Actor. He is best remembered for his recurring portrayal of the level-headed Nathan Burke on the sitcom "Gunsmoke." Born Edgar Friedman, Jr., he was raised in a prominent family, the nephew of bandleader Ted Lewis. While attending a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, he was discovered by director Henry Hathaway, who was among the audience that evening. Impressed by his dark good looks, slim physique, and laid-back sense of charm, he took notice of his potential and arranged for him to begin a career in the film industry, beginning with him appearing in a supporting role per his supervision in "Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X" (1944). From there, he would go on to flourish as a notable character actor appearing in over 90 features; often typecast as boyfriends, retail clerks, cowboys, chauffeurs, soldiers, sailors, blue-collared guys, city slickers, waiters, doctors, orderlies, reporters, detectives, salesmen, sidekicks, thugs, landlords, neighbors, curmudgeons, husbands, fathers, aristocrats, eccentrics, and, in his later years, patriarchs. He appeared in such feature films as "Circumstances Evidence" (1945), "Behind Green Lights" (1946), "Mother Wore Tights" (1947), "When My Baby Smiles at Me" (1948), "Miss Grant Takes Richmond" (1949), "Francis" (1950), "Up Front" (1951), "No Room for the Groom" (1952), "Battle Circus" (1953), "Beloved Infidel" (1959), "Return to Peyton Place" (1961), "Walking Tall" (1973), and "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again" (1979). On television, he appeared in numerous guest spots on such syndicated shows as "Coronado 9," "The Walter Winchell File," "The Tom Ewell Show," "Kraft Suspense Theatre," "Branded," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Hondo," "The High Chaparral," "Land of the Giants," "Shaft," "Kung Fu," "Apple's Way," "Eight is Enough," "The Waltons," "The Magical World of Disney," "How the West Was Won," and "Dallas." During his career, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, was a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, had been a male model for the Forbes Agency, was one of the many lovers of screen actress Marilyn Monroe, presided as a chairman for his local charters of the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, had been a theatrical instructor for the UCLA, and he was married to burlesque performer Lili St. Cyr from 1955 to 1959 (their union ended in divorce and produced no children). Following his 1981 retirement, he spent the final years of his life being a regular attendee at autograph conventions, was an author of several autobiographical books, and was involved in charitable and religious ventures until his death.