- Fred MacMurray, The Egg and I, 1946. The Nebraskan called Bowman won a radio contest with other aspiring actors for an RKO contract in the name of Archer. (“I went from being a Bowman to an Archer!”). During 61 years, Anne Archer’s father won 146 screen credits. But not this one. However, he definitively voiced The Shadow on radio.
- Peter Hansen, When Worlds Collide, 1950. Wandering star Bellus is on a collision course with earth… Having starred in producer George Pal’s previous sf movie, Destination Moon, Archer was a shoo-in – until he was shooed out. Hansen later joined General Hospital, 1963, with another Worlds alum Rachel Ames.
- Arthur Franz, Invaders From Mars, 1952. Despite being designed and directed by the mighty Thief of Bagdad and Gone With The Wind production designer William Cameron Menzies, this is z-alien stuff with, apparently, a different ending outside the US. No wonder Anne Archer’s father quit in the 60s, creating a successful trucking business with his brother. “I didn’t give the business up, it gave me up. I had a nice career and I felt that I should move along… I’d always go back and do a TV show if anybody hollered [he amassed 146 credits by 2003], but then I lost my agent and… became disenchanted.”
Birth year: 1915Death year: 1999Other name: Casting Calls: 3