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Swofford
(July 25. 1933 - November 1. 2018) |
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Height: 1 m 65 Weight: Eyes: blue Hair: red Marriage: (1) Barbara Ann "Barbee" Biggs (1959 - Nov 1. 2018, his death) 5 children: Meemee Renee (Jul 13. 1960 -) Twins: Stephen (Aug 25. 1962 -) Stephanie (Aug 25. 1962 -) Brendan Alan (Jan 18. 1968 -) Sabrina Cornelia (Aug 1. 1971 -) Siblings: Charline (Dec 30. 1926 - Dec 31. 1926) |
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Born on July 25, 1933, in Du Quoin, Illinois as Kenneth Charles Swofford
to Howard Raymond Swofford and Goldia Marie Bronson.
When he was growing up there, it was just another Illinois coal mining
town. His mother worked as a clerk in a shoe store. His father and his grandfather, men of Welsh coal mining
histories, were both miners. But he never got into that trade. He went to college — the University of Illinois — as a business major. “At that time, majoring in business was the thing to do.” His education was interrupted by military service in the Korean War, but he went back to college — this time College of Liberal Arts, Southern Illinois — after his period in the Army. Again, he took business courses, but after he flunked beginning accounting three times, he figured maybe he wasn't cut out for that career. He had always been interested in acting — school plays and all that — so switched to drama. While training at the university he and a group of actors organized a small troupe and gave weekly performance-of one-act plays at a local night club. He also served as a director for the group and also wrote two of the plays they presented. As a student Ken Swofford was selected for the male lead Hal in Southern Illinois University's production of the famous Broadway play, Picnic. Hal, was a footloose hobo who disrupted much of the family and love life in an Kansas home. Picnic was presented by S-I-U 's Southern Players (Carbondale, Illinois) the week of February 24. 1958. After he graduated with a degree in theater in 1959, he joined stock companies. Very early on he met a girl. Barbara Ann "Barbee" Biggs was 19 and he was 26 when they met at summer stock at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, and in 1959 the got married and immediately began having children. He played another summer of stock at New Salem, Illinois State Park. In these summers he played leads in eight shows. In 1959 he made a 42-performance tour of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky with a production of Bus Stop where he played the lead Bo Decker. The most frequently heard question at Front Street Theater in Memphis in September of 1960 was "Who's the funny new guy with the red hair and freckles?" The Caine Mutiny Court Martial program revealed it was Ken Swofford. Director George Touliatos first auditioned him in December 1959 at the American National Theater Convention in Washington D.C. , Swofford auditioned again in Memphis in the spring of 1960. He had just completed a season of stock at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, Minnesota. At Front Street his duties also include stage managing some productions. Married with an infant daughter, the family joined him in Memphis. He remained with the company for a short while playing in play such as Mister Roberts (Sep 21. 1960), Bus Stop (Nov 1960),... . |
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“After that, I figured I was ready for the
big time. My wife, Barbee, and the baby and I piled in the car and we
drove to Hollywood.” It was January
1961. He was lucky. He found work right away, and he
figured he was on his way. He wound up playing the lead in a stage
production of Stalag 17 was seen by a casting director from
Warners. He was immediately signed for a picture*.
“I thought it was easy”. But that first flush of fame faded and, he
says, he didn't work again as an actor for almost two years.“I had to work on
a loading dock, I painted houses, I cleaned carpets. Some of
my old friends back in the Midwest offered me jobs in business back
there and I was tempted — I had a family to support.”
That's where the helpful, encouraging wife comes in. Although Swofford was ready to throw in the towel, his wife wouldn't let him. “The babies kept coming, and I was ready to take one of those jobs back home. But Barbee said no, I had to stick it out. Having an encouraging wife is essential to an actor. I know so many actors who probably would have gone on and amounted to something but their wives didn't have the courage to stick it out. These guys quit. I was lucky. I had Barbee and she wouldn't let me quit." (Interview 1975). |
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Three years later, Swofford made his television debut
in an episode of General Electric Theater (CBS,
1962). He then turned up on Troy Donahue's Surfside
6 ("Portrait of Nicole", ABC, Mar 26. 1962). After this, he appeared in uncredited performances on
Captain
Newman, M.D. (Universal, Dec 25. 1963), and in the Cary Grant feature
Father Goose (Universal, Dec 10. 1964). In How Much Loving Does a Normal Couple Need? (aka Common Law Cabin) (Eve productions, July 1967) a sexploitation film directed by Russ Meyer, Ken "had to" wrestle with Babette Bardot. |
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  Above left: Linda Evans and Ken Swofford in an episode from The Big Valley called "A Day of Terror" (ABC, Dec 12. 1966). Above right: In How Much Loving Does a Normal Couple Need? (aka Common Law Cabin) (Eve productions, July 1967) a sexploitation film directed by Russ Meyer, Ken had to wrestle with Babette Bardot. |
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| Columbo the creation of Richard Levinson, William Link had an episode called "Candidate for Crime" (NBC, Nov 4. 1973), in which Ken played the victim Harry Stone murdered by Nelson Hayward (Jackie Cooper). | |
  Above left: Columbo's "Candidate for Crime" (NBC, Nov 4. 1973), with Ken as Harry Stone and Jackie Cooper as Nelson Hayward. Above right: Ken Swofford, William Devane, Philip Bruns, and Peter Strauss appearing in the TV-movie Judgment The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya (ABC, June 11. 1974). |
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    Above: Jim Hutton (Ellery Queen), David Wayne (Inspector Richard Queen) and Ken Swofford (Frank Flannigan) |
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Ken Swofford, frequently appeared as
pugnacious journalist Frank Flannigan in Ellery Queen
was also a creation of producers Levinson and Link. Swofford said in a 1975 interview, “they
tell me I'll be on the show more often. If the show is picked up.”Alas that wasn't
to be. Reflecting upon the demise of the NBC-TV series Ellery Queen, Ken who appeared frequently (5 times) in the weekly dramas sighed: “I loved doing that show. It has such marvelous guest stars, people I'd always wanted to me. Do you know, they even had Eddie Bracken in a guest role?” “The producers cared about the show and never sloughed off things. They always fought for quality. Any show they do is good enough for me. Which proved to be correct in the following years. He was also a friend of the Queen show's 3rd creator writer Peter S. Fischer, who had done some stories in the series). So it came as no surprise that Ken appeared as J.J. Devlin in The Eddie Capra Mysteries (NBC, Sep 8. - Dec 8. 1978, 9 episodes) where Fischer was writer-creator. He was Lt./Captain Griffin in Switch (CBS, Mar 21. 1975 - Feb 10. 1976, 6 episodes) which featured Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner as ex-con and a retired cop, partners in a private investigation agency. |
  Above left: Ken Swofford, Vincent Baggetta, Michael Horton & Wendy Philips in a publicity photo for The Eddie Capra Mysteries (NBC, 1978-79). Above right: Ken as seen in "Cleo and the Babe" an episode of Voyagers! (NBC, Nov 14. 1982) together with William Lucking who played Babe Ruth. Ken was not only an avid reader but also a baseball fan who loved the Cleveland Indians and watched as many games as possible. |
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During the third season of Fame
(NBC, Oct 15. 1983 – Dec
13. 1985, 53 episodes), Ken Swofford’s Quentin Morloch became a popular
character. However, frustrated with the show’s direction, would abruptly
leave the cast in the fifth season. While filming the Christmas episode "Ebenezer Morloch"—a take on A Christmas Carol—Ken skipped lunch but ordered several beers. After lunch, during the final scene with the “Ghosts of Christmas,” his frustration exploded. When director Nick Sgarro called “Cut,” Ken refused and instead launched into a profanity-laced rant against executive producers Donald Reiker and Patricia Jones for altering Bill Blinn’s vision, speaking directly into the camera. A copy of the footage was sent to the studio and then to MGM’s legal team, and Ken was immediately released from his contract. (4) |
  Above left: Fame - Quentin Morloch is the Vice-President of The School of The Arts: an honest, modest man with an air of hidden strength. He's powerfully built-the legacy of an early baseball career and certainly not a man to cross. A fair man, who respects the truth and despises lies. He's even been described as a bear-90% grizzly and 10% teddy! But certainly a bear whose heart is in the right place especially when it comes to his school and its pupils. Above right: Fame "Ebenezer Morloch" (NBC, Dec 13. 1985) with Ann Nelson. |
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He worked again with Levinson, Link & Fischer on several episodes of
another sleuthing series, Angela Lansbury's Murder, She Wrote
(CBS, Oct 6. 1985 - Dec 13. 1992, 11 episodes) and
where he played several characters and recurred as Lt. Catalano
(6 episodes). The family lived in Woodland Hills in a two-story ranch house crowded with books, mismatched sofas, photographs and other odd souvenirs of their lives (1985). |
  Above left: As sheriff Tugman opposite Angela Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher in "Truck Stop" (CBS, April 2. 1989) an episode of the popular Murder, She Wrote. Above right: Again in "The Great Twain Robbery" (CBS, Nov 25. 1990), a Murder, She Wrote episode in his recurring character of Lt. Perry Catalano. (L-R) Keith Mitchell, Roy Dotrice, and Ken Swofford. |
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In 1989, Swofford was sentenced to 28 months in prison for felony drunk
driving. Ken pleaded no contest. “Other than this accident, you
could be man of the year.” the judge said. Ken later campaigned against drunk driving as he resumed his
acting career and narrated a documentary for Mothers Against Drunk
Driving. Ken would eventually reclaim his life and continue to work steadily until a self-imposed retirement in 2004 and moved to Northern California. |
  Above left: With David Hasselhoff and Billy Warlock on Baywatch ("If Looks Could Kill", Nov 25. 1991). Above right: "A Christmas Secret" episode from Murder, She Wrote (CBS, Dec 13 .1992) Diane Baker with Ken. |
| Occasionally doing a short stint. Ken provided the voice of the title character in the 2018 short film Happy the Angry Polar Bear, written and directed by his grandson Brandon. One of his five children, Stephen Swofford, is a producer and production manager in Hollywood. |
  Above left: Ken and Barbee celebrating their 50th Anniversary! Above right: Together with grandson Brandon. |
| At 85 Swofford died November 1. 2018, his grandson Brandon Swofford announced. He was a longtime resident of Pacific Grove, California. |
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Notes: * He did The Andersonville Trial he stated in an interview (Sedelia Democrat, April 29. 1973). The only reference we could find was a play which opened in the Studio Theater, Northridge, L.A. with Ken as prosecutor Chipman on Nov 14. 1963. That article also says he played one of the witnesses in its original production in 1956 at the Player's Ring. Programs, facts or dates in red still need confirmation. |
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This profile is a part of
Ellery Queen a website on deduction.
The person above acted in the Ellery
Queen TV series in 1975-1976.
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Page first published March 17. 2025 Version 1.0 - Last updated March 17. 2025 |
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