Richard Whorf

Whorf was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah (née Lee) Whorf. His older brother was linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf.[2] Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager, then moved to Broadway at age 21, debuting there in The Banshee (1927).[3] 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 played a famous painter who had resorted to drinking in the 1960 episode "The Illustrator" of The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford.

He began his film directing career with the 1942 short subject March On, America and the 1944 feature film Blonde Fever.

He directed a number of television programs in the 1950s and 1960s, including early episodes of Gunsmoke, the entire second season of My Three Sons and 67 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. He directed the short-lived series Border Patrol and the 1964–1965 ABC sitcom Mickey, starring Mickey Rooney. In the summer of 1960, he guest-starred in one episode and directed other segments of the short-lived western series Tate, and he directed episodes of the 1961–1962 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride, starring Leon Ames. .

Whorf directed the unsuccessful 1961 stage comedy Julia, Jake and Uncle Joe.[4] His hobby was painting; he sold his first painting at the age of 15 for $100.

In 1929, Whorf married Margaret H. Smith.[5]

Whorf died at age 60 on December 14, 1966. His grave site is at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Whorf.

• Richard Whorf at the Internet Broadway Database
• Richard Whorf at IMDb
• Richard Whorf at Find a Grave