A familiar face, if not a familiar name, actor John Craig worked on
stage, television and occasionally on screen from the late 1940s on. A
tall, handsome, robust performer, he was born Joseph Cline, Jr. in
1928. The son of an insurance executive and former Army man, John
received a Bachelor of Science degree from Butler University in
Indianapolis, and, for all intents and purposes, was planning on
post-graduate work at George Washington University when fate stepped
in. At a formal French embassy gathering John sang by chance and was
encouraged to try a professional musical career along the lines of an
Alfred Drake,
Howard Keel or
John Raitt.
Inspired, he headed to New York and eventually won a role in a touring
company of "South Pacific," Broadway's biggest hit at the time. He went
on to perform in other plays as well before breaking into TV work on
episodes of such established shows as "I Remember Mama." Broadway came
his way with the Ethel Merman musical
"Happy Hunting" and then an understudy job in the title role of "Li'l
Abner" starring Peter Palmer. John
eventually replaced Palmer in the popular country bumpkin role. While
singing in Las Vegas, he was spotted by a talent scout and signed by
the William Morris agency for films and TV.
John made the typical rounds in such rugged fare as
Wells Fargo (1957),
Surfside 6 (1960),
Westlich von Santa Fe (1958),
Tausend Meilen Staub (1959), and
Wagon Train (1957), as well as an
occasional sitcom like
Here's Lucy (1968). Although he
worked sporadically in films, including
Ein Mann gegen alle (1961),
Schock-Korridor (1963),
Rebellen in Lederjacken (1967).
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968),
Sweet Charity (1969),
The Late Liz (1971),
Die Straße des Bösen (1974) and
Tanz in den Wolken (1981),
his parts were by and large minor.BG:
John would stay true to the theater and was a solid presence for the
duration of his career, particularly in musicals. He appeared with both
Vivian Blaine and
Gale Storm in separate productions of "The
Unsinkable Molly Brown" and performed in "Damn Yankees" with
Julie Newmar. He retired in the 1980s and
moved to Palm Desert where he has been involved in animal causes.
