Career
Born in Los Angeles, California, Vinson began acting in 1957. Among his first roles he guest starred as defendant Marv Adams in the 4th Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Drowning Duck." He guest starred on other various television series, including Whirlybirds, Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Bachelor Father, Cheyenne, Maverick, Sugarfoot, Laramie, Bat Masterson, Harbor Command, Colt.45, The Rough Riders, Hawaiian Eye, and in three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip. In 1962, he was cast as Bruce Randall in the episode "The Parish Carolina" of the American Broadcasting Company series, Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly as a Roman Catholic priest in New York City.
That same year, he was cast as Charlie Fox in the episode "The Runaway Groom" of the National Broadcasting Company western series, The Tall Manitoba, starring Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager.
In 1960, Vinson was cast in his first recurring role in a series as copy-boy Chris Higbee in thirty-nine episodes of the American Broadcasting Company/Warner Brothers drama series, The Roaring 20"s, with co-stars Dorothy Provine, John Dehner, Rex Reason, Donald May, and Mike Road. The series ended its run in January 1962, and Vinson then appeared as Alvin in the episode "This Gun for Sal3" of the sitcom, Room for One More, the American Broadcasting Company/World Bank replacement series for The Roaring 20s.
Earlier he had appeared as a guest star in another American Broadcasting Company/World Bank series, The Alaskans. That same year, Vinson was cast as Quartermaster George "Christy" Christopher on the American Broadcasting Company sitcom, McHale"s Navy, starring Ernest Borgnine.
Vinson appeared in seventy-nine episodes from 1962 to 1966, when the series ended.
He wrote one episode. After McHale"s Navy, Vinson was cast as Sheriff Harold Sikes in Columbia Broadcasting System"s Pistols "n" Petticoats. In 1968, he starred with Doug McClure and David Hartman in the film Nobody"s Perfect, a naval comedy about the United States Ship Bustard, and as Beau Graves in two episodes of the American Broadcasting Company crime drama series, Mod Squadron
In 1969, Vinson guest starred as Sheriff Tom Wade in the episode "Crime Wave in Buffalo Springs" on James Drury"s The Virginian.
He portrayed the character Joseph Foxx in "Moment of Truth" on Efrem Zimbalist, Junior."s The Federal Bureau of Investigation crime series. During the 1970s and 1980s, Vinson continued with guest roles on episodic television appearing again in Mod Squad, Love, American Style, McCloud, The Streets of San Francisco, The Waltons, South.W.A.T., Baa Baa Black Sheep, Battlestar Galactica, and Barnaby Jones.
Vinson"s last on-screen appearances were as the Air Marshal in the 1982 episode "Number Way Out" of American Broadcasting Company"s The Fall Guy, as Sperling in the 1982 episode "A Minor Problem" on Columbia Broadcasting System"s The Incredible Hulk, and as Jake Cord in the 1983 episode "Chance of a Lifetime" on the National Broadcasting Company family drama, Boone. On October 15, 1984, a week before his 48th birthday, Vinson committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in Redondo Beach, California, apparently because of impending legal trouble.