Education
A native of Lake Bluff, Illinois Rockwell studied at the Pasadena Playhouse, from which he obtained a master"s degree.
A native of Lake Bluff, Illinois Rockwell studied at the Pasadena Playhouse, from which he obtained a master"s degree.
He also starred in his own American Broadcasting Company western-themed television series, The Manitoba from Blackhawk in the 1959-1960 season. Rockwell was cast as the Blackhawk Insurance Company"s key investigator, Sam Logan, who is assigned to weed out fraud in the payment of claims. During World World War II he enlisted in the United States Navy for four years serving in Washington District of Columbia
Dramatic roles often eluded him, however, after beginning his career as a contract player for Republic Studios he appeared, over his almost 50-year acting career, in more than 350 television episodes and, on stage, opposite José Ferrer in the 1946 Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac, and with Ginger Rogers during the 1960s in a San Diego production of Whitfield Cook"s play A More Perfect Union.
He played standard leads in a couple of anti-Communist-era features, including Republic"s The Red Menace (1949), in which he is cast as a returning veteran of World World War II, who is duped by communists. Later in his career, he appeared on episodes of Petticoat Junction (1970, episode: "Spare That Cottage", as Norbert Thompson), Growing Pains (1988–1990) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1993).
On January 25, 2003, Rockwell died of cancer at his home in Malibu at the age of 82.
Rockwell was a founding member of the California Artists Radio Theatre.