Milburn Stone
Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series Gunsmoke.
Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the former Laura Belfield. There, he graduated from Burrton High School, where he was active in the drama club, played basketball, and sang in a barbershop quartet.
His brother, Joe, was a writer who was the author of scripts for three episodes of Gunsmoke.
In 1919, Stone debuted on stage in a Kansas tent show. He ventured into vaudeville in the late 1920s, and in 1930, he was half of the Stone and Strain song-and-dance act. His Broadway credits include Around the Corner (1936) and Jayhawker (1934).
In the 1930s, Stone came to Los Angeles, California, to launch his own screen career. He was featured in the "Tailspin Tommy" adventure serial for Monogram Pictures. In 1940, he appeared with Marjorie Reynolds, Tristram Coffin, and I. Stanford Jolley in the comedy espionage film Chasing Trouble. That same year, he co-starred with Roy Rogers in the film Colorado in the role of Rogers' brother-gone-wrong.
Stone appeared uncredited in the 1939 film Blackwell's Island. Stone played Dr. Blake in the 1943 film Gung Ho! and a liberal-minded warden in Monogram Pictures' Prison Mutiny in 1943. Signed by Universal Pictures in 1943, in the film Captive Wild Woman (1943), Jungle Woman (1943), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death [Captain Pat Vickery], (1944), he became a familiar face in its features and serials.
In 1955, one of CBS Radio's hit series, the Western Gunsmoke, was adapted for television and recast with experienced screen actors. Howard McNear, the radio Doc Adams, was replaced by Stone, who gave the role a harder edge consistent with his screen portrayals. He stayed with Gunsmoke through its entire television run, with the exception of 7 episodes in 1971, when Stone required heart surgery and Pat Hingle replaced him as Dr. Chapman. Stone appeared in 604 episodes through 1975, often shown sparring in a friendly manner with co-stars Dennis Weaver and Ken Curtis, who played, respectively, Chester Goode and Festus Haggen.
In June 1980, Stone died of a heart attack in La Jolla. He was survived by his second wife, the former Jane Garrison, a native of Hutchinson, Kansas, who died in 2002. Stone had a surviving daughter, Shirley Stone Gleason (born circa 1926) of Costa Mesa, California, from his first marriage of 12 years to Ellen Morrison, formerly of Delphos, Kansas, who died in 1937. He was buried at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego.
In 1968, Stone received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama for his work on Gunsmoke.
For his contribution to the television industry, Milburn Stone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1981, Stone was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. After his death, he left a legacy for the performing arts in Cecil County in northeastern Maryland, by way of the Milburn Stone Theatre in North East, Maryland.
Filmography (146 Appearances)
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Drango
Gunsmoke
The Private War of Major Benson
Smoke Signal
White Feather
The Long Gray Line
Black Tuesday
Climax!
The Siege at Red River
Arrowhead
Second Chance
Pickup on South Street
The Sun Shines Bright
Invaders from Mars
Behind Southern Lines
The Savage
The Atomic City
Dragnet
The Racket
Roadblock
Flying Leathernecks
Racket Squad
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Operation Pacific
The Fireball
Branded
Snow Dog
No Man of Her Own
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass
Sky Dragon
The Green Promise
The Judge
Train to Alcatraz
Heading for Heaven
Killer McCoy
Michigan Kid
Killer Dill
Buck Privates Come Home
Danger Woman
Inside Job
Her Adventurous Night
Strange Conquest
The Spider Woman Strikes Back
Little Giant
Smooth as Silk
The Scarlet Horseman
Little Miss Big
The Daltons Ride Again
The Royal Mounted Rides Again
Strange Confession
The Beautiful Cheat
On Stage Everybody
The Frozen Ghost
Swing Out, Sister
The Master Key
I'll Remember April
Enemy Bacteria
She Gets Her Man
Jungle Woman
Twilight on the Prairie
The Great Alaskan Mystery
Moon Over Las Vegas
Hi, Good Lookin'!
Prices Unlimited
Weird Woman
Phantom Lady
Gung Ho!
The Mad Ghoul
Corvette K-225
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Destroyer
Get Going
Captive Wild Woman
Keep 'Em Slugging
You Can't Beat the Law
Silent Witness
Eyes in the Night
Police Bullets
Invisible Agent
Rubber Racketeers
Pacific Rendezvous
Reap the Wild Wind
Frisco Lil
No Hands on the Clock
Death Valley Outlaws
The Great Train Robbery
The Phantom Cowboy
Give Us Wings
The Great Plane Robbery
Colorado
Public Deb No. 1
Buyer Beware
American Portrait
Lillian Russell
An Angel from Texas
Johnny Apollo
Enemy Agent
Framed
Chasing Trouble
The Big Guy
Charlie McCarthy, Detective
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Crashing Thru
Fighting Mad
Danger Flight
Sky Patrol
Tropic Fury
When Tomorrow Comes
Stunt Pilot
Young Mr. Lincoln
Blind Alley
Mystery Plane
Society Smugglers
Tail Spin
King of the Turf
Made for Each Other
Blackwell's Island
California Frontier
Paroled from the Big House
Wives Under Suspicion
Sinners in Paradise
Port of Missing Girls
Mr. Boggs Steps Out
Federal Bullets
Music for Madame
Youth on Parole
Atlantic Flight
Blazing Barriers
The 13th Man
The Wildcatter
The Man in Blue
Wings Over Honolulu
They Gave Him a Gun
Swing It Professor
A Doctor's Diary
The Accusing Finger
Two in a Crowd
Murder with Pictures
The Three Mesquiteers
China Clipper
The Princess Comes Across
Rendezvous
Cheers of the Crowd