Richard Long (actor) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Long
Long in 1970
Born	Richard McCord Long (1927-12-17)December 17, 1927 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 21, 1974(1974-12-21) (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1946–1974
Spouse(s)	Suzan Ball ​ ​ (m. 1954; died 1955)​ Mara Corday ​ (m. 1957)​
Children	3
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Army
Years of service	1950–1952
Rank	Private first class
Battles/wars	Korean War

Richard McCord Long (born December 17, 1927 – died December 21, 1974) was an American actor. Many people also knew him as Dick Long. He was famous for his main roles in three TV shows on ABC. These shows were The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor, and Bourbon Street Beat. He was also a regular actor on ABC's 77 Sunset Strip.

Richard Long's Acting Career

Starting in Movies

In 1946, Richard Long got his first movie role. It was in a film called Tomorrow Is Forever. He played Drew, the son of characters played by famous actors Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles. The movie studio, International Pictures, signed him to a contract.

Orson Welles was impressed with Richard. He cast Long in another movie, The Stranger, also in 1946. Long played the younger brother of Loretta Young's character. He then appeared in The Dark Mirror (1946) with Olivia de Havilland.

Playing Tom Kettle

International Pictures later joined with Universal Pictures. Richard Long's contract moved to Universal. His fourth movie was The Egg and I (1947). In this film, he played Tom Kettle. Tom was the oldest son of Ma and Pa Kettle, who were very popular characters.

This movie was a huge success! Because of this, Universal decided to make more movies just about the Kettle family. Richard Long continued to play Tom Kettle in these popular films. He was in Ma and Pa Kettle (1949) and Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950). He also played Frank James in the Western movie Kansas Raiders (1950).

In December 1950, Richard Long joined the U.S. Army. This was during the Korean War. He served for two years. Before he left, he made the movie Jet Men of the Air (1951).

After his army service, he made his fourth and last Kettle movie, Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1952). He also had roles in other movies like All I Desire (1953) and Saskatchewan (1954).

Moving to Television

Richard Long started to focus more on television shows. He appeared as a guest star on many popular TV series. These included The Twilight Zone and Wagon Train. He also had a main role in the movie Cult of the Cobra (1955).

He also acted in Westerns like Fury at Gunsight Pass (1956). In 1959, he starred in Tokyo After Dark and the scary movie House on Haunted Hill.

Bourbon Street Beat

Richard Long signed a contract with Warner Bros. He guest-starred in many of their TV shows. One of his notable roles was Gentleman Jack Darby in four episodes of the Western series Maverick. He often appeared with Jack Kelly, who played Bart Maverick.

Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick and Long as Gentleman Jack Darby in Maverick, 1959

Warner Bros. then gave Long his own show called Bourbon Street Beat (1959–60). He played Rex Randolph, a private detective. The show ran for 39 episodes.

77 Sunset Strip

Long continued playing his character from Bourbon Street Beat on another show, Hawaiian Eye. He then joined the cast of 77 Sunset Strip from 1960 to 1962.

He kept guest-starring on TV shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also returned to movies, appearing in the musical Follow the Boys (1963).

The Big Valley

The Big Valley cast
with Long at far left

In 1965, Richard Long began a very important role. He played Jarrod Barkley, a lawyer and the oldest son of rancher Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck). This was for the Western TV series The Big Valley. The show was set in the 1870s and ran on ABC from 1965 to 1969. Long also directed two episodes of the show.

Nanny and the Professor

Nanny and the Professor cast

From 1970 to 1971, Long starred with Juliet Mills in the ABC comedy show Nanny and the Professor. He played Professor Harold Everett.

Long and Mills also used their voices for two cartoon movies based on the show. These were Nanny and the Professor (1972) and Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus (1973).

Later Roles

In 1973, he starred with Julie Harris in a short-lived series called Thicker than Water. His last acting jobs were in TV movies in 1974. These included The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped and Death Cruise.

Richard Long's Personal Life

Richard Long served in the U.S. Army for two years. This was during the Korean War. He was stationed in California and Japan. Other actors like Martin Milner and Clint Eastwood also served at the same base.

Richard Long was married twice. His first wife was actress Suzan Ball. They married in 1954, but she passed away young in 1955.

In 1957, he married actress and model Mara Corday. They had three children together: Carey (born 1957), Valerie (born 1958), and Gregory (born 1960).

Richard Long's Death

When Richard Long was young, he had a serious illness called pneumonia. This illness may have made his heart weaker. As an adult, he had heart problems. He had his first heart attack in 1961. After more heart issues, he passed away on December 21, 1974. He was 47 years old, just four days after his birthday.

Filmography