RIP John Ericson

German born American actor John Ericson died of pneumonia in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born Joseph Meibes on Sept. 25, 1926, in Düsseldorf, Germany, Ericson studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in the same class as Grace Kelly, Jack Palance and Don Rickles. Ericson appeared on Broadway in the original production 1951 of Stalag 17, directed by José Ferrer, and he made his film debut in Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. Three years later, he starred with Elizabeth Taylor in Rhapsody (1954). Ericson played "Man Friday" Sam Bolt opposite Francis' private eye title character and a pet ocelot named Bruce on ABC's Honey West. John appeared in two Euro-westerns: “Vengeance of Pancho Villa” (1966) as Don Diego Alvarado/Diego Owens/Django and “Heads or Tails” (1968) as Will Hunter/Bill Abilene/William Huston/Black Talisman.