Frank Chase was an American character actor and screenwriter. As an actor, he is probably remembered for his role as Deputy Charlie in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. As a writer, his most prolific work was in the television seriesBonanza. Other television series for which he wrote scripts were The Virginian, and The High Chaparral.
Background
Frank Chase was born in Potsdam, New York, in 1923. His father was screenwriter Borden Chase. He started out as an actor but moved to writing for television around the end of the 1950s. His sister was actress Barrie Chase. He died on July 2, 2004.
Acting career
1930s, 1940s
Chase appeared in at least two films in his youth: One in a Million, which was released around 1936/1937, and Thin Ice, released in 1937.
1950s
His acting career as an adult began around the early 1950s with small parts in films such as Winchester '73, Bend of the River, and Red Ball Express. He had a small role in the Raoul Walsh directed film, The World in His Arms. Later he had a role as Borden in the Budd Boetticher directed 1952 western, Horizons West that starred Robert Ryan. Working again with Raoul Walsh, he had a fairly prominent role as Keller in Saskatchewan which was released in 1954. He played the part of Stone in Walk the Proud Land, a 1956 western directed by Jesse Hibbs. One of his recognizable roles was that of Deputy Charlie in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which was directed by Nathan Hertz, a sci-fi film about a giant woman, released in 1958. His part was as a corny deputy who in one scene comes across a giant footprint in a garden.
1960s
Chase's last acting work in the 1960s was an episode in Bonanza and a couple in The Virginian. He played the part of Jim in the Bonanza episode, The Artist. In 1963, he played the part of a wrangler in The Evil That Men Do, an episode of The Virginian. In 1965, he appeared in The Virginian again, in the episode Shadows of the Past, playing the part of a husband. He also wrote the script for the episode.
Writer
His earliest writing work was for the Johnny Tuvo episode of The Texan, which starred Rory Calhoun, featuring Ron Hagerthy as Johnny Tuvo. From 1961 to 1969, he scripted 14 episodes of Bonanza. And episode entitled The Ballerina, which aired in January 1965, is said to have been written by Chase with his ballerina sister Barrie in mind. He also scripted 10 episodes for The Virginian, with airing dates from 1963 to 1970. He also wrote 4 episodes of The High Chaparral. He wrote the story for the 1967 film, Sullivan's Empire, his only film.
