Early life

Hickman gained attention as a child actor during the late 1930s and 1940s, appearing in The Grapes of Wrath, Men of Boys Town, The Human Comedy and Leave Her to Heaven, among others. He made a featured appearance in the 1942 Our Gang comedy Going to Press. In 1944, he played the antagonist to Jimmy Lydon's Henry Aldrich character in the film Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout. In 1946, he played young Sam Masterson in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. By age 21, he had appeared in more than one hundred motion pictures. Darryl Hickman graduated from Cathedral High School in Los Angeles in 1948 (his brother Dwayne graduated the same school in 1952).

Career

After spending his childhood as an actor, Hickman retired from entertainment to enter a monastery in 1951, returning to Hollywood just over a year later. He continued acting, but in fewer roles than in the peak of his career. He was cast in 1952 in the episode "Fight Town" of the syndicated western television series, The Range Rider.

In 1954, he appeared as Chet Sterling in the "Annie Gets Her Man" episode of syndicated western series, Annie Oakley, with Gail Davis. In 1957, Hickman appeared in the episode "Copper Wire" of the syndicated western-themed crime drama Sheriff of Cochise. Later that year he appeared as murderer Steve Harris in the second Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece." Hickman appeared four times in the 1957-1958 syndicated drama series, Men of Annapolis, about midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He also guest starred in Kenneth Tobey's adventure drama, Whirlybirds.

Hickman was cast as Dal Royal in the 1957 episode "Hang 'em High" (1957) of the ABC/Desilu series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. In the story line, Marshal Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brian) and Sheriff Bat Masterson (Mason Alan Dinehart) tangle with secreted vigilantes called the "White Caps" after a judge order's Royal's hanging when he refuses to defend himself in court for fear the gang will murder his girlfriend, the daughter of a prominent rancher. The story line includes a fake hanging and burial to smoke out the gang and a rush to obtain justice by Earp and Masterson.

In 1959, Hickman appeared on younger brother Dwayne Hickman's CBS sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, playing his older brother Davey in the episode "The Right Triangle." In 1959, Darryl Hickman appeared in an episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive with Steve McQueen, titled "Rope Law"; on May 9, 1959, he was a guest star on CBS's Gunsmoke as Andy Hill. He also guest-starred in a 1959 first-season episode of another ABC/Desilu series, The Untouchables, entitled "You Can't Pick The Number".

He guest-starred in the 1960 episode "Moment of Fear" of CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson, also featuring Edgar Bergen. He appeared on NBC's science fiction series The Man and the Challenge. In 1962, he portrayed the part of Lt. Matthew Perry in the episode "The Reunion" on CBS's Rawhide. During the American Civil War Centennial, Hickman played a young Union soldier in The Americans (1961), and as an officer in Walt Disney's Johnny Shiloh (1963). In 1966 he starred as Charley in the New York City Center revival of the Frank Loesser musical comedy Where's Charley?. He had a key role in the film Sharky's Machine (1981).

Hickman eventually became a television executive and an acting coach, and a voice actor for Hanna-Barbera Productions toward the end of a five-decade career in the entertainment industry. Some notable voice overs include Wags in The Biskitts and Derek from The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible. He played Roadie, one of the cars with A.I. in the 1984 animated series Pole Position

Other

Hickman's book, The Unconscious Actor: Out of Control, In Full Command, was published in April 2007.

Selected filmography

Features

• The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
• If I Were King (1938)
• Emergency Squad (1940)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• The Way of All Flesh (1940)
• Untamed (1940)
• Mystery Sea Raider (1940)
• Young People (1940)
• Men of Boys Town (1941)
• Glamour Boy (1941)
• Young America (1942)
• Jackass Mail (1942)
• Keeper of the Flame (1942)
• The Human Comedy (1943)
• Assignment in Brittany (1943)
• Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout (1944)
• Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
• And Now Tomorrow (1944)
• Captain Eddie (1945)
• Salty O'Rourke (1945)
• Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
• Kiss and Tell (1945)
• Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
• Two Years Before the Mast (1946)
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
• The Devil on Wheels (1947)
• Dangerous Years (1947)
• The Sainted Sisters (1948)
• Big Town Scandal (1948)
• Alias Nick Beal (1949)
• Any Number Can Play (1949)
• A Kiss for Corliss (1949)
• The Happy Years (1950)
• Lightning Strikes Twice (1951)
• Submarine Command (1951)
• Destination Gobi (1953)
• Island in the Sky (1953)
• Sea of Lost Ships (1953)
• Southwest Passage (1954)
• Prisoner of War (1954)
• Many Rivers to Cross (1955)
• Tea and Sympathy (1956)
• The Iron Sheriff (1957)
• The Tingler (1959)
• Network (1976)
• Looker (1981)
• Sharky's Machine (1981)
• The Tragedy of King Lear (1982)
• GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986) (voice)

Short Subjects

• Coffins on Wheels (1941)
• Heart Burn (1942)
• Going to Press (1942)
• Boogie Woogie (1945)

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[ Source: Wikipedia ]