Grant Richards

Grant Richards (born Irwin Jaffe, December 21, 1911 – July 4, 1963) was an American actor and voice actor, who appeared mainly in movies in the late 1930s through to the late 1950s.

In 1937, he became the first actor in the Federal Theatre Project to gain a film contract, signing with the Major Pictures company.

His films include On Such a Night (1937) and Guns, Girls, and Gangsters (1959). Richards made three guest appearances on Perry Mason: as Jerry Haywood in the 1958 episodes "The Case of the Haunted Husband," and as Captain Kennedy in "The Case of the Sardonic Sargeant"; followed by the role of murder victim George Sherwin in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Missing Melody". He also appeared in several episodes of ABC's The Untouchables.

In 1958, he played the gunfighter and saloon owner Luke Short in an episode of western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. In 1962 he played Keeler, a crooked gambler, in The Rifleman episode “Tinhorn”.

During the 1940s, Richards was briefly married to actresses Joan Valerie–with whom he had one daughter–and Jean Stevens, both marriages ending in divorce.

On July 4, 1963, Richards died of leukemia in Hollywood.