Dick Peabody

Dick Peabody was an American actor known for portraying Army Private Littlejohn on the World War II series Combat!. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he served in the United States Navy and received his discharge in 1945 as an Electronic Technician. He used his GI Bill to study at the University of Kansas City, where he took up electrical engineering before switching to acting. After producing screen advertising and television commercials, he came to the attention of director Robert Altman, who recommended him for educational and industrial films. Altman later offered him the Combat! part two days after Peabody reached Hollywood. He appeared in other prime-time shows and in six movies, among them Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) and MacKenna's Gold (1969). Because he stood six feet six inches tall, he took special pleasure in villainous roles. In 1985 he shifted to writing a weekly newspaper column, Peabody's Place, in Placerville, California. He died in 1999.