Darryl Gerard Hickman (born July 28, 1931) is an American film and television actor, former television executive, and child star of the 1930s and 1940s.
Early life[]
Hickman first gained fame as a child actor during the late 1930s and 1940s, appearing in The Grapes of Wrath, Men of Boys Town, The Human Comedy and Leave Her to Heaven, among many others. He also made a featured appearance in the 1942 Our Gang comedy Going to Press. In 1944, he played the antagonist to Jimmy Lydon's Henry Aldrich character in the film Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout. In 1946 he played the young Sam Masterson in the Barbara Stanwyck vehicle The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. By the time he was 21, Hickman had appeared in over 100 motion pictures.
Career[]
After spending his entire childhood as an actor, Hickman retired from entertainment to enter a monastery in 1951, only to return to Hollywood just over a year later. He continued acting, but received fewer roles than he had in the peak of his career. In 1954, he appeared as Chet Sterling in the "Annie Gets Her Man" episode of syndicated western television series Annie Oakley, with Gail Davis. In 1957, he appeared in the episode "Copper Wire" of the syndicated western-themed crime drama Sheriff of Cochise. Hickman appeared four times in the 1957-1958 syndicated drama series, Men of Annapolis, about cadets at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1959, Hickman appeared with his younger brother, Dwayne Hickman, on the latter's CBS-TV sitcom, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, playing his older brother, Davey.
In 1960, he guest starred as Donald in the 1960 episode "Moment of Fear" of CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson, also featuring Edgar Bergen. He also guest starred on NBC's science fiction series, The Man and the Challenge. During the Civil War Centennial, Hickman played a young Union soldier in the short-lived series, The Americans (1961), and as an officer in Disney's Johnny Shiloh (1963).
He had a key role in the 1981 film Sharky's Machine, directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, as a corrupt cop. Hickman eventually became a television executive and an acting coach, as well as a voice actor for Hanna-Barbera Productions towards the end of a five-decade career in the entertainment industry. His book, The Unconscious Actor: Out of Control, In Full Command, was published in April 2007.
Personal life[]
Hickman married actress Pamela Lincoln in 1959; the couple has since divorced. They had met on the set of the film The Tingler in which they both appear. Darryl and Pamela had two sons. Their youngest son, Justin Hickman, was 19 years old when he committed suicide in 1985.
Hickman's younger brother Dwayne Hickman is best known for his role in The Bob Cummings Show (a.k.a. Love That Bob), as the title character of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and from the film Cat Ballou.
Darryl Hickman also appeared in a 1959 episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive with Steve McQueen, The episode was "Rope Law" with Richard Arlen, Robert Strauss, and Sidney Blackmer as "Judge Cooper."
External links[]
- Darryl Hickman at the Internet Movie Database
- Darryl Hickman - extended biography
- 2009 Half-Hour TV Interview on The Creative Community