Percy Helton

Percy Helton (January 31, 1894 - September 11, 1971) was an American film and television actor.

One of his most memorable supporting roles was playing a drunken Santa Claus in "Miracle on 34th Street". He also appeared in small but memorable roles in "Criss Cross" (1949), "The Set-Up" (1949), "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955) and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969). Percy Helton began acting as a young child at the age of two, appearing in his father's vaudeville act. He appeared in many Broadway plays as a child actor before joining the US Army to serve in World War I with the American Expeditionary Forces. The short actor with a hoarse, raspy voice and breathy delivery was a fixture in a wide range of films and TV programs in the 1950s and 1960s.

Notable films

*"The Offenders" (1920s)
*"Silver Wings" (1922)
*"Miracle on 34th Street" (1947)
*"Call Northside 777" (1948)
*"Lust for Gold" (1949)
*"Thieves' Highway" (1949)
*"Abbott & Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff" (1949)
*"Wicked Woman" (1953)
*"White Christmas" (1954)
*"Kiss Me Deadly" (1955)
*"Jailhouse Rock" (1957)
*"Where the Boys Are" (1960)
*"Ride the High Country" (1962)
*"The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965)
*"Head" (1968)

Notable television appearances

*"The Life of Riley"
*"The Wild Wild West"
*"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"
*"The Beverly Hillbillies"
*"Batman"
*"Adventures of Superman"
*""
*"The Twilight Zone"
*"Mister Ed"
*"The Fugitive"
*"Gunsmoke"
*"Green Acres" "Get Smart"