Actor John Bromfield dead at 83

PALM DESERT, Calif., Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Actor John Bromfield, best known for his TV role as U.S. Marshal Frank Morgan, has died of kidney failure in Palm Desert, Calif., at age 83.

The star of the 1950s series "The Sheriff of Cochise" and "U.S. Marshal" had traveled to California from his Lake Havasu City, Ariz., home for treatment, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. He died Sunday.

The actor portrayed lawman Morgan on the two series from 1956 to 1960. Among the young stars performing guest roles on his shows were Gavin MacLeod, David Janssen, Michael Landon, Stacy Keach, Charles Bronson, Jack Lord, Doug McClure, Ross Martin and Martin Milner.

Shortly after the series ended in 1960, Bromfield left acting to produce sports shows and to fish off Newport Beach.

The South Bend, Ind., native made his film debut in the 1948 documentary "Harpoon," in which he twice harpooned a whale, and the same year earned his first feature film credit as a detective in "Sorry, Wrong Number," starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster.

Bromfield appeared in many films through the years as gunslingers, military men and even a bathing suit-clad victim in the "Revenge of the Creature."

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Mary.