Tommy Farrell

Tommy Farrell (October 7, 1921 – May 9, 2004) was an American actor, who appeared in over 100 films and TV series between 1944 and 1983.

Life and career

A native of Hollywood, California, Farrell was a popular actor and comedian better known for his sidekick roles in the Hollywood Golden Age. He grew up watching his mother, actress Glenda Farrell, appear in films like Little Caesar and I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, opposite Edward G. Robinson and Paul Muni. His father was film editor, Thomas Richards.

Farrell attended St. John's Military Academy in Los Angeles and was a drama student at the University of Arizona before making his Broadway debut as a young drummer in Strip for Action. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and made his movie debut in Winged Victory, the film version of the Army Air Forces play of the same title.

During the 1940s, he became entrenched as a supporting player in B-westerns and cliffhanger serials. He also appeared in a number of other films, including Kissin' Cousins co-starring with his mother Glenda Farrell and Elvis Presley, A Guide for the Married Man with Walter Matthau. After the westerns and serials, he migrated to television work.

On television Farrell played Cpl. Thad Carson on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin and Chet Holliday, father of Alice Holliday in the 1958-1959 syndicated sitcom This is Alice. He was also a recurring guest star in two other sitcoms, Room for One More and Here's Lucy. He made six appearances on Perry Mason in minor roles like a salesman or reporter. He finally retired in 1979 after filming an episode of the Robert Urich series, Vega$. In 2003, he was honored during the 21st Annual Golden Boot Awards ceremony for his work in the Western genre, along with Sue Ane Langdon, Michael Dante, Graham Greene, Kris Kristofferson, and Tommy Lee Jones, among others.

Farrell was married twice. He had a daughter, born in 1949 with his first wife, Ann. And had three more children with his second wife Bobbi. Farrell died of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund hospital in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 82. At the time of his death, he was the last living B-western sidekick from the golden era of westerns.

Filmography

Films

Serials

• Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) - Man Observing Ship Rescue / Briggs, Chs. 2, 10 (uncredited)
• Pirates of the High Seas (1950) - Kelly Walsh
• Son of Geronimo: Apache Avenger (1952) - Frank Baker
• Gunfighters of the Northwest (1954) - Constable Arch Perry - Ch's 1-2

TV shows