Frank Chase

Diminutive character actor Frank Chase appeared in nearly two dozen movies during the 1950s, ranging from Westerns to science fiction, and also enjoyed a career as a screenwriter, principally for television. The son of veteran author and screenwriter Borden Chase, Frank first came to movies as an actor, his short stature and animated persona making him ideal for portraying comical eccentrics, though he could also play straight, non-comedic roles. He spent most of his acting career at Universal in the 1950s, appearing in some surprisingly high-profile movies, including Winchester '73, Red Ball Express, and Walk the Proud Land, though his most memorable work on the big screen was, ironically, in the lowest-budgeted movie he ever worked in, Nathan Juran's Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), made for Allied Artists. Chase stole most of the scenes in which he appeared, portraying Charlie, the whining, slow-on-the-uptake deputy sheriff (picture an amalgam of Jason Alexander and Don Knotts at their most manic). Chase moved into television work in the early '60s, acting primarily in Westerns such as The Virginian, and he also became a screenwriter, authoring episodes of The High Chaparral, The Virginian and its successor series The Men From Shiloh, and several shows from the early seasons of Bonanza ("The Medal," "The Jackknife"). He wrote one Bonanza episode, "The Ballerina," especially as a vehicle for his sister, actress/dancer Barrie Chase.

Highest Rated Movies

Rating	Title	Credit	Box Office	Year
75%	Attack of the 50 Foot Woman	Charlie	—	1958
No Score Yet	Sendas Torturosas	Ben	—	1958
No Score Yet	Night Passage	Trinidad	—	1957
No Score Yet	Beginning of the End	Soldier	—	1957
No Score Yet	Walk the Proud Land	Stone	—	1956
38%	The Creature Walks Among Us	Steward	—	1956
No Score Yet	Backlash	Cassidy	—	1956
No Score Yet	Man Without a Star	Little Waco	—	1955
No Score Yet	Saskatchewan	Keller	—	1954
No Score Yet	Seminole	Trooper	—	1953
No Score Yet	Thunder Bay	Radio Technician	—	1953
No Score Yet	Horizons West	Borden	—	1952
100%	The World in His Arms	Seaman	—	1952
No Score Yet	Red Ball Express	Higgins	—	1952
100%	Bend of the River	Wasco	—	1952
100%	Winchester '73	Cavalryman	—	1950

Rating	Title	Credit	Year
No Score Yet	Ironside 1967-1975	Screenwriter	1973 1970
No Score Yet	Bonanza 1959-1973	Screenwriter Jim	1969 1967 1966 1965 1963 1962 1961

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