made the cross-country trip from Maine to settle in California, she was featured as a child actressin silent films such as Scaramouche...
, Tristram Coffin, and I. Stanford Jolley
I. Stanford Jolley
Isaac Stanford Jolley, Sr., known as I. Stanford Jolley was a prolific American character actor of film and television, primarily in western roles as cowboys, law-enforcement officers, or villains...
in the comedy espionage film Chasing Trouble
Chasing Trouble
- Cast :*Frankie Darro as Frankie 'Cupid' O'Brien*Marjorie Reynolds as Susie*Mantan Moreland as Jefferson*Milburn Stone as Callahan*Cheryl Walker as Phyllis Bentley*George Cleveland as Lester*Alex Callam as Morgan*Tristram Coffin as Phillips...
. He also played the liberal minded warden in Monogram Pictures', "Prison Mutiny", in 1943. Stone was signed by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
in 1943 and became a familiar face in its features and serials. One of his 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...
roles was a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
in the Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.-Career:...
-Kirby Grant
Kirby Grant
Kirby Grant, , was a long-time B movie and television actor. He is mostly remembered for playing the title role in the television series Sky King....
musical I'll Remember April. He made such an impression in this film that Universal gave him a starring role (and a similar characterization) in the 1945 serial The Master Key.
One of CBS Radio's hit series, the western 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....
, was adapted for television in 1955 and recast with experienced screen actors. Howard McNear
Howard McNear
Howard Terbell McNear was an American film, television and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as Floyd Lawson, the barber in The Andy Griffith Show and as Doc Charles Adams in CBS Radio's Gunsmoke .-Career:McNear was born in Los Angeles, California to Luzetta M. Spencer and Franklin...
, radio's "Doc Adams," was replaced by Milburn Stone, who gave the role a harder edge consistent with his screen portrayals. He stayed with 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....
through its entire run and was often shown sparring in a friendly manner with costars Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
and Ken Curtis
Ken Curtis
Ken Curtis was an American singer and actor best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the long-running CBS western television series Gunsmoke.-Early years:...
, who played, respectively, Chester Goode and deputy Festus Haggen
Festus Haggen
Festus Haggen was Marshal Matt Dillon's only official deputy on the CBS television series Gunsmoke. He came to Dodge City in an episode titled "Us Haggens" to avenge the death of his twin brother, Fergus. Played by Ken Curtis, he first appeared in 1962 and was showcased full-time from 1964 until 1975...
. His other co-stars were 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...
, Amanda Blake
Amanda Blake
Amanda Blake was an American actress known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the television western Gunsmoke.-Early life and career:...
, Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, Glenn Strange
Glenn Strange
Glenn Strange was an American actor who appeared mostly in Western films. He is best known for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal films during the 1940s and for his role as Sam Noonan, the bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke television series...
, Buck Taylor
Buck Taylor
Walter Clarence "Buck" Taylor, III is an American actor and water color artist best known for his role as gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O'Brien in 113 episodes during the last eight seasons of CBS's Gunsmoke television series . In recent years, he has painted the portrait of his friend and Gunsmoke...
and Roger Ewing
Roger Ewing
Roger Ewing is a former actor originally from Los Angeles, California. He is best remembered for his characterization of part-time deputy marshal Clayton Thaddeus "Thad" Greenwood in thirty-six episodes of the long-running CBS western television series Gunsmoke with James Arness...
.
In March of 1971, Milburn Stone had heart bypass surgery at UAB Hospital
UAB Hospital
The University of Alabama Hospital , is a Level I trauma center hospital located in Birmingham, Alabama....
, in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. Afterward, he had to be revived two times after his heart had stopped.
A painting of the Doc Adams character was commissioned from Gary Hawk, a painter from Stone's home state of Kansas. When then-President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, a friend of Milburn Stone, heard about the painting, Gary Hawk was invited to the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
to present the artwork to the President. Stone lived to see Reagan emerge as the likely Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee for President in 1980 but not to witness Reagan's election.
For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn Stone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in La Jolla, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1981, he was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies...
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
.
After his death he left a legacy for the Performing Arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
in Cecil County, MD by way of the Milburn Stone Theater at Cecil Community College in North East, MD. In 2007, the name of the College was changed to Cecil College.
Miscellaneous
- The Gunsmoke cast affectionately called Milburn Stone (Doc) "Millie". He did not like the name.
He is survived by his one daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason of Costa Mesa, California.