Wright King Passes On

Wright King, an actor who appeared on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire, on television in the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive, and on film in Planet of the Apes (1968), died on November 25 2018 at the age of 95.

Wright King was born on January 11 1923 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He graduated from high school in Mount Vernon, Illinois. He then attended the St Louis School of Theatre, from which he graduated in 1941. During World War II he enlisted in the United States Navy. He made his Broadway debut in A Streetcar Named Desire, in which he played the Newspaper Collector. In the late Forties and the Fifties he also appeared on Broadway in The Bird Cage and Borned in Texas.

Mr. King made his television debut in 1949 in an episode of Captain Video and His Video Rangers. The following year he guest starred on such shows as The Ken Murray Show, Lamp Unto My Feet, and Starlight Theatre. In the Fifties he was a regular on the TV show Johnny Jupiter. Later in the decade he played Jason Nichols on Wanted: Dead or Alive, the sidekick of bounty hunter Josh Randall (played by Steve McQueen). He also guest starred on such TV shows as The Gabby Hayes Show, Studio One, Suspense, The Adventures of Ellery Queen, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Philco Television Playhouse, The Big Story, Kraft Television Theatre, State Trooper, You Are There, Father Knows Best, Maverick, Cheyenne, The Loretta Young Show, Sugarfoot, The Rebel, and Johnny Ringo. He made his film debut in 1951 in A Streetcar Named Desire, reprising his role as the newspaper collector. In the Fifties he appeared in the films The Bold and the Brave (1956), The Young Guns (1956), Stagecoach to Fury (1956), Hot Rod Rumble (1957), The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959), and Cast a Long Shadow (1959).

In the Sixties he guest starred on such shows as Checkmate, Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun--Will Travel, Bronco, The Twilight Zone, Rawhide, Perry Mason, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Gunsmoke, 12 O'Clock High,  The Fugitive, The F.B.I., The Invaders, Mannix, Lancer, and Dan August. He appeared in the movies Dangerous Charter (1962), King Rat (1965), Planet of the Ape (1968), and Finian's Rainbow (1968).

In the Seventies Wright King guest starred on such shows as Room 222, The Streets of San Francisco, McCloud, How the West Was Won, Most Wanted, Police Woman, and Logan's Run. He appeared in the film Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973). His last appearance on film was in House Made of Dawn (1987).

Wright King was certainly a talented actor. While he might be best remembered as youthful bounty hunter Jason Nicholas on Wanted: Dead or Alive, he played a wide variety of roles. He played a reporter in the classic Twilight Zone episode "Shadow Play" and  a gunslinger in the Sugarfoot episode "Wolf". In Planet of the Apes he was Dr. Galen, the chimpanzee veterinarian (which, this being the Planet of the Apes, meant he treated humans).  Over the years he played a wide array of roles in his various television guest appearances and appearances in movies, and he always gave a good performance.