Background
Wesson was born Richard Lewis Wesson on November 19, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Wesson was born Richard Lewis Wesson on November 19, 1922 in Boston, Massachusetts.
The dark haired man with a flat top haircut was frequently confused with announcer Dick Wesson. They had some hit records such as "Oodles of Boodle" and "All Right Louie, Drop the Gun". In 1949, Wesson became a television series regular with Jim Backus in Hollywood House.
Making his film debut as a wisecracking astronaut in, Dick Wesson was soon signed to a contract as a supporting actor with Warner Brothers.
Wesson played comedy relief in all his films, frequently as a World World War II soldier in Breakthrough (1950) and Force of Arms (1951), and in the Old West with The Manitoba Behind the Gun (1953) and The Charge at Feather River (1953). Wesson"s best known role was as Francis Fryer in Calamity Jane (1953).
His later film credits included roles in the Jerry Lewis comedy The Errand Boy (1961), and Rollercoaster (1977). Wesson moved to American television appearing as Jackie Cooper"s ex-United States Marine Corps sidekick, Rollo, in 27 of the 104 episodes of National Broadcasting Company"s The People"s Choice and later as Frank Crenshaw in Paul Henning"s The Bob Cummings Show.
Wesson began writing for The Bob Cummings Show and later The Beverly Hillbillies, in which he appeared as a taxi driver.
He produced Columbia Broadcasting System"s My Sister Eileen and many episodes of Petticoat Junction and directed several episodes of each series. Wesson later died of a heart attack on April 25, 1996 in Rancho Mirage, California.
He was a member of the cast of the 1974 Columbia Broadcasting System situation comedy Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers.