Wesley Lau

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wesley Lau
Yale Drama School
Occupation(s)Actor, screenwriter
Spouses
  • Marie Louise Metcalf
  • Sirin Devrim

Wesley Lau (June 18, 1921 – August 30, 1984) was an American film and television actor, and occasional screenwriter.

Early life

Wesley Lau was born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. His parents were Albert and Agnes (née Feldner) Lau. He graduated from Central High School in 1939.[citation needed]

A

The Actors Studio in New York.[2]

He took time off from college at one point to serve in World War II as part of the air corps. Although his goal in life was to be a writer, he ended up acting simply because he found more jobs as an actor than as a playwright when he arrived in New York City seeking work.

Career

Lau was probably best known as Lt. Andy Anderson in the series Perry Mason. He appeared frequently during the latter part of the show's run, especially during times when longtime series regular Ray Collins, who played Lt. Arthur Tragg, was absent. Collins died in 1965 before the series ended its run. Lau first appeared on Perry Mason as defendant Amory Fallon in "The Case of the Impatient Partner" in September 1961. Less than a month later, he made the first of 81 appearances as Lt. Anderson, a role which ran from the fourth episode, "The Case of the Malicious Mariner" of the fifth season (1961–1962) through the last episode, "The Case of the Mischievous Doll" of the eighth season (1964–1965).

Other shows in which Lau made appearances include

Ironside
called "In the Forests of the Night".

He appeared in motion pictures including the John Wayne film The Alamo (1960).[3]

Death

Lau died of heart failure[4] on August 30, 1984, aged 63, and is buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery, Los Angeles.[5]

Acting roles

Television series

  • The Web, "A Time For Dying" (1953)
  • Studio One, "Crime at Blossom's" (1953)
  • Armstrong Circle Theatre, "Night Court" (1957), Mr. Miller
  • Omnibus
    , "Lee at Gettysburg" (1957), Major General John B. Hood
  • The Silent Service, "The Harder at Woleai" (1958), Commander Samuel D. Dealey
  • Steve Canyon, "Operation Crash Landing" (1958), Sergeant Bowman
  • Lawman, "The Badge" (1958), Rick Andrews
  • Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, "Peace Bond" (1958), Johnny Conrad
Season 4 Episode 11: "And the Desert Shall Blossom" (1958) as Deputy Tex
Season 4 Episode 12: "Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore" (1958) as Police Detective
Season 5 Episode 4: "Coyote Moon" (1959) as Harry
  • Flight
"The Dart" (1958)
"Destination Normandy" (1958)
"Typhoon Chasers" (1958)
  • Jane Wyman Presents
"He Came for the Money" (1958), Clay
"Day of Glory" (1958), Commander Von Schoss
"Kill from Nowhere" (1959), Joe Scully
"The Death Frame" (1960), Eddie Carson
"Sons of Aaron Murdock" (1959), Lew Murdock
"Saturday Night" (1960), Stub
"Miguel's Daughter" (1959), Ab
"Young Love" (1959), Rod Allison
"The Blacksmith" (1960), Willy
"Client: Tagger" (1959), Jesse Britt
"Burden of Guilt" (1960), Trip Harris
  • Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond
"The Haunted U-Boat" (1959), Lieutenant Schneider
"The Mask" (1960), Lt. Harold Wilenski
"Leading Citizen" (1960), Morgan Bates
"The English Woman" (1960), Hank
"The Maud Frazer Story" (1961), Cavalry Soldier
  • Outlaws, "The Bill Doolin Story" (1961), Sam Evans
  • Shirley Temple Theatre, "Rebel Gun" (1961), Sheriff Westram*The Twilight Zone
"The Fugitive" (1962), Man
"Twenty Two" (1961), Airline Agent
  • Perry Mason (1961–1965), Lieutenant Andy Anderson (69 episodes); S5Ep2 Amory Fallon (1 episode)
  • Combat!, "Soldier of Fortune" (1965), Lieutenant Meyer
  • The Big Valley, "Earthquake!" (1965), Ralph Snyder
"Desert Justice" (1960), Dave Walker
"Her Brother's Keeper" (1966), Carl Armory
"End of the World" (1966), M/Sgt. Jiggs
"Revenge of the Gods" (1966), M/Sgt. Jiggs
"One Way to the Moon" (1966), M/Sgt. Jiggs
"Rendezvous with Yesterday" (1966), M/Sgt. Jiggs
"Chase Through Time" (1967), M/Sgt. Jiggs
"The Calico Kid" (1966) Jacobus Carson
"The Seventh Day" (1967) Reverend Egan Thomas
"Nobody Said Hello" (1966), Matt McLain
"The Gentle Tamers" (1968), Hoyt
"Vengeance Trail" (1967), Sheriff Ben Morris
  • Land of the Giants, "The Creed" (1968), Policeman #1
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
    , "The Mystery of Edward Sims" (1968), Mr. Parker
"Willie Poor Boy" (1969), Dr. Albee
"The Poisoned Mind" (1971), Dr. Maggio
  • Longstreet, "One in the Reality Column" (1971), Defense Attorney
"Doomsday" (1969), Dr. Thorgen
"My Friend, My Enemy" (1970), Karl Maur
"The Field" (1971) (writer)
"Double Dead" (1972), Jim Thompson
"Hear No Evil" (1972), Ray Norman
"Valley of the Damned" (1973), Lieutenant Harry Wharton
  • Ironside
    , "In the Forests of the Night" (1973), Thompkins
  • Chase, "Gang War" (1973)
  • The Magician
"Ovation for Murder" (1973), Captain Gottschalk
"The Illusion of the Curious Counterfeit: Part 2" (1974), Captain Gottschalk
"Shattered Image" (1974), Captain Gottschalk
  • The Six Million Dollar Man, "Lost Love" (1975), Emil
  • Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls
     (1981), Man with Dog (final film role)

Feature-length films

References

  1. ^ Kelleher, Brian; Merrill, Diana (1987). "Wesley Lau – Lt. Andy Anderson". The Perry Mason TV Show Book. D. M. Brockman. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  2. ISBN 0-02-542650-8
    .
  3. ^ "The Alamo". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Wesley Lau profile". tcm.com. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Obituary, sheboyganpress.com. May 13, 2016. Accessed October 19, 2022.
  6. ^ "Lepke". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 23 September 2015.

External links

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