Skip Homeier

A prolific young performer, child/juvenile Skippy Homeier was born George Vincent Homeier on October 5, 1930. Beginning on radio in his native Chicago at age six ("Portia Faces Life"), he came to films at age 14 with _Tomorrow, the World! (1944)_ (qv), which was originally a 1943 Broadway drama starring Skippy, 'Ralph Bellamy' (qv) and 'Shirley Booth' (qv). Recreating his role of Emil Bruchner, he received excellent reviews for his chilling portrayal of a callous Nazi youth this time opposite 'Fredric March' (qv) and 'Betty Field' (qv).The fair, oval-faced, tousled-haired blond remained an often troublesome, unsympathetic teen in post-war films such as _Boys' Ranch (1946)_ (qv) as an incorrigible character named "Knuckles," but he also displayed his charms with his jitterbugging title teen in _Arthur Takes Over (1948)_ (qv) and likable young character in _Mickey (1948)_ (qv).Growing into adult roles (now billed as 'Skip Homeier' (qv) or G.V. Homeier), he continued at a more menacing pace in movie westerns and crime dramas, notably _Halls of Montezuma (1951)_ (qv), _The Gunfighter (1950)_ (qv) (as 'Gregory Peck' (qv)'s nemesis), _Cry Vengeance (1954)_ (qv) (as an albino hit man), _Stranger at My Door (1956)_ (qv) and _The Tall T (1957)_ (qv).As Homeier's film career began to bog down in the late 1950's, he turned more and more to TV parts playing a few good guys at times just as a change of pace. In addition to a number of guest roles in such anthology series such as "Schlitz Playhouse," "Playhouse 90," "Zane Grey Theatre," "The Alcoa Hour," "Lux Video Theatre," "Armstrong Theatre," "Robert Montgomery Presents" and "Studio One in Hollywood" and "Science Fiction Theatre," Skip starred in a brief TV series as _Dan Raven (1960)_ (qv).Skip went on to appear in a host of guest roles on such 60's series as "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "The Millionaire," "The Loretta Young Show," "The Deputy," "The Rifleman," "The Defenders," "The Addams Family," "The Virginian," "Branded," "Perry Mason," "Burke's Law," "Combat!," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Bonanza," "Star Trek," "Lassie," "The Wonderful World of Disney," "Mannix" and "Mission: Impossible." A few film roles did come his way co-starring with 'Beverly Garland' (qv) in the chiller _Stark Fear (1962)_ (qv), and supporting 'Audie Murphy' (qv) in the westerns _Showdown (1963)_ (qv) and _Bullet for a Badman (1964)_ (qv) and 'Don Knotts' (qv) in the slapstick comedy _The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)_ (qv)The remainder of Skip's career stuck closely to TV. He had a regular role as a doctor in the drama series _The Interns (1970)_ (qv), and was a continuing guest star on a host of popular TV programs such as "Owen Marshall," "Police Woman, "The Blue Knight," "The Streets of San Francisco," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Bionic Woman," "Barnaby Jones," "Fantasy Island" and "Quincy." TV-movies and mini-series work included _Two for the Money (1972)_ (qv), _Voyage of the Yes (1973)_ (qv), _Helter Skelter (1976)_ (qv), _Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977)_ (qv) and _The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979)_ (qv).Skip phased out his career and retired completely following a featured role in the western film _Quell and Co. (1982)_ (qv). Little was heard from him until his death on June 25, 2017 at the age of 86 from spinal myelopathy in Indian Wells, California. He was survived by his second wife, former actress 'Della Sharman' (qv) and two sons from his first marriage.::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]