Matinee Classics - Johnny Crawford Biography & Filmography

Johnny Crawford ACTOR

PHOTOS

JOHNNY CRAWFORD BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Johnny Crawford was born on March 26th, 1946 in Los Angeles, California with the birth name John Ernest Crawford, born to Betty and Robert Crawford. His career in acting began as a child where he gained the attention of many fans in 1955, when he was cast as one of Walt Disney's original Mouseketeers. Soon other small television appearances followed on such series as, "Lux Video Theatre" (1956), "Cavalcade of America" (1956) and "The Lone Ranger" (1956).

He began to gain a larger fan base and amount of attention in Hollywood with his portrayal of the character, Mark McCain, the son of Lucas McCain on the television series, "The Rifleman" (1958-1963) starring Chuck Connors, a role for which he received his first Emmy nomination.

Johnny Crawford was signed to Del-Fi Records in 1961 and recorded several pop songs topped off with "Cindy's Birthday," which cracked the Top 20 in 1962 but following his graduation from high school in 1964, Crawford gave up his recording career. He even took up another love of bronco riding, joining a rodeo later that year but this was short lived.

Soon he began to add a number of other television credits to his resume such as, "Mr. Adams and Eve", "Matinee Theatre", "Climax!" and "The Count of Monte Crisco". Along with television he was also cast in a variety of feature films such as, "The Restless Ones" (1965), "El Dorado" (1966) starring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and James Caan and "Village of the Giants" (1965).

He took a brief break from acting to serve with the United States Army for two years after he received honorable discharge in 1967, he returned right back to his career in acting. Unlike many other child actors, he did not have too much of an issue making the transition to an adult actor and being recognized in the industry for having talent.

As his career has progressed he has never limited himself to portraying one type of character and has appeared in numerous television movies, series and feature films. Some of his more recent television credits include, "Hawaii Five-O", "Guns of Paradise", "Crossbow", "Murder, She wrote" and "Little House on the Prairie".

More successful film roles followed such as, "The Naked Ape" (1973), "Bloodhounds of Broadway" (1989) and his most recent film role was in 1999 in, "The Thirteenth Floor".

Johnny Crawford has married only once to Charlotte Samco whom he wed in 1990 and they are currently separated. Since 1992 along with his acting career, he also leads a California dance orchestra where they perform at a variety of functions. In 2008 they released their first album, "Sweepin' the Clouds Away".

Filmography

1999 The Thirteenth Floor

1997 Rupert Patterson Wants to be a Super Hero

1991 The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw

1989-1990 Guns of Paradise

1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway

1989 Crossbow: The Movie

1987-1988 Crossbow s

1985 Murder, She Wrote

1985 All American Cowboy

1983 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

1981 Macbeth