Remembering John Phillip Law

John Phillip Law was born on September 7, 1937 in Hollywood, California. The son of actress Phyllis Sallee and a deputy sheriff and the brother of actor Thomas Augustus Law (also known as Tom Law), John grew up on Hollywood studio back lots and was a second generation graduate of Hollywood High. He went on to study engineering and psychology at Cal Poly and the University of Hawaii. He was an inveterate traveler and starred in more than fifty films produced in over twenty countries.

He appeared opposite numerous distinguished European as well as U.S. actors, including Alan Arkin, Claudia Cardinale, Bo Derek, Jane Fonda, Ava Gardner, Mel Gibson, Richard Harris, Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Groucho Marx, Sam Neil, Anthony Quinn, George Raft, Rod Steiger and Ugo Tognazzi. He worked for such noted producers and director's as Robert Wise, Otto Preminger, Carlo Ponti, Franco Rossi, Dino De Laurentiis, Roger Vadim, George Cosmatos, and Dennis Hopper. In television he starred in the acclaimed mini-series "The Best Place to Be" with Donna Reed. He also starred in two Italian Series, "Little Women of Today" and "Europa Mission" both for RAI TV in Rome. Back home Law guest-starred as the father of Cricket on "The Young and the Restless".

Being multi-lingual you never knew in what part of the world John Phillip Law would be shooting next. One of his European pictures "Stardust with Alberto Sordi and Monica Vitti, was voted the most popular Italian movie of the past 20 years by the Italian people. Law appeared in two Euro-westerns “Death Rides a Horse” (1968) and “Thunder Warrior III” (1988). He also made a guest appearance on the German, Polish, Russian co-produced TV series “The Alaska Kid” 1991. John passed away from cancer on May 13, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Today we remember John Phillip Law on what would have been his 75^th birthday.