Actor. He was a Tony-nominated character performer, who was best known for his role as Colonel John Hall on the CBS television show, "The Phil Silvers Show" from 1955 to 1959. He was 54 when he started the show. A stage actor from his 40s, he had numerous roles on television, including guest shots on "Love, American Style," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and in such films as "The Music Man" in 1962, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" in 1963, and "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" in 1966. He died before being able to take the role of Principal McGree in "Grease" in 1978, a character which was eventually rewritten for Eve Arden. He attended Dartmouth College for one year before becoming a salesman like his father. During the Great Depression, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration gave him an opportunity to enter an entertainment career with a puppet show. At age 38, his first professional acting experience was in an Off-Broadway production in 1939. He dropped the surname "Weaver," believing the surname "Ford," which was his mother's maiden name, would better for auditions. In 1955, he played the bank president in the NBC comedy series "Norby."
Actor. He was a Tony-nominated character performer, who was best known for his role as Colonel John Hall on the CBS television show, "The Phil Silvers Show" from 1955 to 1959. He was 54 when he started the show. A stage actor from his 40s, he had numerous roles on television, including guest shots on "Love, American Style," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and in such films as "The Music Man" in 1962, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" in 1963, and "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" in 1966. He died before being able to take the role of Principal McGree in "Grease" in 1978, a character which was eventually rewritten for Eve Arden. He attended Dartmouth College for one year before becoming a salesman like his father. During the Great Depression, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration gave him an opportunity to enter an entertainment career with a puppet show. At age 38, his first professional acting experience was in an Off-Broadway production in 1939. He dropped the surname "Weaver," believing the surname "Ford," which was his mother's maiden name, would better for auditions. In 1955, he played the bank president in the NBC comedy series "Norby."
Bio by: Linda Davis
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