Richard Crenna |
Wiki |
Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, Rambo (First Blood – Rambo III), Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid. He played Walter Denton in the CBS radio and television series Our Miss Brooks and Luke McCoy in the ABC and CBS sitcom The Real McCoys (1957-1963). He was on the rare political dramatic series Slattery's People on CBS. Younger generations may remember him as Colonel Trautman in the Rambo films.
Crenna was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Edith J. (née Pollette), who managed a hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, and Domenick Anthony Crenna, a pharmacist. He had Italian ancestry. Crenna attended Virgil Jr. High School on Vermont Avenue and 1st Street, and later Belmont High School and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. One of his classmates at Belmont was Mort Sahl. He was also a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Crenna got his acting start on radio, appearing in My Favorite Husband, Boy Scout Jamboree, A Date With Judy, The Great Gildersleeve, and Our Miss Brooks. He remained with the cast of the latter show when it moved to television.