James Gregory

Acting

James Gregory

Born 1911-12-23 · Bronx, New York, USA

James Gregory (December 23, 1911 – September 16, 2002) was an American actor. His best-known roles include Schaffer in Al Capone (1959), the McCarthy-like Sen. John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), and Inspector Frank Luger in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982). Gregory grew up in New Rochelle, NY. In high school, he was elected president of the Drama Club. He went to work on Wall Street as a runner shortly after the 1929 crash. Gregory performed in drama groups and achieved pro status as a summer stock player in 1935. He performed in plays throughout New York, New Jersey and Maryland. His troupe of performers toured small towns in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, towing a trailer full of theatre props; they performed in school gyms, churches and YMCAs, earning $25 for a week of one-night stands. In 1939, Gregory made his Broadway debut in a production of "Key Largo". Over the next 16 years, he performed in approximately 25 Broadway productions. His career was interrupted by WWII; he served for 3 years in the Navy and Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days on Okinawa. He married Anne Miltner in 1944; they were married for 58 years (until his death). During his Broadway career, Gregory earned consistently favorable reviews by drama critics from the New York Press, Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Gregory did a few TV spots as early as 1951, and in 1955 he made the transition from the Broadway stage to live television. The following year, after a couple of earlier uncredited movie appearances, he would also begin his movie career in earnest. He worked steadily throughout the early years of TV, working for major live television productions from New York to Hollywood. In 1959, Gregory made television history by costarring in the pilot episode of the The Twilight Zone (1959); the episode "Where Is Everybody?" concerning the relevant topic of the USA winning the space race by sending a manned spaceship to the moon sold the series. Gregory would play Dean Martin's exasperated boss MacDonald in the first 3 of the Matt Helm movies: The Silencers (1966), Murderers' Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). One of his final roles, perhaps his most acclaimed, was as Inspector Frank Luger for the entire run of Barney Miller (1975 - 1982). As the Inspector, he would be lovable, irritating, ingratiating, exasperating, and humorous, sometimes all at the same time. Gregory retired from acting in 1983, with over 100 TV and movie credits.

Acting credits

Beneath the Planet of the Apes poster
6.1

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission lands on the planet of the apes, and uncovers a horrible secret beneath the surface.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

1970

Twilight of Honor poster
6.5

A young lawyer defends a drifter accused of a murder that he has already confessed to. He asks his mentor, a retired, legendary lawyer for help.

Twilight of Honor

1963

The Manchurian Candidate poster
7.5

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

The Manchurian Candidate

1962

Captain Newman, M.D. poster
6.7

In 1944, Capt. Josiah J. Newman is the doctor in charge of Ward 7, the neuropsychiatric ward, at an Army Air Corps hospital in Arizona. The hospital is under-resourced and Newman scrounges what he needs with the help of his inventive staff, especially Cpl. Jake Leibowitz. The military in general is only just coming to accept psychiatric disorders as legitimate and Newman generally has 6 weeks to cure them or send them on to another facility. There are many patients in the ward and his latest include Colonel Norville Bliss who has dissociated from his past; Capt. Paul Winston who is nearly catatonic after spending 13 months hiding in a cellar behind enemy lines; and 20 year-old Cpl. Jim Tompkins who is severely traumatized after his aircraft was shot down. Others come and go, including Italian prisoners of war, but Newman and team all realize that their success means the men will return to their units.

Captain Newman, M.D.

1963

The Sons of Katie Elder poster
7.0

The four sons of Katie Elder reunite in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas for her funeral and discover that the family ranch is now in the hands of Morgan Hastings, a corrupt businessman who wants to exploit the area around the town.

The Sons of Katie Elder

1965

The Million Dollar Duck poster
5.8

Professor Dooley takes home a duck from his research laboratory as a toy for his son, but soon finds out that it lays golden eggs.

The Million Dollar Duck

1971

The Flight of Dragons poster
6.7

The realm of magic is being threatened by the realm of logic, so the green wizard, Carolinus, decides to shield it for all time. Ommadon, the evil red wizard, stands in his way. Carolinus then calls for a quest that is to be led by a man named Peter Dickinson, who is the first man of both the realms of science and magic. It is Peter's job to defeat Ommadon.

The Flight of Dragons

1982

The Naked City poster
7.2

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

The Naked City

1948

The Strongest Man in the World poster
6.2

Medfield College science major Dexter Riley and his classmates have been working on a new vitamin compound when a lab accident creates a supercharged mix that ends up in Dexter's cereal box, giving him superhuman strength. The powerful formula comes to the attention of the college dean and two rival cereal companies, touching off a hilarious chain of events.

The Strongest Man in the World

1975

The Silencers poster
6.1

Matt Helm is called out of retirement to stop the evil Big O organization who plan to explode an atomic bomb over Alamagordo, NM, and start WW III.

The Silencers

1966

Clambake poster
5.8

The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself, rather than his father's money.

Clambake

1967

A Distant Trumpet poster
5.5

In 1883, US Cavalry lieutenant Matthew Hazard, newly graduated from West Point, is assigned to isolated Fort Delivery on the Mexican border of Arizona, where he meets commanding officer Teddy Mainwarring's wife Kitty, whom he later rescues from an Indian attack.

A Distant Trumpet

1964

Shoot Out poster
6.3

Clay Lomax, a bank robber, gets out of jail after an 7 year sentence. He is looking after Sam Foley, the man who betrayed him. Knowing that, Foley hires three men to pay attention of Clay's steps. The things get complicated when Lomax, waiting to receive some money from his ex-lover, gets only the notice of her death and an 7 year old girl, sometimes very annoying, presumed to be his daughter.

Shoot Out

1971

Two Weeks in Another Town poster
5.9

After spending three years in an asylum, a washed-up actor views a minor assignment from his old director in Rome as a chance for personal and professional redemption.

Two Weeks in Another Town

1962

The Hawaiians poster
5.5

A wanderer returns home only to find political turmoil, disease and romantic difficulties.

The Hawaiians

1970

The Secret War of Harry Frigg poster
6.2

When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WWII, it is a propaganda nightmare for the allies. The generals are all 1 star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to plan an escape. Harry Frigg is a private who has escaped from the guard house dozens of times. He is promoted to Major General and ordered to get the generals out once he is captured. Harry is willing to escape, but then he meets the countess...

The Secret War of Harry Frigg

1968

Al Capone poster
6.6

In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.

Al Capone

1959

Murderers' Row poster
5.7

The handsome top agent Matt dies a tragic death in his bath tub - the women mourn about the loss. However it's just faked for his latest top-secret mission: He shall find Dr. Solaris, inventor of the Helium laser beam, powerful enough to destroy a whole continent. It seems Dr. Solaris has been kidnapped by a criminal organization. The trace leads to the Cote D'Azur.

Murderers' Row

1966

Nightfall poster
6.9

An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.

Nightfall

1956

The Frogmen poster
6.2

The new commander of a Navy Underwater Demolition Team--nicknamed "Frogmen"--must earn the respect of the men in his unit, who are still grieving over the death of their former commander and resentful of the new one.

The Frogmen

1951

The Main Event poster
5.3

A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she picked up as a tax loss back into the ring — an idea her protégé isn't fond of.

The Main Event

1979

Onionhead poster
5.5

An irresponsible student enlists in the Coast Guard expecting to sit out World War II.

Onionhead

1958

The Love God? poster
6.0

Ornithologist Abner Peacock sells off his modest-selling birdwatching periodical to a charlatan who turns it into a girlie mag, making it a massive financial success. After Peacock and the magazine are taken to court on obscenity charges, he unwillingly becomes a reluctant hero and ends up a swinging libertine.

The Love God?

1969

The Ambushers poster
5.1

When an experimental flying saucer crashes, secret agent Matt Helm has to bring back the secret weapons hidden on board.

The Ambushers

1967

Behind the camera