Louisiana-born actor Earl Holliman, after a stint in the Navy, studied at UCLA and the Pasadena Playhouse before earning his break in the Martin/Lewis comedy _Scared Stiff , a role that helped make him a household name. Holliman operated the Fiesta Dinner Theatre for many years in San Antonio, Texas.
Mr. Holliman had an entire host segment of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (found in episode 418 - Attack of the Eye Creatures) dedicated to him and his career wherein Joel Hodgson stated, "Earl Holliman: who would have been William Shatner, had there not already been one.".
Played the main character in the very first "Twilight Zone" episode to be telecast, "Where is Everybody?" (October 2, 1959).
He is a staunch conservative Republican.
In 2015, he appeared in the documentary Children of Giant, which took an in depth look into the making of of the motion picture Giant .
Out of all his movie roles, he cites The Rainmaker as being his personal favorite.
For over 25 years, he was president of Actors and Others for Animals.
Once visited the Vatican with former actress turned Nun Dolores Hart.
Some of his favorite actors he;s worked with were Katharine Hepburn , Barbara Stanwyck , Burt Lancaster , Kirk Douglas , Richard Widmark , Joel McCrea , Spencer Tracy , Anthony Quinn , William Holden , Faye Dunaway , Elizabeth Taylor and, of course, Angie Dickinson.
He has never been married and has no children.
He is a resident of Studio City, California.
In a July 1998 fan letter response, he said that if he hadnt gone into acting he wouldve either become a schoolteacher, a writer, or even both.
He is one of the few former Hollywood performers who, even in retirement, takes great care, thought, and pride in replying to every piece of fan mail he receives.
For his work in The Rainmaker , hes one of only 7 actors to win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture without receiving an Oscar nomination for the same performance. The other 6 are, in chronological order: Millard Mitchell in My Six Convicts (1952) , Stephen Boyd in Ben-Hur , Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold , Richard Attenborough , The Sand Pebbles and Doctor Dolittle , Richard Benjamin in The Sunshine Boys (1975/I) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Nocturnal Animals .
