Carleton Young


Carleton Scott Young was an American character actor born in New York City, New York and known for his deep voice.

Career

Young appeared in 235 American television and film roles with his first being The Fighting Marines. He ended his career in the 1973 television series The Magician which starred Bill Bixby. He was a member of the John Ford Stock Company.

Film

Other films Young was cast in are: Reefer Madness, Navy Blues, Dick Tracy, Valley of the Sun, Flying Leathernecks, The Day the Earth Stood Still, From Here to Eternity, Walt Disney's adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as John Howard, and The Horse Soldiers. He also played Billy the Kid's sidekick Jeff Travis in the first five entries in the B-movie "Billy the Kid" film series from 1940 to 1941.
Portraying a newspaper editor in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, his memorable line was: "No Sir, this is the West: When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." The same year, Young appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

Radio

His radio career included a brief star turn as the title role in a short-lived crime drama, The Whisperer, somewhat loosely derived from the longtime crime hit The Whistler. Young played attorney Philip Gault, whose voice was destroyed in an accident, and who developed a sardonic whisper to compensate until his voice was restored, using a whispering persona to infiltrate the underworld where he steered unsuspecting mobsters into the clutches of the law as represented by his real identity as a lawyer.
Young's other roles in radio programs included those shown in the table below.
ProgramRole
The Count of Monte CristoEdmond Dantes
The Adventures of Ellery QueenEllery Queen
Front Page FarrellDavid Farrell
Hollywood Mystery TimeJim Laughton
Life BeginsWinfield Craig
Second HusbandBill Cummings
Stella DallasDick Grosvenor

Television

Other television programs on which Young was cast include: Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Boston Blackie, ABC Album, Racket Squad, The Whistler, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, and The Donna Reed Show.

Other activities

Young had a few interests beyond acting, forming the Los Angeles Smog Corp. to manufacture cans of "Genuine Los Angeles Smog", which reportedly were sold in the "Fun Shop" at Farmers Market. Hal Tamblin was listed as a vice president of the corporation, according to a 1962 item in The Times, and Art Ryon, author of The Times' "Ham on Ryon" column, claimed to be an executive of the whimsical outfit. Salesman Stan Goodman of Baldwinsville, NY, a longtime friend of Mr. Young and his wife Noel, came up with the idea to sell the city's notoriously polluted air so tourists could take an authentic "slice" of Hollywood back home. Goodman's grandson, attorney Robert C. Goodman of San Francisco, still owns one of the few extant cans of vintage LA smog captured in time by Young's Los Angeles Smog Corp.

Personal life

Young was married from 1945 until his death in 1994 to Noel Toy, an exotic dancer and actress whom he met when he caught her dance act at New York's Latin Quarter and was smitten.

Selected filmography