Biography
University of Oklahoma alumnus Lonny Chapman inaugurated his professional acting career in 1948. While co-starring in the Broadway production of Come Back Little Sheba, Chapman arranged for his college chum
Dennis Weaver to understudy for him. Weaver went on to TV fame as Chester on the Western series
Gunsmoke, while Chapman prospered as a film character actor, playing such roles as Roy in
East of Eden (1955), Rock in
Baby Doll (1957), and Deke Carter in Hitchcock's
The Birds (1963). On TV, Lonny Chapman starred as private eye Jeff Prior in the 1958 summer-replacement series
The Investigator, and was featured as another detective, Frank Malloy, in the 1965 courtroom weekly
For the People (1965). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide