Acting · New York City, New York, USA · Born March 1, 1911
American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company. Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940). But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. In his last years, he suffered from cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived in semi-retirement for many years.
Hello, Stranger
1992
MoviePhiladelphia, Here I Come
1975
as Ben Burton
MovieThe Lion in Winter
1968
as Bishop of Durham
MovieUlysses
1967
as Alexander J. Dowie
MovieSummer Magic
1963
as Mr. Perkins
MoviePanic in Year Zero!
1962
as Hogan
MovieThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
as Herbert Carruthers
TVHazel
1961
MovieTwo Rode Together
1961
as Lt. Whitehead
MovieThe Horse Soldiers
1959
as Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins
MovieThe Last Hurrah
1958
as Norman Cass Jr.
MovieRally 'Round the Flag, Boys!
1958
as Isaac Goodpasture
TVPerry Mason
1957
as Harry Beacom
TVAlfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Mr. Newton
TVGunsmoke
1955
as Hank Blenis
The Body Beautiful
1953
as Oscar Blunt
TVCavalcade of America
1952
MovieBeware, My Lovely
1952
as Mr. Franks
MovieThe San Francisco Story
1952
as Alfey
MovieFor Men Only
1952
as Prof. Bixby
MovieFBI Girl
1951
as Chauncey
MovieJourney Into Light
1951
as Lippy
MovieComin' Round the Mountain
1951
as Zeke
MovieThe Hoodlum
1951
as Breckenridge
MovieThe Scarf
1951
as Whoopie
MovieMa and Pa Kettle
1949
as Mr. Billings
TVSuspense
1949
as George Vance
TVStudio One
1948
as Peter Kovalesky
MovieA Song Is Born
1948
as Professor Oddly
MovieRoad House
1948
as Arthur
MovieThe Romance of Rosy Ridge
1947
as Ninny Nat
MovieMy Brother Talks to Horses
1947
as Mr. Puddy
MovieThe Grapes of Wrath
1940
as Al Joad
MovieThe Scoundrel
1935
as Calhoun
