Dick Foran

• Name — Dick Foran • Birth Name — John Nicholas Foran • Born — 18 June 1910 • Birthplace — Flemington, New Jersey, U.S. • Died — 10 August 1979 • Place of death — Panorama City, California, U.S. • Resting Place — San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Other Names — Nick Foran • Occupation — Actor, singer • Years Active — 1934–1969 • Children — 4

Foran was born in Flemington, New Jersey, the first of five sons to Arthur F. Foran and Elizabeth Foran. His father was a Republican member of the New Jersey Senate, as was Dick Foran's younger brother, Walter E. Foran. He attended Mercersburg Academy, where he competed on the track team under Scots-American athletics coach Jimmy Curran. After graduation he attended the Hun School, a college preparatory school in nearby Princeton, and then enrolled at Princeton University, pursuing a degree in geology. He played on the football team while taking courses in the arts, where he developed an interest in the theater. Foran studied music at the Leibling Studio in New York before singing on radio. As Nick Foran, he went on to become a lead singer with a band and later formed his own orchestra.

Foran left Universal in 1943 to star on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hart musical comedy A Connecticut Yankee, based on Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

In 1954, Foran guest-starred on NBC's Justice, a legal drama starring Dane Clark and Gary Merrill, on CBS's The Public Defender starring Reed Hadley and Hugh Beaumont, and on NBC's The Martha Raye Show, a comedy/variety show. Foran appeared in at least four episodes of Science Fiction Theatre (1955). One of these, "The Miracle Hour", aired December 22, 1956. Foran appeared three times (1955–1956) as Father Brophy on the ABC anthology series Crossroads. He guest-starred in the syndicated crime drama Sheriff of Cochise starring John Bromfield. He also appeared as Burt, a carnival hustler, in 1957 on NBC's Father Knows Best with Robert Young. Foran was prominently featured as a sheriff in the episode "The Third Rider" in the first season (1957) of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series Maverick starring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, the brother of James Garner's character Bret Maverick. He also portrayed Tuck Degan in the 1957 episode "Final Payment" of another ABC/WB Western series, Colt.45 starring Wayde Preston. In the January 1959 episode "The Spurs", he portrayed Sheriff Wilkes on Wanted Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen. He made another guest appearance in the December 1960 episode: "The Choice", portraying aging bounty hunter Frank Koster. Also in 1959, Foran portrayed defendant Dr. David Craig on CBS's Perry Mason in the episode "The Case of the Bedeviled Doctor". Later that year, he played defendant Steve Benton in another Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Garrulous Gambler". He was also featured as Perry Mason's client in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Renegade Refugee". In 1959, Foran was cast as David Steele in the episode "The Adjuster" of the NBC crime drama series Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen. Dabbs Greer and DeForest Kelley also appeared in this episode. In 1962, Foran appeared with Marie Windsor in the roles of Frank and Ann Jesse in the episode "The Wanted Man" of the ABC/WB Western series Lawman, starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop. Foran later appeared as Gabriel Marion, brother of title character Francis Marion (Leslie Nielsen), in the Walt Disney Presents miniseries The Swamp Fox. In 1965–1966, he had his only regular role on a TV series playing "Slim" on O.K. Crackerby!. In 1968, Foran was cast in the role of "Fred Haines" in season one, episode 13, of the NBC television series Adam-12.

On August 10, 1979, Foran died aged 69 of respiratory ailments and pneumonia in Burbank, California. He was buried in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Foran has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to television, at 1600 Vine Street. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.

• Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) as Nick Foran • Change of Heart (1934) as Nick • Student Tour (1934) as Assistant Manager (uncredited) • Gentlemen Are Born (1934) as Smudge Casey • The Lottery Lover (1935) as Cadet • One More Spring (1935) as Park Policeman • It's a Small World (1935) as Cop • Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) as Walt Lansing (uncredited) • Accent of Youth (1935) as Butch • Ladies Love Danger (1935) as Sergeant Bender • Shipmates Forever (1935) as Gifford • Moonlight on the Prairie (1935) as Ace Andrews • Dangerous (1935) as Teddy • The Petrified Forest (1936) as Boze Hertzlinger • Song of the Saddle (1936) as Frank Wilson Jr. aka The Singing Kid • Treachery Rides the Range (1936) as Captain Red Taylor • The Golden Arrow (1936) as Tommy Blake • The Big Noise (1936) as Don Andrews • Public Enemy's Wife (1936) as Thomas Duncan McKay • Earthworm Tractors (1936) as Emmet McManus • Trailin' West (1936) as Lieutenant Red Colton • California Mail (1936) as Bill Harkins • Guns of the Pecos (1937) as Steve Ainslee • Black Legion (1937) as Ed Jackson • Land Beyond the Law (1937) as John 'Chip' Douglas Jr. • The Cherokee Strip (1937) as Dick Hudson • Blazing Sixes (1937) as Red Barton • Empty Holsters (1937) as Clay Brent • The Devil's Saddle Legion (1937) as Tal Holladay • Prairie Thunder (1937) as Rod Farrell • The Perfect Specimen (1937) as Jink Carter • She Loved a Fireman (1937) as James 'Red' Tyler • Love, Honor and Behave (1938) as Pete Martin • Over the Wall (1938) as Jerry Davis • Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) as Sam Thorne • Four Daughters (1938) as Ernest • Boy Meets Girl (1938) as Larry Toms • The Sisters (1938) as Tom Knivel • Secrets of a Nurse (1938) as Lee Burke • Heart of the North (1938) as Sergeant Alan Baker • Inside Information (1939) as Danny Blake • Daughters Courageous (1939) as Eddie Moore • I Stole a Million (1939) as Paul Carver • Hero for a Day (1939) as Brainy Thornton • Private Detective (1939) as Jim Rickey • Four Wives (1939) as Ernest Talbot • The Fighting 69th (1940) as Lt. 'Long John' Wynn • My Little Chickadee (1940) as Wayne Carter • The House of Seven Gables (1940) as Matthew Holgrave • Winners of the West (1940, Serial) as Jeff Ramsay • Rangers of Fortune (1940) as Johnny Cash • The Mummy's Hand (1940) as Steve Banning • Four Mothers (1941) as Ernest Talbot • Horror Island (1941) as Bill Martin • In the Navy (1941) as Dynamite Dugan • Riders of Death Valley (1941) as Jim Benton • Unfinished Business (1941) as Frank • The Kid from Kansas (1941) as Kansas • Mob Town (1941) as Sgt. Frank Conroy • Keep 'Em Flying (1941) as Jinx Roberts • Road Agent (1941) as Duke Masters • Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942) as Bronco Bob Mitchell • Butch Minds the Baby (1942) as Dennis Devlin • Private Buckaroo (1942) as Lon Prentice • The Mummy's Tomb (1942) as Stephen Banning • Behind the Eight Ball (1942) as Bill Edwards • Hi, Buddy (1943) as Dave O'Connor • He's My Guy (1943) as Van Moore • Guest Wife (1945) as Christopher Price • Easy Come, Easy Go (1947) as Dale Whipple • Fort Apache (1948) as Sgt. Quincannon • El Paso (1949) as Sheriff La Farge • Deputy Marshall (1949) as Joel Benton / Jed Northey • Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951) as Frank Jennings • Treasure of Ruby Hills (1955) as Alan Doran • Please Murder Me (1956) as Joe Leeds • Sierra Stranger (1957) as Bert Gaines • Chicago Confidential (1957) as Arthur 'Artie' Blane • Violent Road (aka Hell's Highway) (1958) as Frank 'Sarge' Miller • Thundering Jets (1958) as Lt. Col. Henry Spalding • The Fearmakers (1958) as Jim McGinnis • The Atomic Submarine (1959) as Cmdr. Dan Wendover • The Big Night (1960) as Ed • Studs Lonigan (1960) as Patrick Lonigan • Lassie as the fire chief Ed Washburne (TV series, 7 episodes, 1961–64) • Donovan's Reef (1963) as Australian Navy Officer Sean O'Brien • Taggart (1964) as Adam Stark • Brighty of the Grand Canyon (1966) as Old Timer, the Prospector

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1956 — Science Fiction Theater — Various roles — Episodes "The Long Sleep", "The Missing Waveband", "Death at My Fingertips", "The Miracle Hour" • 1962 — Death Valley Days — Ferguson — Episode "The Breaking Point" • 1958 — Have Gun - Will Travel — Roy Calvert — Episode "Young Gun" • 1963 — Death Valley Days — Doc Hutchins — Episode "Pioneer Doctor" • 1963 — Death Valley Days — Bill Franklin — Episode "The Holy Terror" • 1964 — Death Valley Days — Bannerman — Episode "See the Elephant and Hear the Owl" • 1965 — Death Valley Days — Will Melville — Episode "Kate Melville and the Law" • 1959 — Wanted Dead or Alive — Sheriff D. Wilkes — Episode "The Spurs" • 1960 — Wanted Dead or Alive — Frank Koster — Episode "The Choice" • 1969 — Mayberry RFD — King Beaumont — Episode "Palm Springs Cowboy"

The authorities additionally record the headings John Nicholas "Dick" Foran and John Nicholas Foran. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Arthur F. He married Madeleine Ruth Piper.