Richard Whorf

Who was Richard Whorf?

Richard Whorf was an American actor, author, director, and designer.

Richard was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, to Harry and Sarah Whorf. Richard's older brother was the well-known American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager then moved to Broadway at age 21. He had a role in a production of Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre in New York City. He moved to Hollywood and became a contract player in films of the 1930s and 1940s before becoming a director in 1944.

He appeared in Christmas Holiday, Blues in the Night, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Juke Girl, and Keeper of the Flame.

Whorf played a famous painter who had resorted to drinking in the 1960 episode "The Illustrator" of ABC's The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford. He directed a number of television programs in the 1950s and 1960s, the best known being the CBS hit comedy The Beverly Hillbillies, starring Buddy Ebsen. He directed the short-lived 1959 syndicated adventure series, Border Patrol, and the 1964-1965 ABC sitcom, Mickey, starring Mickey Rooney.