Roy Jenson

Biography

Roy Jenson (Calgary, 1927 – Los Angeles, 2007) was a Canadian-American actor, stunt performer and former Canadian football player. He belonged to the generation of supporting actors who filled much of American film and television between the 1950s and the 1980s, especially in Westerns and action pictures.

Raised in Los Angeles after a childhood in Canada, he served in the United States Navy during the Second World War and later studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he played football. Drafted by the Calgary Stampeders, he played in the Canadian league until he retired in 1957. He had already worked as a stuntman while still playing, and afterwards he settled in Hollywood as a stunt performer. His role as a thug in Harper (1966), opposite Paul Newman, opened the door to regular speaking parts. He often worked with Clint Eastwood and John Milius, and his steady presence in Westerns and thrillers made him a recognisable hard-edged supporting player.

After a long career across film and series such as Gunsmoke, Batman and Kung Fu, he died of cancer in Los Angeles in 2007, aged 80. His legacy lies in that supporting craft, spread across cinema and television, rather than in leading roles.

Key films

• Chinatown (1974): as Claude Mulvihill, in one of the best-known neo-noir films of the 1970s.
• Harper (1966): as the thug Puddler, a role that helped launch his career as a regular actor.
• The Way We Were (1973): a small part as an Army captain in Sydney Pollack's romantic drama.
• Red Dawn (1984): as Mr. Morris, in John Milius's invasion thriller.
• Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954): one of his early credits, uncredited, as a gladiator.