Tom Pittman Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography
Tom Pittman
Acting
Biography
Tom Pittman (March 16, 1932 – October 31, 1958) was an American film and television actor. After his death at the age of 26, the Los Angeles Times called him "one of Hollywood's most promising young actors." Pittman was born Jerry Lee Alten in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was television and radio actor Frank Alten. Pittman began his career in acting in 1956 with a guest starring role on Science Fiction Theatre. He made his film debut that same year in D-Day the Sixth of June. Pittman went on to roles in numerous television Westerns including Gunsmoke (playing “Jimmy McQueen” a young affable yet smart herder who seeks revenge on a career horse-thief in the 1956 S1E32 entitled “Dutch George” and in 1957 as “Budge Grilk”, a psychotic step-son in S3E5’s “Potato Road”), Cheyenne, Have Gun – Will Travel, The Restless Gun, and Cimarron City. He also appeared in the 1957 drama The Young Stranger (1957) and the musical comedy Bernardine (1957). His final two roles were in the films Verboten! and High School Big Shot, both released in 1959, the year following his death. On October 31, 1958, Pittman was driving home after a Halloween party when he ran his Porsche Spyder off the road at a sharp curve in the Hollywood Hills. After he failed to return home, his father filed a missing persons report. On November 19, Los Angeles police officer Roy Kerton retraced the roads Pittman's father said his son liked to drive and found the wreckage of Pittman's Porsche at the bottom of a 150-foot ravine. Pittman died after crashing through the guard rail, his car landing at the bottom of the ravine where it remained out of sight.
Filmography Movies
Acting
No Time to Be Young
A melodrama about young adults growing up and facing the pressures of life.
Verboten!
A young American serviceman stationed in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich, jeopardises his future after falling in love with a German woman.
The Proud Rebel
Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.
Apache Territory
Logan Cates sets out to rescue a white woman captured by Apache Indians and prevent a war. On the way he is joined by a few civilians and a small band of soldiers at a water hole. They are ambushed and laid siege to by Apache. As their food and water supplies dwindle a storm arrives which enables Cates to put an escape plan into action.
High School Big Shot
Unpopular at school because of his high I.Q., neglected by his weak and alcoholic father, Marvin is easy prey for the campus vamp, Betty, who pretends an interest in Marv only so that he will write her term paper. When the two are discovered cheating by their professor, the longed-for scholarship recommendation is withdrawn. Meanwhile the jealousy of Betty's boyfriend has been aroused and when Marv learns that he can only hold the girl's affections by offering her riches, he plans a million dollar robbery. Even the professional gangsters with whom he works are amazed at the brilliance of the young genius.
The Way to the Gold
Following his release from prison, an ex-con heads straight for a cache of gold buried somewhere in a small village.
Black Patch
A New Mexico Town Marshal, Clay Morgan, known as 'Black Patch' since he had lost an eye in the Civil War, takes his job seriously, especially after an old friend, Hank Danner, arrives in ...
The Young Stranger
The lack of communication between a wealthy film producer and his troubled teenage son after the boy is involved in an altercation at a movie theater leads to even more trouble.
Bernardine
A teenager pines for (and sings about) his dream girl.
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