Warner Anderson (March 10, 1911 – August 26, 1976) was an American actor, best known for his starring roles in TV dramas The Lineup and Peyton Place.

Early years

Anderson was born to "a theatrical family" in Brooklyn, New York, March 10, 1911. He was a Republican.

Film

Anderson had a small part in a film in 1915. A contemporary newspaper article about the movie Sunbeam, in which Anderson appeared in 1917, noted, "Warner Anderson is one of the cleverest children in motion pictures." "He made his adult screen debut in This Is the Army in 1943. He had supporting parts in several films through the years. They included The Caine Mutiny, Blackboard Jungle, and Destination Tokyo. Operation Burma with Errol Flynn.

Stage

Anderson's work on stage included Broadway appearances in Maytime (1917–1918), Happiness (1917–1918), Medea (1920), Within Four Walls (1923), Broken Journey (1942), and Remains to Be Seen (1951–1952).

Radio

In the 1940s, Anderson was the announcer for The Bell Telephone Hour.

Television

Anderson starred as Lt. Ben Guthrie in the TV series The Lineup, which ran from 1954 to 1960. In syndication, reruns of The Lineup were broadcast under the title San Francisco Beat. His The Lineup costar was Tom Tully. Anderson played the same role in the 1958 film The Lineup. He played newspaper publisher Matthew Swain on the TV series Peyton Place. He also served as the narrator at the beginning of each episode. He continued as narrator even after his character was written out of the series.

Death

Anderson died August 26, 1976, at the age of 65, in a hospital in Santa Monica, California. He was survived by his wife and a son.

Partial filmography