Jesse Pearson (actor)
Jesse Pearson | |
|---|---|
 Pearson undated photo (Internet Movie Database) | |
| Born | Bobby Wayne Pearson August 18, 1930 Seminole, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | December 5, 1979 (aged 49) Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor and screenwriter |
Jesse Pearson (born Bobby Wayne Pearson; August 18, 1930 – December 5, 1979) was an American actor, singer, director, and writer.[1]
Career
[edit]After releasing two singles on Decca Records with little success, Pearson was heard by composer Charles Strouse, who recommended him for the national tour of the musical Bye Bye Birdie. When Dick Gautier, the original actor playing Conrad Birdie, fell ill, Pearson took the role of the rock idol inspired by Elvis Presley. He repeated his characterization in the 1963 film version, Bye Bye Birdie.[1] That same year (1963), he made two unsuccessful singles for RCA records. One of them, "One Last Kiss", was a song from the movie. This was followed by a performance in the Glenn Ford comedy Advance to the Rear (1964), but as he had no more film offers, he turned to television, appearing in shows such as Bonanza, The Andy Griffith Show, McHale's Navy, The Great Adventure and The Beverly Hillbillies. In the next decade, Pearson narrated the film The Norseman (1978), a Viking saga starring Lee Majors and Cornel Wilde.
As expressions of sexuality became culturally more free, Pearson wrote two adult films, Pro-Ball Cheerleader (1979) and The Legend of Lady Blue (1978), which he also directed, both under the name, A. Fabritzi.
Pearson was also the narrator of many albums, including Rod McKuen's The Sea (1967) and Home to the Sea (1968), as recorded by the San Sebastian Strings;[2] as well as The Body Electric and The Body Electric-2, two LPs based on poems by Walt Whitman, with music by McKuen, released in the early 1970s; the album tribute to songwriter-singer Woody Guthrie, We Ain't Down Yet (1976); and two religious albums by Jaime Mendoza-Nava: And Jesus Said... and Meditation in Psalms, also in 1976. Pearson also recorded the album The Glory of Love for RCA Victor, which remains unreleased to this day.[2]
Death
[edit]Pearson was diagnosed with cancer and moved to Monroe, Louisiana, to be near his mother, dying there at age 49 on December 5, 1979.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Crowther, Bosley (April 5, 1963). "Bye Bye Birdie (1963) The Screen: 'Bye Bye Birdie' Arrives at Radio City Music Hall:George Sidney Directs Version of Comedy 'Glory of Easter' Show Presented on Stage". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Jesse Pearson, AKA Conrad Birdie". MusicWeird.com. February 2, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ^ "Bobby Wayne "Jesse" Pearson". Find a Grave. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
External links
[edit]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1930 births
- 1979 deaths
- American male film actors
- American male screenwriters
- Male actors from Oklahoma
- People from Monroe, Louisiana
- 20th-century American male actors
- Deaths from cancer in Louisiana
- Film directors from Louisiana
- Screenwriters from Oklahoma
- Screenwriters from Louisiana
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American screenwriters