Howard St. John
His work spanned Broadway, film and television. Among his best-remembered roles are the bombastic General Bullmoose in the stage and screen versions of the 1956 musical Li'l Abner, and his supporting roles in the classic comedies Born Yesterday (1950) and One, Two, Three (1961).
Howard St. John
CBS Television · eBay item photo front photo back · Public domain
- Name
- Howard St.
- Born
- 9 October 1905
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Died
- 13 March 1974
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Occupation
- Actor
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5920929 · wikipedia · Howard St. John
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Not stated by the sources cited: nationality
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Howard St. John • Born — 9 October 1905 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 13 March 1974 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1926–1972
Documentary record
Howard St. John appears in the authority records of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek as an actor.
Early years
Early years
St. John was born in Chicago and grew up in several Canadian cities. When he was a boy, his main interest lay in sports. His participation in football and hockey led to his breaking his nose three times. St. John toured Canada as a boy singer, and he was a newspaperman and a stockbroker.
Stage
Stage
St. John made his Broadway debut portraying James Manton in The Blonde Sinner (1926), and subsequently appeared in more than 20 Broadway productions including Someone Waiting and The Highest Tree. St. John's most high-profile role was that of General Bullmoose in the hit musical Li'l Abner. As Bullmoose he introduced the song "Progress is the Root of All Evil." His final Broadway role came in 1968's Tiger at the Gates.
Television
Television
St. John portrayed Lloyd Prior on the NBC crime drama The Investigator (1958).
Death
Death
St. John died of a heart attack in New York City at age 68 in 1974.
Partial filmography
Partial filmography
• Shockproof (1949) - Sam Brooks • The Undercover Man (1949) - Joseph S. Horan • Customs Agent (1950) - Charles Johnson • 711 Ocean Drive (1950) - Lt. Pete Wright • David Harding, Counterspy (1950) - David Harding • The Men (1950) - Ellen's Father • Mister 880 (1950) - Chief • The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950) - The Warden • Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard (1950) - Counterspy David Harding • Born Yesterday (1950) - Jim Devery • Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) - Claude Griswold • Strangers on a Train (1951) - Police Capt. Turley • Saturday's Hero (1951) - Belfrage • Close to My Heart (1951) - I.O. Frost • The Big Night (1951) - Al Judge • Starlift (1951) - Steve Rogers • Stop, You're Killing Me (1952) - Commissioner Mahoney • Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) - Burgoyne • Illegal (1955) - E.A. Smith • The Tender Trap (1955) - Mr. Sayers • I Died a Thousand Times (1955) - Doc Banton • World in My Corner (1956) - Harry Cram • Li'l Abner (1959) - General Bullmoose • Cry for Happy (1961) - Vice Adm. Junius B. Bennett • Sanctuary (1961) - Governor Drake • Madison Avenue (1961) - J.D. Jocelyn • One, Two, Three (1961) - Wendell P. Hazeltine • Lover Come Back (1961) - Mr. John Brackett • La Fayette (1961) - George Washington • Madison Avenue (1962) - J.D. Jocelyn • Strait-Jacket (1964) - Raymond Fields • Fate Is the Hunter (1964) - Mark Hutchins • Quick, Before It Melts (1964) - Harvey T. Sweigert • Sex and the Single Girl (1964) - Randall • Strange Bedfellows (1965) - Julius L. Stevens • Banning (1967) - J. Pallister Young • Matchless (1967) - General Shapiro • Don't Drink the Water (1969) - Ambassador Magee
Documentary record
Recorded period of activity: 1961.
Howard St. John in The Sun Sets at Dawn - cropped screenshot. This film is on the public domain now (see source).
Film screenshot (Holiday Films)
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Chicago.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Film
St. John began film work in the early 1930s and made an impression in Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train in 1951. He continued in stuffy, rigid or authoritarian roles for most of his career, including memorable ones in The Tender Trap and Born Yesterday. He also re-created his stage role in the film version of Li'l Abner. St. John had the title role in the film David Harding, Counterspy and continued in the role in the sequel Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard (1950).
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Howard St. John, revision 1371006634 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hischak, Thomas. The Oxford Companion to the American Musical p. 437. Oxford University Press. 2008. 978-0-1953-3533-0.
- 2.Kleiner, Dick. Three-Times Broken Nose Has Made Howard St. John a Specialist on Washington. Williamsport Sun-Gazette. 19. March 4, 1961.
- 3.Royal, Don. St. John's Roles Diversified. The Miami Herald. 13. July 22, 1958.
- 4.The Broadway League. Howard St, John. Internet Broadway Database.
- 5.Strangers on a Train. The Hollywood Reporter. June 30, 1951.
- 6.Amanda Blake in Lead. Deseret News. 18. July 25, 1950.
- 7.Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 509. 2011. 978-0-7864-6477-7.
- 8.Howard St. John, Stage, Film Actor. The New York Times. March 17, 1974.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
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