Another in the long line of 1950s and 1960s character actors whose face was oh-so familiar but not the name, Richard Eastham was originally headed for a musical career. He was born Dickinson Swift Eastham in Opelousas, Louisiana, on June 22, 1916. A student at Washington University, he was gifted with a fine sturdy baritone and performed with the St. Louis Grand Opera in the days before World War II. After finishing his wartime four-year army service, Eastham moved to New York and studied at the American Theatre Wing. His musical peak came after understudying singer 'Ezio Pinza' cast in his last recurring TV role as "Dr. Howell". Long settled in Los Angeles and was married to his wife, Betty Jean, for 60 years until her death in 2002, he suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his final years and died from complications at age 89 on July 10, 2005.
He gave up his singing career to concentrate on a solid acting career at the urging of his wife. Still, he appeared occasionally in singing roles back East.
Served in the Army for four years during World War II and was stationed in Paris for part of his duty.
On the "South Pacific" CD, two tracks of Richard (as Ezio Pinza s understudy while using the stage name of Dickenson Eastham) can still be heard in the chorus of sailors, singing "Bloody Mary", and "There is nothing like a dame". Pinza, himself, however, is heard on the recording in "Some Enchanted Evening", "This Nearly Was Mine", and the rest of De Becques role.
His urn is entombed at Oak Grove Cemetery in Bel-Nor, Missouri.
![Comparision [sic] of options for reduction of noise in the test section of the NASA Langley 4 x 7m wind tunnel including reduction of nozzle area - Richard E. Hayden](https://media.celebri.com/images/nophoto.jpg)
