Born on June 17, 1919 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Cranshaw became interested in acting while entertaining the troops with the Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war, he worked in radio, and slogged his way though bit parts in a few films before landing his first notable (if still uncredited) part as a bartender in the Claudette Colbert western Texas Lady (1955). It took a while before he got his next strong part, but he was memorable in his brief scene as the fidgety bank teller in Arthur Penn's classic Bonnie and Clyde (1967); and appeared as a hayseed in some wildly bad camp fare such as Mars Need Women and Hip, Hot and 21 (also 1967).
But so what if the good movie roles weren't coming? Cranshaw, with his small, expressive eyes, crinkled smile, and scraggly white beard, made for an ideal comic foil in sitcoms; and anyone with a passing interest for spotting character actors can't help but be impressed with his resume on that medium in the '70s: (The Odd Couple, Sanford and Son, The Bob Newhart Show, Mork and Mindy); the '80s: (The Dukes of Hazzard, Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers, Night Court, Diff'rent Strokes); '90s: (Coach, Ellen, Married...with Children, Just Shoot Me!, The Drew Carey Show); and even the 21st century: (Suddenly Susan, Monk).
Most impressively, Cranshaw should serve as model for all struggling actors that sheer persistency can pay off when you're hungry for some good roles in motion pictures, for he was in well in his seventies when he started gaining some decent screen time in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Everyone Says I Love You (1996), and Best in Show (2000). However, his most memorable moment in film came in the Will Ferrell/Vince Vaughn comedy Old School (2003). Here he played a octogenarian frat boy named Blue; and in one terrific sequence, he's dressed in his longjohns ready to wrestle two topless girls but dies of a heart attack due to overexcitement! He may have not won an Oscar® for his performance, but he developed something of cult following after that great comic turn.
Most recently, he played a Derby owner with Lindsay Lohan and Matt Dillon in Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005); and just completed the movie Air Buddies due for release next year. Cranshaw is survived by three children, Jan Ragland, Joe Cranshaw and Beverly Trautschold; his sister, Billie Gillespie; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
by Michael T. Toole
