Award-winning actor and singer Earl Holliman has passed away in hospice care at the age of 96, at his home in Studio City, California.

Our readers will know him best as the Cook in Forbidden Planet (he was the last surviving cast member until his death), or for his starring role in the very first episode of The Twilight Zone (“Where Is Everybody?” 1959). To the rest of the world, he was well known as Sgt. Bill Crowley on the 90’s television series Police Woman. In the cinema, he performed in the role of ‘Bob’ Dace in the 1956 George Stevens modern western film Giant, in this role and many others, Earl Holliman helped define the Western film genre.

Holliman was born in poverty September 11, 1928, in Delhi, Louisiana. His widowed mother was unable to provide for ten children (he was the youngest) and was forced to place seven of them in different orphanages just to ensure they could eat. He was adopted by Henry and Velma Holliman when he was only a week old. They named him Henry Earl Holliman. He spent his childhood in Louisiana and his teenage years in Arkansas and Texas, He described himself as “a red-blooded Ark-La-Texan.” As an adult, he reconnected with his biological family.

Earl Holliman developed an interest in entertainment by working as an usher in a movie theater. He also worked as a magician’s assistant. As a teenager, he ran away from home and went to Hollywood, hoping to be discovered. This worked out about as well as you’d expect. He would later didn’t work at the time, although he would later return to Hollywood and earn a Golden Globe Award. His plans were interrupted by World War II. He lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Navy. Gary Brumburgh said “Assigned to a Navy communications school in Los Angeles, this re-stimulated his passion for acting, spending much of his free time at the Hollywood Canteen.” After a year, the Navy discovered his age and discharged him. He went home to Louisiana and finished his high school education. When he was old enough, Holliman re-enlisted in the Navy.  he was cast in several Norfolk (Virginia) Navy Theatre productions, which only encouraged his theatrical ambitions. After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy, Holliman  attended USC and studied acting at UCLA Drama School and the Pasadena Playhouse.

Holliman began his film career in 1952, with an uncredited role in Pony Soldier. After a few more bit parts, usually uncredited, he started getting bigger and better parts. Eventually he began to be noticed in westerns and war dramas. By 1953, he was being credited for supporting roles, proving he could hold his own when performing with actors like Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Burt Lancaster, and Katherine Lancaster. From 1958 to 1963, Holliman found a brief but successful career as a singer.

SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Roles

• The Cook comedy relief character in Forbidden Planet (1956)
• Mike Ferris in Twilight Zone (1959(
• Elvator operator in Scared Stiff (1953)
• Conrad in Visit to a Small Planet (1960)
• David Moore in Doberman Patrol (1973)
• Harry Donner in The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War (1973)
• Frank Dominus in Night Man (a recurring role) (1959)
• Milton in Captain Planet and the Planeteers

Earl Holliman in Western Roles

• Joe in Devil’s Canyon (1953)
• Danny Devereaux in Broken Lance (1954)
• Mort Bayliss in The Burning Hills (1956)
• Bob Dace in Giant (1956)
• Jim Curry in The Rainmaker (1956)
• Jeff Bennett in Trooper Hook (1957)
• Deputy Charles Bassett in Gunfight at O.K. Corral (1957)
• The Trap (1959)
• Sundance in Hotel de Paree
• Jake Flagg in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)
• Mitch Guthrie in Wide Country
• Gunfight at O.K. Corral
• Matt Elder in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) He won a Bronze Wrangler Award in 1996, which he shared with his co-stars.
• Rick Beldin in Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

Awards and Honors

• In 1957, Holliman was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in Rainmaker.
• In 1977, Hollimon was granted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his career in television.
• In 1993 Earl Holliman was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for playing Darden Towe in Delta.
• In 1996 the movie The Sons of Katie Elder won Bronze Wrangler Award for theatrical motion picture. Holliman shared this award with his co-stars.

As someone who had known poverty in his youth, Earl Holliman was a firm believer in giving back. He served as honorary chairman of the Marines Toys for Tots Foundations in the late 1970’s. He helped organize meals for the poor and needy during the Christmas season through the Los Angeles mission. Like Betty White and Doris Day, he was a noted animal rughts advocate.He was president of Actors and Others for Animals for 25 years.

Christopher Harrity of Advocate alleged that Giant (1956) “had most Gay and bisexual actors ever in one film: James Dean, Rock Hudson, Sal Mineo, Earl Holliman, and while Mercedes {Mccambridge]never personally came out, she played the most fiercely dykey roles on-screen to perfection.” As was the custom of the time, for most of his career, Holliman kept his sexual orientation private.

Earl Holliman passed away on November 25, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. He is survived by his husband, Craig Curtis.

We thank Earl Holliman for his service, protecting his country from fascism in WWII, and we thank him for fifty years of entertainment.