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IMDbPro

John Breen(1906-1972)

  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Clothed in anonymity, actors like John Breen are often overlooked by movie and television audiences alike.

Breen started in films in the 1930s and worked steadily in movies through the early 1950s.

Unfortunately for him, his short appearance and natural curly hair didn't allow him to fall into the typical dinner party scenes in dramas so much of his work was in the background as one of the local citizens, courtroom spectators, or bar patrons.

Like many of his counterparts, by the 1950s, Breen found his way into television and really excelled at it while still appearing in films in the usual courtroom scenes. He managed to appear in many of the early television shows dramas like Dangerous Assignment (1950), Screen Directors Playhouse (1955), and Adventures of Superman (1952).

By the late 1950s he found a niche for himself doing television westerns appearing in many television episodes as waiters, and just your typical townsman working for the lower budget television companies like ZIV and Four Star productions.

In the early 1960s his career was going strong and he found steady work on Bonanza (1959) and Gunsmoke (1955) while still managing to appear in other westerns like The Virginian (1962), The Rifleman (1958), The Big Valley (1965), and Cimarron Strip (1967), finally wrapping up his long career in 1968.
BornNovember 13, 1906
DiedAugust 10, 1972(65)
BornNovember 13, 1906
DiedAugust 10, 1972(65)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
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Known for

James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, and Dennis Weaver in Gunsmoke (1955)
Gunsmoke
8.1
TV Series
  • Townsman
  • Barfly
  • Waiter
  • Bartender
  • Court Clerk
  • Courtroom Spectator
  • Cowboy
  • Party Guest
  • Saloon Dealer

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor



  • Bonanza (1959)
    Bonanza
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Townsman
    • Stage Passenger
    • Trial Spectator (uncredited) ...
    • 1960–1969
  • Lee Majors, Barbara Stanwyck, Linda Evans, Peter Breck, and Richard Long in The Big Valley (1965)
    The Big Valley
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Townsman
    • Waiter
    • Show Spectator (uncredited) ...
    • 1965–1969
  • Richard Widmark and Lena Horne in Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
    Death of a Gunfighter
    6.2
    • Townsman (uncredited)
    • 1969
  • Walter Brennan and Dack Rambo in The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967)
    The Guns of Will Sonnett
    7.5
    TV Series
    • Townsman
    • Juror
    • Trial Spectator (uncredited)
    • 1969
  • James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, and Dennis Weaver in Gunsmoke (1955)
    Gunsmoke
    8.1
    TV Series
    • Townsman
    • Court Clerk
    • Waiter ...
    • 1958–1969
  • James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)
    The Virginian
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Barfly
    • Gravedigger
    • Townsman (uncredited) ...
    • 1963–1969
  • Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, and Greg Morris in Mission: Impossible (1966)
    Mission: Impossible
    7.9
    TV Series
    • Banker
    • Waiter
    • Produce Worker (uncredited) ...
    • 1967–1969
  • Leif Erickson, Linda Cristal, Henry Darrow, Cameron Mitchell, and Mark Slade in The High Chaparral (1967)
    The High Chaparral
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Barfly (uncredited)
    • 1969
  • Something for a Lonely Man (1968)
    Something for a Lonely Man
    6.8
    TV Movie
    • Townsman (uncredited)
    • 1968
  • Andy Griffith in Mayberry R.F.D. (1968)
    Mayberry R.F.D.
    5.9
    TV Series
    • Audience Member (uncredited)
    • 1968
  • Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Rock Hudson, and Patrick McGoohan in Ice Station Zebra (1968)
    Ice Station Zebra
    6.6
    • Bar Patron (uncredited)
    • 1968
  • That Girl (1966)
    That Girl
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Passenger
    • Party Guest
    • Stagehand (uncredited) ...
    • 1967–1968
  • Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in The Wild Wild West (1965)
    The Wild Wild West
    8.1
    TV Series
    • Diplomat
    • Bartender
    • Juror (uncredited) ...
    • 1965–1968
  • Don Knotts and Barbara Rhoades in The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)
    The Shakiest Gun in the West
    6.3
    • Passerby (uncredited)
    • 1968
  • Robert Wagner in It Takes a Thief (1968)
    It Takes a Thief
    7.5
    TV Series
    • Commuter at Airport (uncredited)
    • 1968

Personal details

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  • Alternative name
    • John P. Breen
  • Born
    • November 13, 1906
    • New York, USA
  • Died
    • August 10, 1972
    • Los Angeles, California, USA

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