Hubbard John

American television and film actor, who was first signed by Paramount in 1937 as "Jack" Hubbard. His contract was sold to MGM a year later. MGM changed his professional name to "Anthony Allan," and cast him in modest feature films and short subjects for one year. In 1939 producer Hal Roach signed him as "John" Hubbard as one of five promising young actors with "star" potential (the other four were Lon Chaney, Jr., Victor Mature, Carole Landis, and William Bendix). Roach saw something in Hubbard, whose handsome features lent themselves to romantic roles while his dialogue skills allowed him to play farce comedy. Hubbard was showcased in The Housekeepers Daughter (1939) and Turnabout (1940), but when Roach abandoned full-length features for shorter featurettes, Hubbard found roles elsewhere. During World War II Hubbard was busily engaged as a "male lead for hire" at several studios, substituting for established male stars who had joined the armed forces. With no single studio guiding his career, Hubbard never advanced to important roles in major productions, and wound up in routine juvenile roles in romances, mysteries, and musical comedies. After World War II, Hubbard found additional opportunities in the new field of television, as a supporting actor; most of his television assignments were single appearances in popular network series like Perry Mason, The Green Hornet, and Adam-12. In 1951 Hubbard starred on stage with Mary Brian in a comedy, Mary Had a Little, in Melbourne, Australia. Hubbard also worked in network radio. Hubbard was married to his high school sweetheart, Lois, for nearly 50 years. The couple had three children together, Lois, Jane, and John. On 6 November 1988, Hubbard died at the age of 74 in a convalescent home in Camarillo, California. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less