Fay Roope

Fay Roope
Fay Roope in Viva Zapata (1952)
Born	Winfield Harding Roope October 20, 1893 Allston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 13, 1961(1961-09-13) (aged 67) Port Jefferson, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1922–1961

Fay Roope (born Winfield Harding Roope; October 20, 1893 – September 13, 1961) was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from 1949 through 1961.

Early life

Winfield Harding Roope was born October 20, 1893 in Allston, Massachusetts, near Boston, the only son of George Winfield Roope and Lucie Mattie Jacobs, a wealthy couple listed in Newton's Blue Book. He "prepared" at Stone School for Boys, a Boston boarding school, and attended Harvard University from 1912 to 1916. During his time there, he appeared in varied dramatic and musical roles in school productions. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in 1916.

Acting career

He began acting professionally on stage in New York City in the early 1920s, and continued to do so for almost thirty years, appearing both off and on Broadway. He moved into film around 1950. He did do some television in the early 1950s, but did most of his television work in dramas during the last five years of his life, from 1955 on.

Broadway career

His first appearance on the Broadway stage was in the musical revue One Helluva Night, on June 4, 1924. From September 5, 1924 through September 12, 1925, he played Lieutenant Aldrich in the drama What Price Glory?. From March 30, 1949 through April 9, 1949, he played Colonel Jared Rumley in the comedy The Biggest Thief in Town. His last appearance on Broadway was in the first Broadway production of The Madwoman of Chaillot, June 13–25, 1950.

Film career

Fay Roope portrayed generals, admirals and colonels, in such movies as From Here To Eternity, Rock Hudson's Seminole, the Gary Cooper comedy You're in the Navy Now, and the original version of the science-fiction classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still. He played Mexican president, Porfirio Díaz in the movie Viva Zapata.

Film Roles

• Callaway Went Thataway (1951) playing Tom Lorrison
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) (uncredited) playing Major General
• The Frogmen (1951) (uncredited) playing Adm. Dakers
• You're in the Navy Now (1951) (uncredited) playing Carrier Admiral
• Assignment: Paris (1952) (uncredited) playing American Ambassador
• Washington Story (1952) playing Caswell
• The Brigand (1952) playing Mons. De Laforce
• Young Man with Ideas (1952) playing Kyle Thornhill
• Carbine Williams (1952) playing Ed - District Attorney
• Deadline - U.S.A. (1952) (uncredited) playing Surrogate Court Judge
• My Six Convicts (1952) playing Warden George Potter
• Viva Zapata! (1952) playing President Porfirio Díaz
• Indian Uprising (1952) (uncredited) playing Maj. Gen. George Crook
• Man of Conflict (1953) playing Ed Jenks
• A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) (uncredited) playing Governor Charles Snowden
• Clipped Wings (1953) playing Col. Davenport
• From Here to Eternity (1953) (uncredited) playing Gen. Slater
• The Charge at Feather River (1953) playing Lt. Col. Kilrain
• The System (1953) playing Roger Stuart
• Seminole (1953) playing Col. Zachary Taylor
• All Ashore (1953) playing Commodore Stanton
• Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953) (uncredited) playing Colonel Thomas B. Richards
• The Clown (1953) playing Doctor Strauss
• The Atomic Kid (1954) playing Gen. Lawlor
• The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) (uncredited) playing City Editor
• Naked Alibi (1954) playing Commissioner F.J. O'Day
• The Black Dakotas (1954) playing John Lawrence
• Living It Up (1954) playing Man
• The Lone Gun (1954) playing Mayor Booth
• Alaska Seas (1954) playing Captain Walt Davis
• Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955) playing Fulton Andrews
• The Rack (1956) playing Col. Dudley Smith
• The Proud Ones (1956) playing Markham
• The True Story of Jesse James (1957) (uncredited) playing Tom Trope
• The FBI Story (1959) playing Dwight McCutcheon

Television career

Faye Roope played judges in Raymond Burr's Perry Mason TV series, had a continuing role as Mr. Botkin in the long-lasting western Gunsmoke, and appeared as an older man of authority in many TV Western's of the 1950s. He played the old-west hanging judge in the classic 1960 Twilight Zone time-travel episode Execution, and appeared in many of the classic drama anthology shows of American television's Golden Age.

Roles in Television Episodes

• The Philco Television Playhouse

  The Beautiful Bequest (1949)

• The Ford Television Theatre

  Junior (1952)

• Mr. & Mrs. North

  Till Death Do Us Part (1952) playing Edward Barry

  House Behind the Wall (1953) playing Richard Burton

• Fireside Theatre

  Grey Gardens (1953) playing Justin

• Racket Squad

  The Knockout (1951) playing Clayton Carswell

  The Strange Case of James Doyle (1952) playing Jim Doyle

  Sting of Fate (1953) playing Albert (Husband)

• The Lone Ranger

  Message to Fort Apache (1954) playing Colonel Gaines

• City Detective

  The Blonde Orchid (1954) playing Police Commissioner Ralph

• The Public Defender

  The Case of the Parolee (1954) playing Mr. Marshall

• Climax!

  A Man of Taste (1955)

• The Millionaire

  The Jerome Wilson Story (1955) playing Dr. Tom Evans

• Screen Directors Playhouse

  Want Ad Wedding (1955) playing Reverend Walker

• Studio 57

  Cubs of the Bear (1954) playing Amos Harlock

  "The Senorita and the Texan" (1955) playing Don Luis

• Soldiers of Fortune

  The General (1955) playing General DeSaba

• Celebrity Playhouse

  Tantrum Size 12 (1956)

• Ford Star Jubilee

  The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1956)

• Broken Arrow

  Indian Medicine (1957) playing Tyoe

• Tales of Wells Fargo

  The Inscrutable Man (1957) playing Mr. Harper

• Zane Grey Theater

  The Bitter Land (1957) playing Morgan Batterson

• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  The Lonely Wizard (1957) playing Dr. Elliott

• The Californians

  The Search for Lucy Manning (1957)

• Code 3

  The Man with Many Faces (1957) playing Dr. Matthews

• Panic!

  Child's Play (1957) playing Charlie Jennings

• Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal

  Dr. Means' Surgery (1955) (as Fay Roupe) playing Chairman

  Love in White Shoes (1957)

• The Adventures of Jim Bowie

  Bayou Tontine (1957) playing Etienne Broussard

  Curfew Cannon (1958) playing Etienne Rochambeau

• The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'

  Frontier Journalism was Fearless (1955) playing Colonel Josh Clanton

  The Frontier Theatre (1956) playing Older Actor

  The Underdog (1958) playing Uncle George Jackson

• The Court of Last Resort

  The Westover Case (1958) playing Dan Tackberry

• Dragnet

  The Big Oskar (1958) playing Oskar Hovejg

• Perry Mason

  The Case of the Gilded Lily (1958) playing Judge Kyle

  The Case of the Hesitant Hostess (1958) playing Judge

• The Rifleman

  The Brother-in-Law (1958) playing Jeff Stacey

  The Legacy (1959) playing Doc Burrage

  The Spiked Rifle (1959) playing Barton

  Panic (1959) playing Doc Burrage

• Bonanza

  The Magnificent Adah (1959) playing Castellan

• Gunsmoke

  "Change of Heart (1959) playing Mr. Botkin

  Murder Warrant (1959) playing Mr. Botkin

  The F.U. (1959) playing Mr. Botkin

• Have Gun, Will Travel

  Killer's Widow (1958) playing E.J. Randolph

  Alaska (1959) playing Wade

• Rawhide

  Incident on the Edge of Madness (1959) playing Mayor Haslip

• Tate

  The Gunfighters (1960) playing Keefer

• The Chevy Mystery Show

  Fear Is the Parent (1960) playing Dow

• The Texan

  Desert Passage" (1958) playing Ben Atkins

  The Accuser (1960) playing Mr. Benton

• The Twilight Zone

  Execution (1960) playing Judge

• Cheyenne

  Gold, Glory and Custer - Prelude (1960) playing Commissioner Brady

  Gold, Glory and Custer - Requiem (1960) playing Commissioner Brady

• The Tom Ewell Show

  The Old Magic (1961) playing Dutton

Personal life

Fay Roope married Marie Teresa Roope. They had two children. Martha and George and many grandchildren. He died on September 13, 1961, in Port Jefferson, New York, aged 67.

External links

• Fay Roope at the Internet Movie Database