Background
He began acting on the 1959–1960 television series Wichita Town with his father.
Actor Soldier television actor
He began acting on the 1959–1960 television series Wichita Town with his father.
He is survived by the stepchildren he raised, Jaquet Ironwing and David Ironwing. Jody McCrea served in the United States Army, Special Services. He later briefly hosted Country Style, United States of America, an Army-produced recruiting television program filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, featuring various country entertainers.
He went on to star in films (mainly westerns), including the World War I drama Lafayette Escadrille, The Broken Land (with Jack Nicholson), Law of the Lawless, and Cry Blood, Apache, which he also produced.
In 1959, McCrea costarred with his father in the short-lived National Broadcasting Company western Wichita Town, set in Wichita, Kansas. Joel McCrea appeared as Marshal Mike Dunbar.
Jody McCrea did not portray the role of Joel"s son on the program but as the deputy marshal, Ben Matheson. He was most notable for his comedic role as dumb-minded "Deadhead" ("Bonehead") in the 1960s Beach Party films made by American International Pictures.
Other beach movies in which he has appeared include Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, and Beach Blanket Bingo.
He made several television appearances, including Wagon Train, Vacation Playhouse, and The Greatest Show on Earth. He played Lieutenant Brannin, a cocky cavalry officer based loosely on George Armstrong Custer, in Sam Peckinpah"s Major Dundee (1965), but his scene was deleted from the final cut. In the early 1960s, Jody made an amusing appearance on the popular television show I"ve Got a Secret as part of a group of entertainers related to famous Hollywood personalities.
When cast in the beach pictures, McCrea realized his comedic potential.
When first offered the role of "Deadhead", for example, he was quoted at the time as saying that he "wasn"t sure what the character would become". McCrea felt that the audience enjoyed Deadhead as they felt superior to him.
McCrea was an avid body builder, and the only actor appearing in the American International Pictures beach movies who could actually surf. He recorded a 45 rpm single in 1964 for Canjo Records to coincide with the film Bikini Beach (Side A: "Chicken Surfer"/Side B: "Looney Gooney Bird")
Although he occasionally acted in community theater, McCrea retired from acting in 1970 after his final film Cry Blood, Apache.
He became a rancher in Roswell, New Mexico, where he died in 2009 of a heart attack at age 74.
Special Forces.