Claude Marion Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American actor. He was born in Nelson, Georgia, and grew up in Bedford, Indiana. He was a 1949 graduate of Northwestern University , where he studied theatre. and became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever (or less than clever) tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best r...
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Claude Marion Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American actor. He was born in Nelson, Georgia, and grew up in Bedford, Indiana. He was a 1949 graduate of Northwestern University , where he studied theatre. and became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever (or less than clever) tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series B.J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spin-off series, with Ben Cooper appearing as Waverly.
In movies, his first appearance was in From Here to Eternity in 1953. Akins portrayed prisoner Joe Berdett in the movie Rio Bravo (which also starred John Wayne, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson), Naval Lt. Commander Farber in Don't Give Up The Ship (starring Jerry Lewis), Sgt Kolowicz in Merrill's Marauders, Rockwell W. "Rocky" Rockman in The Devil's Brigade, the...
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