O.Z. Whitehead

Biography

American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company. Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.

Known For

Perry Mason

Gunsmoke

Suspense

Hazel

Studio One

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

The Lion in Winter

All Movies (28)

• Hello, Stranger1992
• Philadelphia, Here I Come1975 · as Ben Burton
• The Lion in Winter1968 · as Bishop of Durham
• Ulysses1967 · as Alexander J. Dowie
• Summer Magic1963 · as Mr. Perkins
• Panic in Year Zero!1962 · as Hogan
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance1962 · as Herbert Carruthers
• Two Rode Together1961 · as Lt. Whitehead
• The Horse Soldiers1959 · as Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins
• The Last Hurrah1958 · as Norman Cass Jr.
• Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!1958 · as Isaac Goodpasture
• The Body Beautiful1953 · as Oscar Blunt
• Beware, My Lovely1952 · as Mr. Franks
• The San Francisco Story1952 · as Alfey
• The San Francisco Story1952
• For Men Only1952 · as Prof. Bixby
• FBI Girl1951 · as Chauncey
• Journey Into Light1951 · as Lippy
• Comin' Round the Mountain1951 · as Zeke
• The Hoodlum1951 · as Breckenridge
• The Scarf1951 · as Whoopie
• Ma and Pa Kettle1949 · as Mr. Billings
• A Song Is Born1948 · as Professor Oddly
• Road House1948 · as Arthur
• The Romance of Rosy Ridge1947 · as Ninny Nat
• My Brother Talks to Horses1947 · as Mr. Puddy
• The Grapes of Wrath1940 · as Al Joad
• The Scoundrel1935 · as Calhoun

All TV Shows (8)

• Hazel1961
• Perry Mason1957 · as Harry Beacom
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents1955 · as Mr. Newton
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents1955 · as Simms
• Gunsmoke1955 · as Hank Blenis
• Cavalcade of America1952
• Suspense1949 · as George Vance
• Studio One1948 · as Peter Kovalesky