Starting out as a child actor in silent films, Warner Anderson made his film debut at the tender age of five in The Sunbeam (1916),a milestone that would be followed by a nearly three-decade hiatus until his return to the big screen in 1943's This Is the Army. Prior to his film career, Anderson honed his skills in burlesque and vaudeville as a teenager, eventually transitioning to Broadway plays where his no-nonsense demeanor and commanding voice served him well in playing corporate executives, judges, army officers, and other authority figures.
Anderson's most iconic role was undoubtedly as the detective paired with Tom Tully in the early TV series The Lineup (1954),with the pilot episode directed by the renowned Don Siegel and receiving such widespread acclaim that it was released as a feature film. In a notable departure from his typical upstanding yet stern characters, Anderson delivered a standout performance as a cowardly, treacherous, and murderous soldier in the Gregory Peck western Only the Valiant (1951).
Anderson's film career came to a close in 1966 with an uncredited role in The Bubble, after which he shifted his focus to television. Sadly, his life was cut short when he succumbed to cancer in Santa Monica, California, in 1976.
