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Sam Buffington
American actor (1931–1960) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sam Buffington (October 12, 1931 – May 15, 1960)[1] was an American actor whose short career included performances on stage, radio, film, and television. He was the star of the CBS radio series Luke Slaughter of Tombstone during 1958[2] and was one of three regular cast members on the Whispering Smith television series.[3] His stage and screen roles were limited to character parts.[4] His career was going strong and had good prospects when, at age 28, he committed suicide.[5]
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Early years
He was born in Swansea, Massachusetts, the youngest of four children for Carl Buffington, a lumber company manager, and Annette Gendron.[6][7] His parents were in their forties when Buffington was born, and his nearest sibling was eight years older.[7] At age 18, Buffington appears as a roomer in a Brookline, Massachusetts, boarding house during 1950,[8] when he was attending the Leland Powers School of Radio and Theater.[9] According to a 1951 newspaper article, he was working in nightclubs as an MC and comic dancer.[10]
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Early career
Buffington's first known professional stage credits come from summer stock with the Allegheny Players at the Mishler Theatre in Altoona, Pennsylvania.[11] He was signed to perform character parts in six plays, each with a week-long run.[11] After the Mishler run completed, the Allegheny Players performed for a week in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, where Buffington had the male lead in a comedy.[12]
Radio and stage
For the years 1952 through 1955 Buffington worked in both radio and on the stage. His radio work was at a station in Providence, Rhode Island, where according to a later interview, he had three shows under three different names and as many voices.[13] Buffington lamented, "The unfortunate thing about it was that I only got the salary of one man".[13] His stage work continued to be with the Allegheny Players during the summer seasons.[14]
West Coast career
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Screen beginnings
Discouraged by lack of work on the East Coast, Buffington and his wife moved to the West Coast during 1956.[15] He told a later interviewer: "We figured it couldn't be any worse. But it was. We had just $90 when we got here. The first eight months she had to work to support me".[15] Then he began appearing in small roles on television, and in a Grade B film, Invasion of the Saucer Men. His breakthrough came in May 1957 with an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, wherein he played a thoroughly disagreeable character.[16] Reviews claimed "...it's Sam Buffington's portrayal of a rude, sloppy hypochondriac which steals the show".[17] Within the next six months he would have roles in six films, all released in 1958, and five more television shows, an auspicious first year.[15]
For the film Damn Citizen, a reviewer said "Sam Buffington does a splendid job of making himself thoroughly unpleasant in the role of a gambling casino operator".[18] Another reported "Sam Buffington's cunning small-time gambler is about twice as convincing as the real thing would be and also very amusing".[19] This was the high point of his film career; in no other movie did he capture critical attention. His career would continue to thrive on the small screen, as he completed more television episodes with each succeeding year.[citation needed]
Buffington appeared as himself on a local interview program called Meet the People during February 1958.[20] This was a lead-in to his starring role on a new CBS national radio program.[citation needed]
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone
While filming an episode of The Gray Ghost, Buffington had asked Lillian Buyeff how she had gotten a gig on the radio drama Suspense.[15] She sent him to Bill Robson, a CBS radio producer, and about two months later Buffington was cast for the lead in a CBS radio western.[15]
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone began broadcasting on February 23, 1958, with Buffington playing the title character.[21] He portrayed a Civil War cavalryman, who after the war becomes a cattleman in Arizona.[22] The nationally heard program began five minutes after the hour, following a short CBS News break.[23] It was one of three western series broadcast by CBS on Sunday afternoons.[24] The program ran twenty-five minutes per episode, including commercials.[24]
The first episode had Slaughter drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Tombstone, while the second had him dealing with renegade lawmen who were after the proceeds from the cattle sale.[23] The series was suspended during July 1958, and Buffington used the time off to perform in Bell, Book and Candle with the La Jolla Playhouse.[25][26]
Despite his radio commitment, Buffington still managed to appear in sixteen episodes of television during 1958. He also completed film work for They Came to Cordura, released the following year.[27][28] For 1959 he did seventeen more television episodes, before landing a regular cast member spot in early 1960 on a new western series.[29]
Whispering Smith
This half-hour western series made at Revue Studios for NBC starred Audie Murphy and Guy Mitchell as frontier detectives for the Denver Police Department, c. 1870.[30] Buffington, who was third-credited, played their superior officer, Chief of Police John Richards.[31] In the film Unwed Mother he played husband to actress Dorothy Adams.[32]
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Death and controversy
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While Buffington's wife Pat was in Palm Springs, California, he wrote a note to her, locked himself in the bathroom, sealed air passages under the door and window, and turned on a gas jet.[33] When she returned home to West Hollywood, California, on Sunday evening, May 15, 1960, she had to break-in the bathroom door.[34] Buffington was dead; his note apologized to her for not being able to support her, and requested cremation.[33] Buffington's friends expressed surprise at the note, since he had made over $20,000 the year before[fn 1] and had good career prospects.[5] Brief stories appeared the next day in California newspapers detailing the circumstances. The UPI story, with a West Hollywood dateline, cited alternatively police and sheriff's detectives as the source,[34][35] but was carried by only one out-of-state newspaper.[36] There were no follow-up stories to the original UPI release, nor did any newspapers carry the original story after the first day. This was a highly unusual story arc for such a newsworthy event, and suggests UPI pulled the original release.[citation needed]
When a year had passed, and Whispering Smith was finally set to debut on NBC television, newspaper announcements made only a brief reference to "the late Sam Buffington, who died after only 20 episodes were filmed".[37]
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Personal life
An accomplished painter of portraits in oil, Buffington once tried to make a living of it.[2] After he became an actor, he donated eight of his works to children's hospitals.[38]
Buffington married Patricia Ann Whitehouse on July 15, 1953, in Vance County, North Carolina.[39] They remained married until his death in 1960.[33]
Stage performances
Listed by year of first performance
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Filmography
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Television performances
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Notes
- The equivalent of over $200,000 in 2023.
- Prior to the 1983 revival of this production company it had no dedicated venue, instead relying on the auditorium of La Jolla High School.
- The working title was The Rawhide Breed.
- The working title was Teen-Age Mother.
- Adams was 31 years older than Buffington, who at age 26 seemed twice his actual age.
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References
External links
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