Richard Whorf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Richard Whorf (June 4, 1906 – December 14, 1966) was an American actor, author, director, and designer. Richard was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah (Lee) Whorf. Richards's older brother was the well-known American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager then moving to Broadway when he was 21.

Early on, he was in a production of Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre in New York City. He moved to Hollywood and became a contract player in movies of the 1930s and 1940s before becoming a director in 1944. He appeared in Christmas Holiday (1944), Blues in the Night (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and Keeper of the Flame (1942). He directed a number of television programs in the 1950s and 1960s, the best known being the CBS hit comedy The Beverly Hillbillies. He also directed the short-lived 1959 syndicated adventure series, Border Patrol, and the 1964-65 television series, Mickey.

Whorf directed the unsuccessful 1961 stage comedy, Julia, Jake and Uncle Joe. Whorf's hobby was painting - he sold his first painting at age 15 for US$100. Many of his small town landscape paintings reflected his American worldview and seemed to be inspired by painters like Grant Wood and Norman Rockwell.