Sean Garrison
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Garrison in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, 1958
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| Born | (1937-10-19)October 19, 1937
New York, U.S.
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| Died | March 2, 2018(2018-03-02) (aged 80) |
| Occupation(s) | Film, television and theatre actor |
| Years active | 1958–1981 |
| Children | 1[1] |
Sean Garrison (October 19, 1937 – March 2, 2018) was an American film, television and theatre actor. He played Mark Dominic in the 1966 film Moment to Moment. Garrison also starred in the short-lived American Western television series Dundee and the Culhane.[2]
Garrison was born in New York, of Irish descent.[3] When Garrison was five his father died.[4] By the age of nine, Garrison was working as a shoeshiner. When a customer asked him to sing a song while giving him a shoeshine, Garrison sang the cowboy song "Home on the Range" and was given a $1.20 tip. Reasoning that this might give him a competitive edge in a crowded market, he became a singing shoeshiner. He expanded his repertoire to include songs appropriate to occasions such as Memorial Day and Mother's Day, when he also sang in bars.[4] Garrison later worked on a dairy farminUpstate New York, leaving school at the age of fifteen.[4] He then moved south to Florida[1] and the Caribbean, where he did a variety of jobs before relocating to California in 1955 and finding work in a furniture and tile factory.[4]
After a friend suggested that he look for work in television, Garrison took a job as a film librarian at the television broadcasting network ABC.[4] He was then signed to a short-term contract with Warner Bros., resulting in appearances in the 1958 films Darby's Rangers, Violent Road and Onionhead,[3] and in episodes of the television Western series Colt .45, Cheyenne, and Sugarfoot.[5] Deciding that he needed better acting skills, Garrison returned to New York the same year to study at the Actors Studio.[2] He supported himself with a series of part-time jobs,[3] including working as a Santa ClausatGimbels[4] and Macy's department stores.[3]
In 1959 Garrison appeared in the film Up Periscope,[5] and in 1960 he made his Broadway debut in the play There Was a Little Girl,[1] which however ran on Broadway for only one week.[2] in 1961 he appeared in the films Splendor in the Grass and Bridge to the Sun.[5]
In 1962 to 1963 he again appeared on the Broadway stage in The Beauty Part.[6] From October 1963 to December 1964 Garrison was a member of the touring cast of Camelot,[4] playing the role of "Lancelot"[6] in over 300 performances.[1] Warner Brothers were casting for a film production at the time, and were considering Garrison for the same role, but his performance didn't impress them sufficiently and he wasn't cast, almost stalling his film career.[3] In 1965 he appeared in Boston in the musical Hot September.[1] In 1962 he was honored with the Theatre World Award, for his performance on the Off-Broadway play Half-Past Wednesday.[citation needed]
In 1966, Garrison returned to film work, starring opposite Jean SeberginMoment to Moment,[1][4] and in 1967 Garrison co-starred with John Mills in the short-lived CBS western television program Dundee and the Culhane.[2][6] He also guest starred in television series including Gunsmoke, The Rockford Files, Cheyenne, The Big Valley, Police Woman, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Love, American Style.[3][5] Later film appearances included Banning and Midway. [3][5] He retired from acting in the early 1980s to work in the swimming pool construction industry.[3][5]
Garrison married while living in New York in the late 1950s,[4] but later divorced. He had one son.[1]
Garrison died in March 2018, at the age of 80.[3][6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Darby's Rangers | Young Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Violent Road | Ken Farley | |
| 1958 | Onionhead | Yeoman Kaffhamp | |
| 1959 | Up Periscope | Seaman Floyd | |
| 1961 | Splendor in the Grass | Glenn | |
| 1961 | Bridge to the Sun | Fred Tyson | |
| 1966 | Moment to Moment | Mark Dominic | |
| 1967 | Banning | Richard Tyson | |
| 1976 | Midway | Lt. Cmdr. Ken Cunningham | Uncredited |
| International |
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| National |
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