Welcome! Glad you dropped in.
My door is
always
open. I look forward to hearing from you.
I grew up in a family of actors. My mother,
Joan
Ankrum (stage name Joan Wheeler) was under
contract to Warner Bros. in the 1930's where she did
several films. She also performed on Broadway with Van
Heflin. My Father,
Morris Ankrum, was a character
actor who played many diverse roles in many films. He
seemed to be in every Science Fiction Film with the
word “Mars” in the title.
“Flight To Mars”
"Invaders From Mars”
where he played Colonel Fielding,
“Red
Planet Mars”... Not to mention his favorite candy...The
Mars Bar. He also protected the Earth from giant
locusts in
“Beginning Of The End”. Got sapped by
Martians in
“Earth
vs. The Flying Saucers” and was in
one of my favorites,
“Kronos”.
Sometimes he’d come home from work wearing his
wardrobe. I remember when I was a little guy sitting
in the den watching Wagon Train and I saw my father on
the TV screen. He was playing one of the cowboy
villains. I got very upset when he was shot dead in a
gun battle. A few moments later he walked in the front
door in a cowboy outfit asking my Mother, “What’s for
dinner?” I was overjoyed. Dad came back from the
dead! Little did I know then that fifteen years later
I would become part of one of the biggest Sci Fi
franchises ever made and my character, Red 2 (Wedge)
would be a critical part in one of the biggest
shootouts in film history.
I’ll never forget the day I walked into the post
production facility in Hollywood where George Lucas
and Mark Hamill were waiting for me to create the
voice of Wedge. It was a thrill to work with both of
them and to dub the voice of the fine Scottish Actor,
Denis Lawson.
I grew up across the street from Dennis Muren. We made films in
Dennis's garage when we were childhood friends. Dennis went on to
work on Star Wars where he brought his special effects genius to
light.
Some of my other acting highlights: Playing Adam
Stephens opposite Lisa Hartman in the series
"Tabitha",
starring with Melanie Griffith in a sold TV series
that never aired, “Coast To Coast” for NBC. Working
with director Lasse Hallstrom as the lead in a TV
Pilot
“The Big Five” for NBC... Oh and not to forget
throwing John Boy off a bridge on his first day of
college in “The Waltons”. That was a thrill.
I have to mention one other acting highlight. Working
with Jerry Lewis!
He directed a film called
“Cracking Up”. I did a small
scene with him. I played a Bellhop delivering a bucket
of ice to his room. He was trying to kill himself. He
had rigged a rifle pointing toward the back of a
chair. He was sitting in the chair facing the TV set
in his hotel room. A rope was tied to the trigger and
attached to the door. When I arrived with the ice, I
was to open the door causing the rifle to fire hitting
Jerry in the head. Suicide complete. The problem was
that the door was locked. Jerry got up and opened it
to let me in and the rifle fired, hitting the TV set.
The two cowboys on the screen were shocked when the
bullet struck down their partner. One of the cowboys
fired back hitting me. I fell over dead.
Like my Father, I was shot down in cold blood. I
thought of him when I was laying on the hotel room
floor with Jerry Lewis saying “Cut, Print!”
My father passed away before I started my acting
journey but I thank him for his glorious insanity that
inspired my life.
