Henry Rowland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Rowland (born Heinrich Wilhelm von Bock; December 28, 1913 – April 26, 1984) was an American film and television actor.

Rowland's father left Germany before World War I began and became a professor of German at the University of Nebraska. Following the war, Rowland was educated in Germany through the secondary level. He returned to the United States and studied acting in Pasadena.

Rowland had heavily Teutonic facial features, making him an invaluable commodity in wartime films, even though he was born in the American Midwest. Rowland "heiled" and "achtunged" his way through a variety of films, ranging from Casablanca to Russ Meyer's Supervixens. Conversely, he showed up as an American flight surgeon in 1944's Winged Victory, billed under his Army rank as Corporal Henry Rowland. In his last years, Rowland had continued playing such Germanic characters as the Amish farmer in The Frisco Kid (1979).

He appeared six times on the western series Annie Oakley, starring Gail Davis and Brad Johnson. He was also cast in the television series Brave Eagle, Fury, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, The Rifleman, Tales of Wells Fargo (episode "Laredo"), and Gunsmoke.

For his contribution to the television industry, Henry Rowland has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6328 Hollywood Boulevard. CLR