Woodrow Parfrey's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Laredo Sam Burns Lancer Zeek Movin' On Wentworth Backstairs at the White House Louis Howe The Family Holvak Barber The Iron Horse Holmes The Rogues Thayer The Tony Randall Show Davis Chase (1973) Jack Jigsaw John Billy Mister Roberts Congressman… Occasional Wife Moe Grant Gray Profiles in Courage Principal R… Governor Wi… Sam Benedict Vernon Kurtz Storefront Lawyers Max Goodwin Summer Playhouse Bill The Farmer's Daughter Link Hartman The Most Deadly Game Hiram Welch The Second Hundred Years Commander C…

Main Movie Roles 1982 - The Seduction 1982 - Frances 1980 - Bronco Billy 1980 - Used Cars 1980 - Carny 1976 - Stay Hungry 1976 - The Outlaw Josey Wales 1973 - Papillon 1973 - Charley Varrick 1971 - Dirty Harry 1971 - Cold Turkey 1969 - Sam Whiskey 1968 - Madigan 1968 - Planet of the Apes 1967 - The Flim-Flam Man 1965 - The War Lord

BIOGRAPHY:

One of the most interesting character actors to emerge on American film and television in the 1960s, Woodrow Parfrey brought a quirky charisma to every role he played, from shopkeepers to space-age simians. His noted turn as the unbalanced informer in Broadway's "Advise and Consent" (1961) set the standard for his offbeat, conspiratorial persona in dozens of TV and movie appearances into the 1980's. Always a supporting player receiving inconsistently deferential billing, Parfrey did manage some focal TV guest-star roles, mainly in the late sixties, and a few big A-movie parts, most notably as one of the wretched prisoners in Papillon (1973). Parfrey's association with that film's director, Franklin Schaffner, also included his bit as one of the three "See No Evil" orangutan judges in Planet of the Apes (1968) (he would don the prosthetics again for the pilot of the spinoff TV series). In addition, Parfrey also turned up in the unofficial repertory companies of both Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel. His determination to bring that edgy "something extra" to his profession lives on in his son, the "underground" publisher Adam Parfrey.


TRIVIA:

• Orphaned as a teenager, he lived in abject poverty during the Depression era.
• Along with 'Roddy McDowall' (qv), 'Norman Burton' (qv) and 'Eldon Burke (I)' (qv), he is one of only four actors to appear in both _Planet of the Apes (1968)_ (qv) and _"Planet of the Apes" (1974)_ (qv).
• Almost entirely on Broadway or regional stage in the late 40s and 50s. Turned to TV and film in the 60s.
• Father of Adam Parfrey
• Fought at the Battle of the Bulge during WWII and was wounded and captured by the Germans. It was those experiences that helped set up many of the tough, eccentric characters he played.