Acting · Bronx, New York, USA · Born December 23, 1911
James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American actor. His best-known roles include Schaffer in Al Capone (1959), the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), and Inspector Frank Luger in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982). Gregory grew up in New Rochelle, NY. In high school, he was elected president of the Drama Club. He went to work on Wall Street as a runner shortly after the 1929 crash. Gregory performed in drama groups and achieved pro status as a summer stock player in 1935. He performed in plays throughout New York, New Jersey and Maryland. His troupe of performers toured small towns in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, towing a trailer full of theatre props; they performed in school gyms, churches and YMCAs, earning $25 for a week of one-night stands. In 1939, Gregory made his Broadway debut in a production of "Key Largo". Over the next 16 years, he performed in approximately 25 Broadway productions. His career was interrupted by WWII; he served for 3 years in the Navy and Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days on Okinawa. He married Anne Miltner in 1944; they were married for 58 years (until his death). During his Broadway career, Gregory earned consistently favorable reviews by drama critics from the New York Press, Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Gregory did a few TV spots as early as 1951, and in 1955 he made the transition from the Broadway stage to live television. The following year, after a couple of earlier uncredited movie appearances, he would also begin his movie career in earnest. He worked steadily throughout the early years of TV, working for major live television productions from New York to Hollywood. In 1959, Gregory made television history by costarring in the pilot episode of the The Twilight Zone (1959); the episode "Where Is Everybody?" concerning the relevant topic of the USA winning the space race by sending a manned spaceship to the moon sold the series. Gregory would play Dean Martin's exasperated boss MacDonald in the first 3 of the Matt Helm movies: The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). One of his final roles, perhaps his most acclaimed, was as Inspector Frank Luger for the entire run of Barney Miller (1975 - 1982). As the Inspector, he would be lovable, irritating, ingratiating, exasperating, and humorous, sometimes all at the same time. Gregory retired from acting in 1983, with over 100 TV and movie credits.
MovieWait Till Your Mother Gets Home
1983
as Dan Peters
MovieThe Flight of Dragons
1982
as Bryagh / Smrgol (voice)
MovieGoldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood
1981
as Leo Hackett
MovieGridlock
1980
as Gen. Caribou Caruthers
MovieThe Comeback Kid
1980
as Scotty
TVDetective School
1979
MovieThe Main Event
1979
as Gough
TVSupertrain
1979
as Griswald
TVFlying High
1978
TVThe Bastard
1978
as Will Campbell
TVThe Love Boat
1977
as Milton Benson
TVQuincy, M.E.
1976
MovieFrancis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976
as James Donovan
TVAll's Fair
1976
MovieThe Strongest Man in the World
1975
as Chief Blair
TVBarney Miller
1975
as Inspector Frank Luger
MovieThe Abduction of Saint Anne
1975
as Pete Haggerty
TVKolchak: The Night Stalker
1974
as Captain Quill
MovieMiracle on 34th Street
1973
as District Attorney
TVPolice Story
1973
MovieThe Weekend Nun
1972
as Sid Richardson
TVThe Streets of San Francisco
1972
TVM*A*S*H
1972
as General Kelly
TVSearch
1972
TVThe Paul Lynde Show
1972
TVTemperatures Rising
1972
as James Jerome
MovieA Very Missing Person
1972
as Oscar Piper
TVEmergency!
1972
TVSanford and Son
1972
MovieThe Marshal of Madrid
1972
as Oil Tycoon
TVColumbo
1971
as David Buckner
TVCannon
1971
MovieThe Late Liz
1971
as Sam Burns
MovieShoot Out
1971
as Sam Foley
MovieThe Million Dollar Duck
1971
as Rutledge
TVAll in the Family
1971
as William R. Kirkwood
TVNight Gallery
1970
TVThe Partridge Family
1970
as Claude Tubbles
TVThe Headmaster
1970
MovieThe Hawaiians
1970
as Dr. Whipple Sr. (uncredited)
MovieBeneath the Planet of the Apes
1970
as Ursus
TVMcCloud
1970
TVMedical Center
1969
as Col. Whittendale
TVMy World and Welcome to It
1969
MovieThe Love God?
1969
as Darrell Evans Hughes
TVThe Mod Squad
1968
TVLancer
1968
TVThe Outcasts
1968
MovieCocoon
1968
as Jonathan Kaye
TVHawaii Five-O
1968
as Jonathan Kaye
TVThe Outsider
1968
Premiere
1968
MovieThe Secret War of Harry Frigg
1968
as Gen. Homer Prentiss
MovieThe Ambushers
1967
as MacDonald
MovieClambake
1967
as Duster Heyward
MovieThe Hunted
1967
as Buckman
TVThe High Chaparral
1967
as Jake Stoner
TVJudd, for the Defense
1967
TVCimarron Strip
1967
TVIronside
1967
as Herb Jarman
MovieMurderers' Row
1966
as MacDonald
TVMission: Impossible
1966
TVStar Trek
1966
as Dr. Tristan Adams
TVThat Girl
1966
TVTarzan
1966
MovieThe Silencers
1966
as MacDonald
MovieA Rage to Live
1965
as Dr. O'Brien
TVThe F.B.I.
1965
as Bert Anslem
TVThe Loner
1965
TVThe Wild Wild West
1965
TVHogan's Heroes
1965
as General Biedenbender
TVThe Big Valley
1965
as Simon Carter
TVF Troop
1965
MovieThe Sons of Katie Elder
1965
as Morgan Hastings
MovieQuick, Before It Melts
1965
as Vice Admiral
TVDaniel Boone
1964
as Captain Asa Webb
MovieA Distant Trumpet
1964
as Maj. Gen. Alexander Upton Quaint
MovieCaptain Newman, M.D.
1963
as Col. Edgar Pyser
MovieTwilight of Honor
1963
as Norris Bixby
TVKraft Suspense Theatre
1963
as Lieutenant Wade
TVThe Fugitive
1963
as Pete Crandall
TVThe Lieutenant
1963
MoviePT 109
1963
as Commander C.R. Ritchie
MovieThe Manchurian Candidate
1962
as Sen. John Yerkes Iselin
TVThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as Fred Kruger
TVThe Virginian
1962
as Slim Jessup
TVSam Benedict
1962
MovieTwo Weeks in Another Town
1962
as Brad Byrd
MovieX-15
1961
as Tom Deparma
TVThe New Breed
1961
as Father Al
TVBen Casey
1961
TVTarget: The Corruptors!
1961
TVThe Defenders
1961
as Paul Tasso
TVMy Three Sons
1960
TVThriller
1960
as Howard Yates
MovieJourney to the Day
1960
as Endicott
MovieThe Snows of Kilimanjaro
1960
as Editor
TVThe Twilight Zone
1959
as Confederate Sergeant
TVThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as John Kramer
TVLaramie
1959
TVBonanza
1959
as Mulvaney
MovieHey Boy! Hey Girl!
1959
as Father Burton
TVThe Lawless Years
1959
as Barney Ruditsky
MovieAl Capone
1959
as Schaefler (narrator)
TVRawhide
1959
as Owen Spencer
MovieOnionhead
1958
as Lt. Cmdr. Fox aka The Skipper
TVWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
as Martin Burke
MovieA Town Has Turned to Dust
1958
as Hennify
Underwater Warrior
1958
as Lt. William Arnold
MovieGun Glory
1957
as Grimsell
MovieThe Big Caper
1957
as Flood
MovieThe Young Stranger
1957
as Sergeant Shipley
MovieNightfall
1956
as Ben Fraser
MovieThe Scarlet Hour
1956
as Ralph Nevins
Playwrights '56
1955
TVAlfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Mr. Wescott
TVGunsmoke
1955
as Scanlon, Sr.
TVClimax!
1954
as Joe McCarthy
TVInner Sanctum
1954
MovieAt This Moment
1954
as Bill Ritter
TVLetter to Loretta
1953
as Jim Patton
TVGeneral Electric Theater
1953
as Sandy Green
TVSchlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Morgan
MovieThe Frogmen
1951
as Chief Petty Officer Lane
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Mac
Danger
1950
TVRobert Montgomery Presents
1950
TVSuspense
1949
TVStudio One
1948
as Gas Man
TVThe Philco Television Playhouse
1948
MovieThe Naked City
1948
as Patrolman Albert Hicks (uncredited)
MovieThe Things People Want
1948
as Pete
TVKraft Television Theatre
1947
as Steve
