Career
Born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California near San Francisco, Erickson worked as a soloist in a band as vocalist and trombone player, performed in Max Reinhardt"s productions, and then gained a small amount of stage experience in a comedy vaudeville acting Initially billed by Paramount Pictures as Glenn Erickson, he began his screen career as a leading man in westerns. Erickson"s first films were two 1933 band films with Betty Grable before starting a string of Buster Crabbe western films based on Zane Grey novels.
Erickson took four years off to serve in the United States Navy during World World War II as a combat photographer.
Erickson served as an instructor, was shot down twice in the Pacific, and was twice wounded. Erickson appeared in films such as The Snake Pit, Sorry, Wrong Number, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront, A Gathering of Eagles, Roustabout, The Carpetbaggers, and Mirage.
One of his more notable roles was as Deborah Kerr"s macho husband in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy. He also played the role of Pete, the vindictive boat engineer, in the 1951 screen remake of the famed musical Show Boat.
His final appearance in a feature film was in.
Erickson appeared frequently on television Erickson was cast as Doctor Hillyer in "Consider Her Ways" (1964) and as Paul White in "The Monkey"s Paw—A Retelling" (1965) on Columbia Broadcasting System"s The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He starred in The High Chaparral, as Big John Cannon, which aired on National Broadcasting Company from 1967 until 1971.
He portrayed a rancher determined to establish a cattle empire in the Arizona Territory.
He guest-starred in several television series" including Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, Doctor of Medicine, Medical Center, Cannon, The Rockford Files, and the 1977 espionage series Hunter. His final role was in an episode of Fantasy Island in 1984.