Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career between 1925 and 1981. Fix portrayed Marshal Micah Torrance, opposite Chuck Connors's character in The Rifleman from 1958 to 1963. He later appeared with Connors in the 1966 Western film Ride Beyond Vengeance.
Early life Fix born to Wilhelm Fix and Louise Walz on March 13, 1901 in Dobbs Ferry, New York. His father was a brewer from Germany.Aaker, Everett, Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary, page 163, McFarland, Inc., 2017
Following the United States' entry into World War I in April 1917, Fix joined the National Guard, initially serving in Peekskill, New York. After three months of duty there, he deserted and enlisted in the U.S. Army. After serving at Fort Slocum for three months, he again deserted and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Providence, Rhode Island. While serving in the Navy, Fix was recruited to perform on stage in a Navy Relief Organization production of the comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore. Later, he served as a hospital corpsman aboard ships transporting American troops to and from Europe, and continued that assignment until he was officially discharged from military service on September 5, 1919.
Stage and films Following the war, Fix became a busy character actor, starting in local productions in New York. By the 1920s, he had moved to Hollywood, and in the 1930s, he became John Wayne's friend. He was Wayne's acting coach and eventually appeared as a featured player in many of Wayne's films.
Fix worked in early films such as Lucky Star (1929) with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell and Ladies Love Brutes (1930), and became a regular performer for the film's director, Frank Borzage, eight more times. Fix later appeared as Richard Bravo in The Bad Seed (1956), The Sea Chase (1955) and Giant (1956), portraying Elizabeth Taylor's father.
Fix appeared as the presiding judge in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), as the sheriff in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and with Wayne in El Dorado (1966). In 1972, he was cast in the film Night of the Lepus, and the following year, he portrayed Pete Maxwell in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid with James Coburn. In 1979, he appeared in Wanda Nevada. Fix cowrote the screenplay for Wayne's film Tall in the Saddle.
Television Fix had a recurring role as Marshal Micah Torrance on ABC's Western series The Rifleman, which was broadcast from 1958 to 1963.Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 – Present, Ballantine Books, 1979, page 528.
On Christmas Day 1958, Fix appeared in the episode "Medal for Valor" on CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Fix plays a businessman who hires a desperate man to substitute for his son in the draft, later to interfere with the man's homesteading rights when it threatens his son's political aspirations.
Fix guest-starred on the short-lived detective series Meet McGraw, on Rory Calhoun's Western series The Texan on CBS and on John Payne's Western series The Restless Gun on NBC.
In 1957, Fix appeared as General Phil Sheridan in an episode of Tales of Wells Fargo with actor Dale Robertson, star of the series. Fix played the historical role of U.S. President Zachary Taylor in the 1960 episode "That Taylor Affair" of the NBC Western series, Riverboat, with Darren McGavin. Arlene Dahl was cast in this episode as Lucy Belle.
In 1961, Fix appeared as Ramsey Collins in the series finale, "Around the Dark Corner", of the NBC crime drama Dante. That same year, he played Dr. Abel in the episode "The Haven" on The DuPont Show with June Allyson. His other television credits include Adventures of Superman (1953–1954, with Anthony Caruso and Elisha Cook Jr.) and the adventure series, Northwest Passage.
Fix played Dr. Mark Piper in the second pilot episode of Star Trek, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". When the first season was filmed, his character was replaced by Leonard McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley.
Fix made five appearances as District Attorney Hale on Perry Mason (1957–1963), showing great skill as an examiner who did not ask objectionable questions unlike Hamilton Burger, who often experienced a judge's ire for asking leading questions. He guest-starred on such television series as Rawhide (1959), Wagon Train (1962), The Twilight Zone (1964), The F.B.I. (1965–1973), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1966), The Time Tunnel (1966), The Wild Wild West (1966–1967), Gunsmoke (1967), Daniel Boone (1969), Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (1971), The Rockford Files episode "The House on Willis Avenue" (as Joe Tooley), and two episodes of The Streets of San Francisco, one in 1973 and again in 1975, each a different character/storyline. He appeared on the NBC series Kentucky Jones (1964) as Judge Perkins in the episode "Spare the Rod". He played an aging suicidal novelist named Maxwell Hart on the Emergency! fourth-season episode "Kidding", where paramedic John Gage, played by Randolph Mantooth, was in charge of a small group of intellectual 10- and 11-year-old school children on a tour of Rampart General Hospital. In 1974, he made an appearance as an old friend of Steve Austin's in the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man in the episode "Population Zero". He also appeared as Kronus, a retired fleet commander on the original Battlestar Galactica.
Fix played the hardy pioneer James Briton "Brit" Bailey in the 1969 episode "Here Stands Bailey" of Death Valley Days.
Personal life and death In 1922 Fix married Frances Harvey, and the couple had one daughter. They divorced in 1945. He married his second wife, Beverly Pratt, on August 20, 1949. She died on November 13, 1979.
His daughter Marilyn married actor Harry Carey Jr., in 1944, and they had four children.
Fix died of kidney failure in Los Angeles at the age of 82. He is buried beside his second wife at Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica.
Selected filmography
The Perfect Clown (1925) as Bellhop (uncredited) Hoodoo Ranch (1926) The First Kiss (1928) as Ezra Talbot Lucky Star (1929) as Joe Ladies Love Brutes (1930) as Slip Man Trouble (1930) as The Kid - A Gunman (uncredited) The Good Bad Girl (1931) as Roach The Fighting Sheriff (1931) as Jack Cameron Doctors' Wives as Interne (uncredited) The Avenger (1931) as Juan Marietta (uncredited) Sob Sister (1931) as Minor Role (uncredited) Bad Girl (1931) Young as You Feel (1931) as Desk Clerk (uncredited) Three Girls Lost (1931) as Tony Halcomb (uncredited) South of the Rio Grande (1932) as Juan Olivarez The Racing Strain (1932) as King Kelly Life Begins (1932) as Anxious Expectant Father (uncredited) The Last Mile (1932) as Eddie Werner - Cell 8 Scarface (1932) as Hood with Gaffney (uncredited) Dancers in the Dark (1932) as Benny The Night of June 13 (1932) as Reporter (uncredited) Somewhere in Sonora (1933) as Bart Leadly The Important Witness (1933) as Tony Fargo Express (1933) as Mort Clark The Mad Game (1933) as Lou Devil's Mate (1933) as Malony The Avenger (1933) as Vickers The Important Witness (1933) as Tony The Sphinx (1933) as Dave Werner Emergency Call (1933) as Dr. Mason (uncredited) Zoo in Budapest (1933) as Heinie The Woman Who Dared (1933) as Racketeer Gun Law (1933) as Tony Adams The Westerner (1934) as Rustler Who Confesses (uncredited) The World Accuses (1934) as John Weymouth Rocky Rhodes (1934) as Joe Hilton The Count of Monte Cristo as Angry Citizen (uncredited) The Crosby Case (1934) as Engineer (uncredited) Little Man, What Now? (1934) as Lauderbock Reckless (1935) as Man on Mechanical Horse (uncredited) The Crimson Trail (1935) as Paul- Bellair Ranch Hand Mutiny Ahead (1935) as Teeter Smith His Fighting Blood (1935) as Phil Elliott Don't Bet on Blondes (1935) as Betting Man (uncredited) Men Without Names (1935) as The Kid Let 'Em Have It (1935) as Sam Millions in the Air (1935) as Hank - the Drunk Bar 20 Rides Again (1935) as Gila The Eagle's Brood (1935) as Henchman Steve Valley of Wanted Men (1935) as Mike Masters The Throwback (1935) as Spike Travis Bulldog Courage (1935) as Bailey The Desert Trail (1935) as Jim Whitmonlee Mariners of the Sky aka Navy Born (1936) as Joe Vezie The Road to Glory (1936) as Second Volunteer The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) as Lou Pender (uncredited) The Bridge of Sighs (1936) as Harrison Courtney Jr. aka Harry West Phantom Patrol (1936) as Henchman Jo-Jo Regan Yellowstone (1936) a Dynomite Straight from the Shoulder (1936) as Trigger Benson Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) as Lefty (uncredited) 36 Hours to Kill (1936) as Gangster (uncredited) The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) as David Herold After the Thin Man (1936) as Phil Brynes Wanted! Jane Turner (1936) as Crowley's Henchman The Accusing Finger (1936) as John 'Twitchy' Burke 15 Maiden Lane (1936) as Agitator (uncredited) Two in a Crowd (1936) as Bonelli's Henchman Winterset (1936) as Joe The Plot Thickens (1936) as Joe Border Cafe (1937) as 'Doley' Dolson Armored Car (1937) as Slim Her Husband Lies (1937) as Lefty Harker (uncredited) Woman in Distress (1937) as Joe Emory The Game That Kills (1937) as Dick Adams Big City (1937) as Comet Night Watchman (uncredited) On Such a Night (1937) as Maxie Barnes Souls at Sea (1937) as Violinest King of Gamblers (1937) as Charlie It Can't Last Forever (1937) as Mikey (uncredited) Paid to Dance (1937) as Nifty Daughter of Shanghai (1937) as Miles (uncredited) Mannequin (1937) as Smooch Hanrahan (uncredited) Conquest (1937) as Dumb Soldier (uncredited) Hot Water (1937) as Homer (uncredited) The Saint of New York (1938) as Phil Farrell - Doorman at the Silverclub (uncredited) Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938) as Gangster (uncredited) Smashing the Rackets (1938) as Maxie The Crowd Roars (1938) as Joe - Bodyguard on Plane (uncredited) Crime Ring (1938) as Slim (uncredited) Penitentiary (1938) as Bunch (uncredited) King of Alcatraz (1938) as 'Nails' Miller The Night Hawk (1938) as Spider Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938) as Gangster (uncredited) Crime Takes a Holiday (1938) as Louie Secrets of a Nurse (1938) as Smiley, Largo's Gunman (uncredited) When G-Men Step In (1938) as Clip Phillips - Fred's Henchman Walking Down Broadway (1938) as Man in Baccarat Club Bar (uncredited) The Buccaneer (1938) as Dying Pirate Behind Prison Gates (1939) as Convict Petey Ryan They All Come Out (1939) as Vonnie (uncredited) News Is Made at Night (1939) as Joe Luddy Heritage of the Desert (1939) as Henchman Chick Chance Star Reporter (1939) as Clipper Two Thoroughbreds (1939) as Stablemaster Heroes in Blue (1939) as Henchman (uncredited) Those High Grey Walls (1939) as Nightengale Mutiny on the Blackhawk (1939) as Jock - the Sailor The Girl and the Gambler (1939) as Charlie Undercover Doctor (1939) as Monk Jackson Code of the Streets (1939) as Tommy Shay Almost a Gentleman (1939) as Kidnapper (uncredited) Disbarred (1939) as Stone (uncredited) The Ghost Breakers (1940) as Frenchy Duval Glamour for Sale (1940) as Louis Manell Queen of the Mob (1940) as Gang Leader in Garage (uncredited) The Fargo Kid (1940) as Deuce Mallory The Great Plane Robbery (1940) as Nick Harmon Trail of the Vigilantes (1940) as Lefty Triple Justice (1940) as Fred Cleary Black Diamonds (1940) as Matthews The Crooked Road (1940) as Nick Romero Dr. Cyclops (1940) as Dr. Mendoza Virginia City (1940) as Murrell's Henchman (uncredited) Outside the Three-Mile Limit (1940) as Bill Swanson Strange Cargo (1940) as Benet Black Friday (1940) as William Kane Down Mexico Way (1941) as Henchman Davis A Missouri Outlaw (1941) as Mark Roberts Public Enemies (1941) as Scat Mob Town (1941) as Monk Bangor (uncredited) Unfinished Business (1941) as Reporter (uncredited)