Ralph Clanton

Acting

Ralph Clanton

Born 1914-09-11

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Ralph Clanton (September 11, 1914 - December 29, 2002) was an American character actor. Although his name is not familiar to audiences, he did play a significant supporting role in a classic film which is revived regularly. His most often seen performance is as the Comte De Guiche in the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac, the first sound version in English of Edmond Rostand's classic play, and the film for which José Ferrer won his only Academy Award for Best Actor. Besides Ferrer as Cyrano, Clanton was the only holdover from the cast of the 1946 Broadway revival of the play, and would play the role of De Guiche opposite him once more, in a New York City Center production in 1953. In addition to playing De Guiche in "Cyrano", Clanton was featured in seven different episodes of Alfred Hitchcock's television show, as well as making several appearances on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. In 1976, he played the role of George Washington in a PBS television production of Sidney Kingsley's The Patriots, a drama that had itself been produced on the Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1963, but without Clanton. He also played the role of Jasper Delaney on the TV soap operas, Another World and its spinoff, Somerset. He played the role of Mr. Ingram in the sci-fi thriller The 27th Day. He played guest star roles on numerous television series, including Perry Mason, in addition to appearing on Broadway in the role of Claude Nau in Robert Bolt's Vivat! Vivat Regina!, as well as in several Shakespeare productions. One of his last roles was a bit part in the hit Dan Aykroyd - Eddie Murphy film Trading Places, in 1983. In a playbill for the 1946 revival of Cyrano de Bergerac he is listed as a direct descendant of members of the infamous Clanton gang, which took part in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Description above from the Wikipedia article Ralph Clanton,  licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Trading Places poster
7.2

A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Trading Places

1983

The Absent-Minded Professor poster
6.6

Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.

The Absent-Minded Professor

1961

Cyrano de Bergerac poster
6.9

France, 1640. Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results.

Cyrano de Bergerac

1950

Canadian Pacific poster
5.2

A surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railroad must fight fur trappers who oppose the building of the railroad by stirring up Indian rebellion.

Canadian Pacific

1949

They Might Be Giants poster
7.0

After the death of his wife, retired judge Justin Playfair creates a fantasy world for himself in which he is the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, even dressing like the character. Out of concern for Justin's money more than his health, his brother Blevins puts him under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Mildred Watson. As Dr. Watson grows fond of Justin, she begins to play along with his theories, eventually becoming an assistant in his investigations.

They Might Be Giants

1971

Hot Cars poster
5.8

Story of a salesman lured into the "hot car" racket.

Hot Cars

1956

Panic in Year Zero! poster
6.3

While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.

Panic in Year Zero!

1962

Johnny Tremain poster
6.1

When an injury bars him from pursuing his trade, Revolutionary War-era silversmith's apprentice Johnny Tremain finds a new life in the ranks of the Sons of Liberty army, taking part in the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's legendary ride.

Johnny Tremain

1957

The 27th Day poster
6.2

Five individuals from five nations, including the USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien saucer, where an alien gives each a container holding three capsules. The alien explains that no power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given, then anyone may take a capsule and, by speaking a latitude and longitude at it, cause instant death to all within a given radius: thus each of the five has been provided with the power of life and death. Then, they are given 27 days to decide whether to use the capsules, and returned to the places from which each one came...

The 27th Day

1957

Zorro, the Avenger poster
8.8

Masked crusader Zorro and his father, Don Alejandro, face off against mysterious despot The Eagle in a fight for control of old Spanish California.

Zorro, the Avenger

1959

The Vagabond King poster
6.1

Louis XI of France drafts Paris's popular "king" of criminals as Provost Marshal in his fight against usurper Charles of Burgundy and the traitorous nobles who rally around him.

The Vagabond King

1956

Pharaoh's Curse poster
4.6

Archaeologists in Egypt find one of their crew has been turned into a blood sucking mummy after they have unleashed a three thousand year curse.

Pharaoh's Curse

1957

San Antone poster
6.7

After the Civil War, a cowboy who's a former Union soldier leads a cattle drive into Mexico now occupied by the French...

San Antone

1953

They Were Not Divided poster
6.4

The film begins in a WW II training depot of a British Guards armoured regiment where recruits from many walks of life learn to survive the strict discipline and training together before going into battle in tanks. There is a cameo appearance by the real Sgt. Major Brittain who was famous in the British guards regiments.

They Were Not Divided

1950

Out of This World poster
3.5

An angel and a devil try to persuade a borderline wholesale bakery salesman to their side.

Out of This World

1954

Death Be Not Proud poster
6.0

Based on the book by famed author John Gunther about the life and early death of his teenage son Johnny, who died from a brain tumor.

Death Be Not Proud

1975

The Shady Hill Kidnapping poster
8.0

John Cheever's wry comedy of errors comes to the screen in this filmed presentation from the Broadway Theatre Archive. An upper-middle-class suburb is turned upside-down by the apparent kidnapping of Toby Wooster (Garrett Hanf). Unaware that the whole thing is a setup, the town swings into action to raise funds to meet the kidnappers' ransom demands. George Grizzard, Polly Holliday, Katharine Balfour and Celeste Holm star.

The Shady Hill Kidnapping

1982

Undersea Girl poster
4.2

A woman reporter, a navy investigator, and a heavyset police detective come across a gang which scuttled a ship in order to loot her later, underwater, for a Navy money consignment.

Undersea Girl

1957

No Time to Be Young poster
6.4

A melodrama about young adults growing up and facing the pressures of life.

No Time to Be Young

1957

The Patriots poster
7.0

This absorbing 1976 production of dramatist Sidney Kingsley's historical play centers on the formative days of the United States and the disputes between founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Although the two men greatly respect each other, the deep-seated clash in their ideologies engenders conflict just as the fledgling country is beginning to take root.

The Patriots

1976