Victor French

Victor French
French in 1977
Born	Victor Edwin French (1934-12-04)December 4, 1934 Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Died	June 15, 1989(1989-06-15) (aged 54) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active	1954–1989
Known for	Gunsmoke Highway to Heaven Little House on the Prairie Carter Country
Spouses	Judith Schenz (m. 1959; div. 1975) Julie Cobb ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 1978)​
Children	3

Victor Edwin French (December 4, 1934 – June 15, 1989) was an American actor and director. He is remembered for roles on the television programs Gunsmoke, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, and Carter Country.

Early career

French appeared with his father in one episode of Gunsmoke, "Prime of Life", and another episode, "The Wishbone", where he was credited as "Victor Frence", both in 1966. Ted French died in 1978.

French appeared in the war film The Quick and the Dead (1963), which was produced by the theatre arts department of Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys, which Victor French attended. Also in 1963, he appeared as one of the "Spencer brothers" in the movie that was a forerunner of the television series The Waltons titled Spencer's Mountain starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. Both the movie and the series were based upon the same novel by Earl Hamner Jr.

Like his father, French began his television career as a stuntman in mostly Westerns and anthology shows. He guest-starred in 39 television series. Though he had an uncredited role as an office clerk in the film The Magnificent Seven, French's first real Western role was the 1961 episode "The Noose" of the syndicated series Two Faces West. French was cast as Larrimore in the episode "Fargo" on the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series The Dakotas.

French appeared a record 23 times on Gunsmoke, often playing a dangerous or bumbling crook. On October 25, 1971, he portrayed cold-hearted robber and murderer Trafton. French guest-starred in another episode, "Matt's Love Story".

French appeared on The Waltons a year later. In "The Fulfillment", French plays blacksmith Curtis Norton, whose wife could not have children and subsequently adopts an eight-year-old orphan boy who has come to spend the week on Walton's Mountain.

This led to his being cast in his most well-known role as Mr. Edwards in Little House on the Prairie, beginning in 1974.

In other work, French starred opposite Elvis Presley in the 1969 Western, Charro!, and played the recurring character Agent 44 in the NBC series Get Smart in 1965–1966, where he portrayed an undercover spy who showed up in the worst, most unlikely of places (such as a mailbox or a porthole in a boat), and appeared in a few episodes of Bonanza, with Michael Landon. Shortly before being teamed up once again, French made a guest appearance on Kung Fu as a corrupt, bigoted sheriff in 1973. French also guest-starred in episode 24 ("Trial by Fury") of season two of Mission: Impossible, in which he played the informer in a prison. Continuing in that corrupt mode, in 1974 on Gunsmoke, he played the part of “Sheriff Bo Harker”, a ruthless & murderous town sheriff in “The Tarnished Badge” (S20E9).

In 1976, French appeared in an episode of the Western series Sara. In 1982, he appeared in the film An Officer and a Gentleman as the stepfather of protagonist Paula Pokrifki, played by Debra Winger.

Work with Michael Landon

French co-starred with Michael Landon on Little House on the Prairie (1974–1977, 1981–1984) as Isaiah Edwards. French also directed some episodes of the show.

From 1977–79, he left Little House on the Prairie to star as a small-town Georgia police chief in Carter Country.

After Little House on the Prairie, he appeared on Highway to Heaven (1984–1989) as Mark Gordon, co-starring with Michael Landon.

Death

French had two daughters and a son.

He died at the age of 54 on June 15, 1989, at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital in Los Angeles, California, three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

In 1989, French was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1960	The Magnificent Seven	Front Office Clerk	Uncredited
1961	The Clown and the Kid	Patrolman #1	Uncredited
1963	The Quick and the Dead	Milo Riley
	Spencer's Mountain	Spencer Brother	Uncredited
1968	Gavilan	Villain
1969	Charro!	Vince Hackett
	Death of a Gunfighter	Phil Miller
1970	Cutter's Trail	Alex Bowen	TV film
	There Was a Crooked Man...	Whiskey
	Flap	Sergeant Rafferty
	Rio Lobo	Ketcham
1971	Wild Rovers	Sheriff
1972	The Other	Angelini
	Chato's Land	Martin Hall
1974	The Nickel Ride	Paddie
	The House on Skull Mountain	Dr. Andrew Cunningham
	The Tribe	Mathis	TV film
1979	Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill	Mac	TV film
1980	The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story	Anatoly Andreyev	TV film
	Riding for the Pony Express	Irving G. Peacock	TV film
	The Ghosts of Buxley Hall	Sergeant Major Chester B. Sweet	TV film
1981	Choices	Gary Carluccio
1982	An Officer and a Gentleman	Joe Pokrifki
1983	Little House: Look Back to Yesterday	Isaiah Edwards	TV film
1984	Little House: The Last Farewell
	Little House: Bless All the Dear Children

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	TV Reader's Digest	Bill's Henchman	Episode: "Human Nature Through a Rear View Mirror"
1961	Two Faces West		Episode: "The Noose"
	Hazel	Bailiff	Episode: "A Matter of Principle"
1962	The Donna Reed Show	Mike	Episode: "The New Office"
	G.E. True		Episode: "Circle of Death"
	The Virginian	Roy	Episode: "The Accomplice"
	Bonanza	Conn	Episode: "Gallagher's Sons"
1963	Hawaiian Eye	Floyd Dillon	Episode: "The Long Way Home"
	The Dakotas	Larrimore	Episode: "Fargo"
	77 Sunset Strip	Deputy Collins	Episode: "Stranger from the Sea"
	Temple Houston	Willie Harrod	Episode: "Letter of the Law"
	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Murderer	Episode: "A Hero for Our Times"
	Grindl	Deputy #1	Episode: "The Great Schultz"
1964	The Virginian	Michael	Episode: "The Secret of Brynmar Hall"
	No Time for Sergeants	Leonard	Episode: "The $100,000 Canteen"
	Rawhide	Corporal	Episode: "Incident at Hourglass"
1965	Wagon Train	Beal	Episode: "The Silver Lady"
	Hogan's Heroes	Commando	Episode: "Kommandant of the Year"
	Mister Ed	Murphy	Episode: "Anybody Got a Zebra?"
	The Wild Wild West	Arnold	Episode: "The Night of a Thousand Eyes"
	Rawhide	Bartender	Episode: "The Vasquez Woman", uncredited
	Slattery's People	Peter Lindler	Episode: "The Hero"
	Dr. Kildare	Jack	Episode: "Welcome Home, Dear Anna"
	Ben Casey	Dr. Wood	Episode: "The Man from Quasilia"
	My Favorite Martian	Mugs Carson	Episode: "Lorelei Brown vs. Everybody"
	Lassie	Joe	Episode: "Charlie Banana"
	Get Smart	Insurance Man	Episode: "Too Many Chiefs"
1966	Batman	Hood No. I	Episode: "A Death Worse Than Fate"
	Get Smart	Agent 44	7 episodes
	Lassie	Surveyor	Episode: "The Untamed Land"
	Branded	Sheriff	Episode: "Kellie"
	The Hero	Fred Gilman	10 episodes
	Death Valley Days	Louis Baptiste	Episode: "Hugh Glass Meets the Bear"
1966–1975	Gunsmoke	Various roles	18 episodes
1967	Tarzan	Cotonasos	Episode: "A Pride of Assassins"
	F Troop	Corporal Matt Delaney	Episode: "The Day They Shot Agarn"
	Iron Horse	Harry Cleary	Episode: "Decision at Sundown"
	Captain Nice	Anthony	Episode: "The Week They Stole Payday"
	The Beverly Hillbillies	Tony	Episode: "Robin Hood and the Sheriff"
	Death Valley Days	Charbonneau	Episode: "The Girl Who Walked the West"
	Cimarron Strip	Rafe Coleman	Episode: "Till the End of Night"
	The Danny Thomas Hour	Detective	Episode: "The Zero Man"
	Daniel Boone	Blue Belly Sangster	Episode: "The Ballad of Sidewinder and Cherokee"
	The F.B.I.	Lloyd Smith	Episode: "False Witness"
1968	Gentle Ben	Turner	Episode: "Ben the Champ"
	Bonanza	Aaron Gore	Episode: "The Burning Sky"
	Mission: Impossible	Leduc	Episode: "Trial by Fury"
1969	Lancer	Travis Caudle	Episode: "The Measure of a Man"
	Bonanza	Jesse Potter	Episode: "Meena"
	The F.B.I.	Vincent Roger Tobias	Episode: "Moment of Truth"
1970	Daniel Boone	Ess	Recurring role
	Dan August	Art Bowman	Episode: "When the Shouting Dies"
	Mannix	Karl Hastings	Episode: "Figures in a Landscape"
Bonanza	Jesse Potter	Episode: "The Horse Traders"
1971	Bonanza	Tom Callahan	Episode: "An Earthquake Called Callahan"
	Longstreet	Hank Cottle	Episode: "One in the Reality Column"
	Mission: Impossible	Vic Hatcher	Episode: "The Tram"
	O'Hara, U.S. Treasury	Paris Kohler	Episode: "Operation: Deadhead"
1973	The Streets of San Francisco	Reggie Norris	Episode: "Deathwatch"
	Kung Fu	Sheriff Aldon Pool	Episode: "The Ancient Warrior"
	The Rookies	Crazy Marvin	Episode: "Deadly Cage"
	The F.B.I.	Vince Riles	Episode: "Tower of Terror"
1974	Mannix	Matt Brandon	Episode: "The Dark Hours"
	The Waltons	Curtis Norton	Episode: "The Fulfillment"
1974–1983	Little House on the Prairie	Isaiah Edwards	57 episodes
1976	Sara	Achille	Episode: "Mountain Man"
	Petrocelli	Roy Caldwell	Episode: "The Pay Off"
1977–1979	Carter Country	Chief Roy Mobey	44 episodes
1979	CHiPs	Victor French	Episode: "Roller Disco"
1980	Disneyland	Sergeant Major Chester B. Sweet	Episode: "The Ghosts of Buxley Hall"
1984–1989	Highway to Heaven	Mark Gordon	111 episodes

Director (film and television)

• Little House on the Prairie - 18 episodes (1974–1983)
• Gunsmoke - 5 episodes (1974–1975)
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - episode - The Satyr (1981)
• Dallas - episode - Denial (1982)
• Little House: Look Back to Yesterday - TV movie (1983)
• Little House: Bless All the Dear Children - TV movie (1984)
• Highway to Heaven - 12 episodes (1984–1986)
• Rock-a-Doodle - co-director (live action segments) (1991)

External links

• Victor French at IMDb
• WouldYouBelieve.com
• About Victor French