Philip Bourneuf

Tall American character actor with distinctively dark eyebrows and graying hair. The son of an engineer, he was a respected performer on Broadway for thirty years, beginning in 1934. He had a reputation for being a consummate professional and a great storyteller. Despite his military bearing and aristocratic manner, Bourneuf was versatile in just about any part, ranging from Shakespeare to comedy and musicals. He was in the original cast of Eva Le Gallienne's American Repertory Theatre. In 1947, Bourneuf received a special award for his performances from the New York Drama Critics Circle. Feature films rarely did justice to his abilities as an actor, though he had a rare chance to shine as a grand-standing district attorney in Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). He was, however, better served by television, appearing in numerous guest spots from as early as 1949.