Actor. His career spanned romantic leading man roles to villains and finally to character roles, appearing on Broadway, television and in over 100 films. Born Patrick Barry Sullivan in New York City, New York he was the seventh son of a seventh son, a birth order with mystical significance in Celtic families. He was supporting himself as a theater usher and department store employee when made his Broadway debut in "I Want a Policeman" at the Lyceum Theatre in January 1936. The same year he appeared in three other Broadway plays, the drama "St. Helena" and the comedies "All That Glitters" and "Eye On the Sparrow." In 1942 he appeared in the hit play "The Man Who Came to Dinner," in the role of 'Bert Jefferson'. After appearing in "Mr. Big," "Ring Around Elizabeth," and "Johnny 2 X 4," all failures, he decided to leave Broadway and pursue films, appearing in "High Explosive" (1943, with Chester Morris), "The Woman of the Town" (1943, with Claire Trevor), "Suspense" (1946 with Belita), "Framed" (1947, with Glenn Ford),"The Gangster" (1947, with Belita and Joan Lorring), "The Great Gatsby" (1949, with Alan Ladd and MacDonald Carey), "A Life of Her Own" (1950, with Lana Turner and Ray Milland), "Payment on Demand" (1951, with Bette Davis), and "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952, with Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner), one of his most memorable roles as the movie director 'Fred Amiel'. In the 1953-1954 television season he appeared with other celebrities as a musical judge in ABC's "Jukebox Jury." In 1956 he appeared in his first starring television role, a syndicated adaptation of the radio series "The Man Called X" for Ziv Television The following year he starred in the adventure/drama television series "Harbormaster." In 1960 he played frontier sheriff 'Pat Garrett' opposite Clu Gulager as outlaw 'Billy the Kid' in the NBC western television series "The Tall Man" and in the 1966 he starred in the NBC television series "The Road West" as the family patriarch 'Ben Pride'. His other numerous television credits include "The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford," "The DuPont Show with June Allyson," "The Reporter," "That Girl," "Bonanza," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "The Virginian," "The Love Boat," "Little House on the Prairie," "Mannix," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Barnaby Jones," "Kung Fu," "Cannon," "McMillan & Wife," and "Charlie's Angels." He also had a featured role in the 1976 television miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man Book II" and starred in many "Hallmark Hall of Fame" specials including a highly acclaimed production of "The Price" opposite George C. Scott. In his later years he had roles in the films "Seven Ways from Sundown" (1960, with Audie Murphy), "A Gathering of Eagles" (1963, with Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor), "Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here" (1969, with Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, and Robert Blake), "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973, with James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson), "Oh, God!" (1977, with George Burns and John Denver) "Earthquake" (1974, where he shared scenes with Ava Gardner), and "Caravans" (1978, with Anthony Quinn and Michael Sarrazin). He died of respiratory failure in Sherman Oaks, California at the age of 81. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for his work in television, and the other for his contribution to films. He was married three times, first to Broadway actress Marie Brown, then to Swedish-American model and actress Gita Hall, and finally to Egyptian screen beauty Desiree Sumara.