Dick Peabody

{{Short description|American actor (1925–1999)}} {{Infobox person |name = Dick Peabody |birth_date = {{birth date|1925|4|6}} |death_date = {{death date and age|1999|12|27|1925|4|6}} |birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri |death_place = Camino, California |spouse =Tina }} '''Richard Peabody''' (April 6, 1925 – December 27, 1999) was an American actor best known for his role as six-foot-six Pfc. Littlejohn on the 1960s series ''Combat!''. Peabody worked in television, movies, radio, and print. He was tall and typecast himself as a western villain.

==Biography==

Peabody was a World War II Navy veteran, and had an early career in radio commercial production.<ref>COMBAT! '96 Souvenir booklet. Copyright Strange New Worlds, 1996.</ref>

He anchored a TV news broadcast, hosted a radio talk show, wrote commercials and, in later years, wrote "Peabody's Place", a weekly newspaper column for the Mountain Democrat in Placerville, California.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-30-mn-49068-story.html|title=Dick Peabody; 'Littlejohn' in 1960s 'Combat' TV Series|date=30 December 1999|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref>

He was in the movies ''Support Your Local Sheriff!'' and ''The Good Guys and the Bad Guys'' in 1969; both films were directed by Burt Kennedy who worked on ''Combat!''. He also appeared in ''Your Money or Your Wife'' in 1972.

His main TV credit was all five seasons of ''Combat!''. He was also in various episodes of Cannon, ''Gunsmoke'', ''Bonanza'', and ''Daniel Boone''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/dick-peabody/credits/3030058482/|title=Dick Peabody|website=TVGuide.com|access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref>

==Personal life== His wife Tina, a former model, wrote "Young Sarge", a song Dick Peabody recorded in 1965.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/9008090-Dick-Peabody-Young-Sarge-Captain-Mike|title=Dick Peabody - Young Sarge / Captain Mike|access-date=24 July 2022|website=Discogs.com|date=1965 }}</ref>

He died of prostate cancer at the age of 74.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vh1.com/movies/person/49057/bio.jhtml |title=VH1.com : Movies : Person : Dick Peabody : Biography |access-date=2008-08-14 |archive-date=2005-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050823012651/http://www.vh1.com/movies/person/49057/bio.jhtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- style="text-align:center;" ! Year ! Title ! Role |- |1966 |''Bonanza'' "Destiny's Child" S7 E19 |Sunny |- |1969|| ''Mackenna's Gold'' || Avila |- |1969|| ''Support Your Local Sheriff!'' || Luke Danby |- |1969|| ''The Good Guys and the Bad Guys'' || Boyle |- |1970|| ''The Moonshine War'' || Boyd Caswell |- |1971 |''Adam-12'' "The Search" S4 E5 |Boone |}

==See also== *Vic Morrow *Rick Jason

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0668676}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Dick}} Category:1925 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American male television actors Category:American male film actors Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in California Category:20th-century American male actors Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II