Willis Bouchey

Willis Bouchey
Bouchey in Suddenly (1954)
Born
Willis Ben Bouchey

(1907-05-24)May 24, 1907
Clare, Michigan, US
DiedAugust 26, 1977(1977-08-26) (aged 70)
Burbank, California, US
OccupationActor
Years active1951–1972
Spouse(s)Thelma Evelyn Marguitte
(m. 1933)
Children1

Willis Ben Bouchey (May 24, 1907 – September 27, 1977) was an American character actor.

Bouchey may be best known for his movie appearances in The Horse Soldiers, The Long Gray Line, Sergeant Rutledge, Two Rode Together, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Big Heat, Pickup on South Street, No Name on the Bullet, and Suddenly. He also made uncredited appearances in From Here to Eternity, How the West Was Won, Them!, Executive Suite, and A Star Is Born, and appears briefly in Frank Capra's comedy Pocketful of Miracles.

Early years

Born in Clare, Michigan,[1] on May 24, 1907,[2] Bouchey was the son of Wilda May (née Willis) and Henry Bouchey.[3][4][5] When his father died just six months after his birth,[6] Willis and his mother moved in with her parents in Vernon, Michigan,[7] and subsequently to Seattle, where Wilda raised her son with her second husband, Carl Ahlers.[6][8]

Bouchey began acting as a high school student in Bakersfield, California. He went to the University of California intending to become a dentist, but left after two years because he thought he could make more money as an actor.[9] He acted with the Bakersfield Community Theatre, sometimes as the male lead.[10]

Radio

On old-time radio, Bouchey played the title role in Captain Midnight,[11] Charles Williams in Kitty Keene, Inc.,[11]: 190  Stanley Bartlett in Midstream,[11]: 229  and Pa Barton in The Story of Bud Barton.[11]: 317  He was also a member of the ensemble cast of Your Parlor Playhouse.[11]: 362 

Television

Bouchey was a member of Jack Webb's Dragnet stock company, appeared in five episodes and was billed variously as "Willis Bouchey", "William Bouchey", "Willis Buchet," or "Bill Bouchey." He appeared as a sheep trader in the title 1958 episode "Cash Robertson" of the NBC children's western series, Buckskin. In 1960 to 1961, he was cast twice in the ABC sitcom, Harrigan and Son, and four times in the role of Springer in the CBS sitcom, Pete and Gladys.

He guest starred on CBS's Dennis the Menace and played a judge in 23 episodes of that same network's Perry Mason, "one of the more frequent judges on the bench" in that program.[12] He played Judge Neilson in "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" S1 E4 "I Saw the Whole Thing" which aired 10/10/1962. Also on CBS, on Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, Willis Bouchey appeared as Dr. Samuel Thorne in the episode "The Masks," which premiered March 20, 1964.

Also in 1964, he appeared on Petticoat Junction. He was Dr. John Rhone in the episode "Kate Flat on Her Back".

He also worked again with Perry Mason star Raymond Burr in an episode of NBC's Ironside. He made guest appearances on The Sheriff of Cochise (1957), The Great Gildersleeve (5 episodes), Have Gun Will Travel, Wanted: Dead or Alive (3 episodes), 77 Sunset Strip, Gunsmoke (2 episodes), Bonanza (2 episodes), Wagon Train, The Virginian (2 episodes), Crossroads; Richard Diamond, Private Detective; Daniel Boone, Laramie (5 episodes), Father Knows Best, The Danny Thomas Show, Gomer Pyle: USMC, F Troop, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Johnny Ringo, Bat Masterson, The Doris Day Show, The Untouchables, Stoney Burke, Going My Way, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (2 episodes),The Beverly Hillbillies (2 episodes), Dr. Kildare, The Dakotas, Hazel (5 episodes), The Mod Squad, Green Acres, The Munsters (2 episodes), McHale's Navy (3 episodes), The Andy Griffith Show (4 episodes), Get Smart, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (3 episodes).

On ABC's Colt .45 television series, Bouchey played Lew Wallace, the governor of New Mexico Territory, in the episode "Amnesty". Wallace offered a pardon to the bandit Billy the Kid, played on Colt .45 by Robert Conrad.

Throughout his career, Bouchey worked in twelve productions for director John Ford and was one of the more frequently-used members of Ford's stock company. In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, he delivered the final line, "Nothing's too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance."

Personal life and death

In December 1933, Bouchey married Thelma Evelyn Marguitte.[13][1][14] They had one child, a daughter, Christine.[15] For well over a decade (extending from 1958 to at least 1971), Mrs. Bouchey was frequently in the news as a prominent figure in Southern California's doll collection community.[16][17][18][19]

Bouchey died at age 70 on September 27, 1977, in Burbank, California.[20]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ a b "Illinois, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP3H-HS51 : Tue Apr 08 00:51:47 UTC 2025), Entry for Willis Ben Bouchey and Freelance Radio Artist, 16 Oct 1940.
  2. ^ "Question Service". Movie and Radio Guide. February 13, 1942. p. . Retrieved March 6, 2026. "Born May 24, 1907, at Mount Pleasant, Mich., Willis Bouchey was left fatherless when he was six months old and he and his mother moved to Seattle. When Bill was seven he made his first stage appearance with a small stock company in Seattle. He received no pay, but it proved to be the start of his acting career. He continued in stock and played dramatic roles until, at twentyone, he decided to take a fling at announcing for a Los Angeles radio station. He has done all sorts of radio work during the intervening years. Bill has brown hair and eyes, weighs 165."
  3. ^ "Mother Bouchey Dies". The Bakersfield Californian. March 2, 1955. p. 6. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "Known to hundreds of Kern County Union High School graduates as mother of their dormitory, Wilda May Bouchey, 71, died Sunday in a Burbank hospital. Mrs. Bouchey was boys' dormitory mother from 1925 to 1943 and girls' dormitory mother from 1943 to 1952. [...] Survivors include a son,; Willis B. Bouchey of North Hollywood; foster-son, Ray L. Courtney, 1215 I St., and sister, Mrs. Sada Ambrosch of Seattle, Wash."
  4. ^ "Mt. Pleasant". The Saginaw News. January 3, 1901. p. 6. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "Henry Bouchey and Wilda Willie [sic], of Vernon township, and Clarence O. Wisdom and Marion Richardson, of Winn, were married Christmas day by Rev. W. H. Simmons."
  5. ^ "California, County Marriages, 1849-1957", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8JD-J3J : Wed Jul 10 00:37:18 UTC 2024), Entry for Willis B Bouchey and Henry Bouchey, 02 Dec 1933. "Wilda Willis: Mentioned in the Record of Willis B Bouchey (Wilda Willis's Son)"
  6. ^ a b "Question Service". Movie and Radio Guide. February 13, 1942. p. 6. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "Born May 24, 1907, at Mount Pleasant, Mich., Willis Bouchey was left fatherless when he was six months old and he and his mother moved to Seattle. When Bill was seven he made his first stage appearance with a small stock company in Seattle. He received no pay, but it proved to be the start of his acting career. He continued in stock and played dramatic roles until, at twenty-one, he decided to take a fling at announcing for a Los Angeles radio station. He has done all sorts of radio work during the intervening years. Bill has brown hair and eyes, weighs 165."
  7. ^ "United States, Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ML5J-ZRC : Wed Aug 13 16:25:51 UTC 2025), Entry for Gilbert Bouchey, Sr, Sr and Caroline Charlotte Bouchey, 1910.
  8. ^ "United States, Census, 1920", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHFT-T4P : Tue Oct 21 21:50:43 UTC 2025), Entry for Carl Ahlers and Wilda Ahlers, 1920.
  9. ^ "His Honor, Judge Bouchey". The Cincinnati Post & Times-Star. March 3, 1962. p. 14. Retrieved March 5, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Cast Picked for Community Theatre's First Production". Bakersfield Morning Echo. October 5, 1927. p. 5. Retrieved March 5, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b c d e Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
  12. ^ Cox, Stephen; DeCarlo, Yvonne; Patrick, Butch (2006). The Munsters: A Trip Down Mockingbird Lane. Watson-Guptill Publications, Incorporated. p. 196. ISBN 9780823078943. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  13. ^ Frogley, Kenneth (December 13, 1933). "Radio Topics; Late News Notes". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 15. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "KFAC Announcer Bill Bouchey yesterday announced his marriage to Thelma Marguette."
  14. ^ "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KWG-CGD1 : Sat Apr 26 14:48:33 UTC 2025), Entry for Thelma E Bouchey and Henry Maggart.
  15. ^ "United States, Census, 1950", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XG7-JG2T : Wed Mar 20 19:25:23 UTC 2024), Entry for Christine E Bouchey and Willis B Bouchey, 22 April 1950.
  16. ^ "DOLL CLUB FROLICS AT FESTIVE YULETIDE PARTY". Highland Park News-Herald and Journal. December 28, 1958. p. 12. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "Amid a myriad of Yule decorations and dolls, the spacious home of Mrs. Willis Bouchey was the gala scene of fun and frolic at the Angeleno Doll Club's annual holiday party."
  17. ^ "Convention opens: Dolls from over the world". Highland Park News-Herald and Journal. August 5, 1971. p. 30. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "With Mrs. Willis Bouchey as chairman, the Angeleno Doll Club will sponsor the 22nd annual convention of the United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc., Aug. 4-8, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City. The club. which is composed of members mostly from the Los Angeles and Orange counties is expecting more than 650 doll enthusiasts from all parts of the United States (and other countries) to be present. [...] Members of the steering committee of the convention are chairman, Mrs. Willis Bouchey (wife of the motion picture and TV character, Willis Bouchey)"
  18. ^ "Mrs. Emil C. A. Muuss, Doll Collector, Attends Convention". The Sheboygan Press. August 11, 1971. p. 34. ProQuest 2386251792. Chairman of the convention is Mrs. Willis Bouchey, whose husband, a well-known character actor on TV, was very active in helping with many details and who emceed the banquet.
  19. ^ Blair, Kim (September 19, 1971). "Her Dolls Have Character". The Los Angeles Times. pp. 2E, 12E. Retrieved March 6, 2026. "Ever since she started collecting, Mrs. Bouchey has been a member of the United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc., which includes more than 180 clubs and has [...] members in every state as well as foreign countries. Mrs. Bouchey was regional director of the federation for three years, 1961-63 and has been national convention chairman twice, in 1963 and 1971, when the group met in August at the Sheraton Universal in North Hollywood. She is a member of the Angelino Doll Club of Los Angeles and she has served as president, vice president and 'in almost every office.' [...] Her husband, actor Willis Bouchey, shares his wife's enthusiasm for dolls and says, 'I have to! No, seriously, I really enjoy them."
  20. ^ Matheson, Sue (2019). The John Ford Encyclopedia. : . p. 30.
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