Eddie Firestone

Eddie Firestone (December 11, 1920 – March 1, 2007) was an American radio, television, and film actor who accumulated over 200 total credits during his performing career.

When he was 12, Firestone was in the cast of Wheatenaville, broadcast on NBC's Pacific network.

An early success was in the title role of radio's That Brewster Boy. While doing that program, he also was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University. He left the program during World War II to join the United States Marine Corps in 1943, where he was commissioned, reaching the rank of captain, remaining in the Marine Corps Reserve until 1957.[citation needed ]

At that time, he was billed as Eddie Firestone Jr.[citation needed ]

Firestone often played the down and outer, a drunk, disheveled loser.[citation needed ]

Some of the first television appearances with Firestone was in the first season of Jack Webb's Dragnet (1951–52). He guest-starred in "The Big Lamp" in Season 1, Episode 14 on Dragnet, in Season 1, Episode 3 of The Dick Van Dyke Show he played Tom Edson in "Sally and the lab technician". He wore a suit, bowtie, was clean shaven, had big round glasses and played a girl-shy, nerdy lab technician that works up his nerve to take Sally on a date. He was cast in a 1961 episode of "The Charity Drive" of Window on Main Street. Firestone appeared in several roles on the popular Western television series Bonanza, Hogan's Heroes, as well as in Walt Disney's feature film The Great Locomotive Chase. He also appeared on Perry Mason in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the "Dodging Domino," the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Decadent Dean," and the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Place Called Midnight." Firestone appeared in Barnaby Jones in the episode titled “Trap Play”(01/07/1975).

In 1967, he appeared as “Red Bailey”, one of three men burglarizing bank safes by using a new & volatile liquid explosive (nitroglycerin), in the only two part episode of the TV Western series Gunsmoke, entitled “Nitro” (S12E28-29). He returned in 1974 playing the “Hotel Clerk” in “The Tarnished Badge” (S20E9).

He guest-starred in "Prosecutor", the premiere episode of The Silent Force, in 1970. He guest starred in 3 episodes of The Rockford Files. He also appeared in an episode of Knight Rider titled "Slammin' Sammy's Stunt Show Spectacular" in 1982, playing the character of Sammy Phillips. He also played the part of the character "Stumbles" in the 1969 episode "The Joker is Wild, Man, Wild" on Hawaii Five-O. Also appeared in an episode of Cannon as the character Buck Hamlin in season 2 episode 6, "The Predators."

Firestone is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.

Demetria Fulton; previewed Firestone on Barnaby Jones in the episode titled “Trap Play”(01/07/1975).