James Drury
Biography
James Drury was an American actor who first performed professionally at twelve, in a road company production of Life with Father, and became best known for the title role in the Western series The Virginian. Born in New York City and raised partly in Salem, Oregon, he studied drama at New York University, took a contract with MGM in 1954, and later moved to 20th Century Fox, appearing in Love Me Tender (1956) and Bernardine. His secondary parts for Disney included George Dodds in Pollyanna (1960), and he played a gold prospector in Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962). The Virginian ran on NBC for nine seasons until 1971 and was reformatted as The Men from Shiloh. Drury also headlined the series Firehouse and appeared in a 2000 television movie of The Virginian. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum inducted him into its Hall of Great Western Performers in 1991.
85years old at death
- Born New York City
- Died Houston
- Star sign: AriesThe sign runs March 21 to April 19
- James Child Drury Jr. (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 7
- Career span
- 36 years1955 to 1991
Did you know?!
First role
Drury was 12 years old when he acted in a road company's staging of Life with Father, and that was the beginning of his professional acting career.
Early training
Drury took drama classes at New York University, then added classes at UCLA to finish his degree once he started acting in MGM films.
Beyond film
In April 1966, Drury toured Vietnam with his Wilshire Boulevard Buffalo Hunters band. Over three weeks, the group put on 54 shows for troops, all sponsored by the USO.
James Drury movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Four actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
L.Q. Jones's page
Richard Egan's page
Jack Kelly's page
Ken Clark's page
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.