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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 31, 2007

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Lonny Chapman as a JJC Student

JOPLIN, MO (SNS) - Lonny Chapman, stage and screen

actor, North Hollywood theatre company founder and artistic director and 2005 Missouri Southern State University "Outstanding Alumnus" has died. He was 87.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that Chapman, whose television and movie career spanned more than 50 years, died Oct. 12 of heart disease at Sherman Village Healthcare Center in North Hollywood, according to Janet Wood, another founding member of the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre.

Born in Tulsa and raised in Joplin, Chapman was a graduate of Joplin Junior College, Missouri Southern's predecessor institution.

After serving in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II, Chapman returned home with a determination to become an actor. As a graduate of the University of Oklahoma,

Chapman hitchhiked to New York City in 1947 with his college friend, actor Dennis Weaver.

By 1950, Chapman had originated the role of Turk in the Broadway production of William Inge's first play, Come Back, Little Sheba. Weaver was his understudy. Ultimately, both moved to southern California to continue their work in motion pictures and television.

Chapman's screen roles included parts in such films as The Birds, East of Eden, The Rievers, Reindeer Games and Nightwatch, among many others.

On television he appeared in a wide variety of series including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and McCloud, that starred his old friend, Dennis Weaver. In recent years he had continued acting, although on a less frequent basis, often with brief cameo spots in movies and on television in such programs as NYPD Blue.

Chapman is survived by his wife of 65 years, Erma Dean, and son Wyley Dean Chapman.

The Los Angeles Times reports that a memorial service will be held at noon Dec. 2 at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, California.

Following is a file story from 2005, including an interview with Lonny Chapman done by MSSU News Bureau Manager, Stephen Smith.

MSSU Names Chapman 2005 "Outstanding Alumnus"

By Stephen Smith

JOPLIN, MO -- Actor Lonny Chapman will be awarded one of the two 2005 “Outstanding Alumnus Awards” at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo. on Friday, Sept. 30, 2005.

A special statement of thanks from Chapman will be read at the event.
One of America’s most well-known “character actors,” Lonny Chapman, 84, continues to play occasional roles in motion pictures.

He also remains actively involved in work at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood, Calif.

Chapman graduated from Joplin High School and Joplin Junior College--Missouri Southern’s predecessor institution, in 1940. Lonny Chapman’s wife, Erma Dean, also grew up in Joplin. The couple recently celebrated 51 years of marriage.

Following graduation from Joplin Junior College (JJC) in 1940, Chapman, headed for the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship. Then, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next morning Chapman joined the Marine Corps. He was to encounter some of the bloodiest battles of the south Pacific including Guadalcanal. Following the war, he returned to the University of Oklahoma.

After graduation, Chapman and college friend Dennis Weaver, also a Joplin Junior College graduate, hitchhiked to New York City. Chapman was able to stay in New York and pursue an acting career but Weaver, who was a junior in college, had to return to Oklahoma.

A few months later, Chapman landed the lead in the Broadway production of Come Back, Little Sheba. Weaver became Chapman’s understudy.

In a recent interview, Chapman revisited that era of his life:

“The problem with that was that I was never sick,” Chapman recalls with a laugh. “So I played sick after awhile just to let him go on."

Weaver went on to star in the television series Gunsmoke and McCloud.
Chapman’s movie career started with East of Eden (1954) playing opposite the film’s star, James Dean.

“I definitely recognized James as being an actor with a very special talent,” Chapman says. “I knew James personally in New York and met up again with him after we both went to California.”

Chapman has performed in some of the most outstanding series in television. They include such programs as Philco Television Playhouse, The Rifleman, The Defenders, Ben Casey, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Defenders, Bonanza, Mission Impossible, Death Valley Days, Mod Squad, Ironside, Trapper John, M.D., Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and NYPD Blue (to name a few).

In 1963, Chapman appeared in The Birds, the horror-suspense classic directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Chapman recalls Hitchcock as a director with an altogether different style than those he had previously encountered

“I got along fine with Hitchcock,” Chapman comments. “He was definitely not what I was used to. He told you exactly what you he wanted you to do and you’d better do it.”

Despite health problems in recent years, Lonny Chapman continues to act on the big screen. Most recently he appeared in Nightwatch (1997), Reindeer Games (2000) and The Hunted (2003).

For many years, Lonny Chapman has been not only an actor but a dramatics teacher. In New York he taught at Actor’ Studio before the arrival of Lee Strasberg. In 1972 he founded Lonny Chapman’s Group Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood.

According to the Theatre’s web site, “the Group Repertory Theatre and Lonny Chapman have won almost every drama award imaginable and many special awards from the community for its work with young people, seniors and the physically impaired.”

The theatre’s mission, Chapman has said, “is first to entertain, then to illuminate the human condition – and never be boring.”

Chapman has this advice to today's young actors and actresses:

“If you’re interested in acting, wherever you are, you have to find a place an act. Get involved. At the Group Repertory Theatre, we have a lot of young actors. I tell them you’ve GOT to act, you’ve GOT to keep your instrument alive."

"You never know when that big break is going to come.”

Lonny Chapman’s next motion picture, The Needs of Kim Stanley, is currently under production.

September, 2005

Chapman Dies at 87