Roy Roberts (1906-1975)

American character actor Roy Roberts appeared in more than 900 productions on stage and screen over his more than 40-year career.

Born Roy Barnes Jones in Dade City, Florida, on March 19, 1906, he began his acting career on the stage, first appearing on Broadway in May 1931 before making his motion picture debut in Gold Bricks, a 1936 two-reel comedy short released by 20th Century Fox. In the 1940s and 1950s, Roberts was a regular in many films, including Force of Evil (1948), He Walked by Night (1948), Nightmare Alley (1947), The Brasher Doubloon (1947), Borderline (1950), and The Enforcer (1951). In 1953 he appeared as Vincent Price's crooked business partner (and first victim) in House of Wax. He also appeared in The Outfit (1973) and Chinatown (1974). He also had a small role in the hit 1963 Stanley Kramer comedy, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as a police officer. Roberts appeared in numerous other films in secondary parts and returned to perform on Broadway in such productions as Twentieth Century, My Sister Eileen, and Carnival in Flanders until he began making guest appearances on television series.

After appearing with Gale Storm on My Little Margie in 1956, he became part of several television series for which he is best remembered. In a show that was the precursor to The Love Boat, Roberts played the ship's captain for four years in Storm's next hit, Oh! Susanna, which aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960. He guest-starred in scores of series, including Sheriff of Cochise, My Friend Flicka, The Travels of Jamie McPheeters, Perry Mason, and Brian Keith's Cold War drama, Crusader.

During the middle 1960s, Roberts was one of the most recognizable faces on television, and had recurring roles concurrently on a number of popular programs, including: bank president Mr. Cheever on The Lucy Show, newspaper publisher  J. Howard Jackson on The Andy Griffith Show, John Cushing,  president of the rival Merchants Bank on The Beverly Hillbillies, railroad president Norman Curtis on Petticoat Junction, Darrin's father Frank Stephens on Bewitched (alternating with actor Robert F. Simon depending upon availability), banker Harry Bodkin on Gunsmoke, and Admiral Rogers on McHale's Navy.

Roy Roberts died on May 28, 1975, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 69 of a heart attack and was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth, Texas.