Reel Memories No.186 6/30/2011

REEL MEMORIES NO. 186

Tristram Coffin

by

William V. Reynolds

Tristram Coffin (nickname Tris ) may be the only actor in live television history that resurrected

himself. In 1954, he committed a blooper on the CBS show Climax! The show was done on live

television and Coffin, who was supposed to be a corpse, got up and walked off the show while

detectives were still discussing his demise. The episode got so much attention that the Los

Angeles Times ran an article about it.

Tris was born in the gold and silver mining community of Mammoth, Utah and was reared in

Salt Lake City. He began acting while he was in high school and later joined a stock company.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in speech from the University of Washington in Seattle,

Washington. Following graduation he worked as a news analyst and sportscaster until he was

discovered by a Hollywood talent scout. His good looks served him well in his later roles.

Tris worked in a number of genres–science fiction, comedy, drama, and of course Westerns. He

is probably best remembered in science fiction as Jeff King in King of the Rocket Men (1949),

a 12-chapter serial made by Republic Pictures which the Walt Disney company would pay tribute

to in The Rocketeer (1992).

He got his start in Westerns in 1939 in Oklahoma Terror with Addison Randal and Al St. John

who would later become famous for his role, Fuzzy Q Jones. The next year he was cast in The

Cowboy from Sundown (1940) with Tex Ritter and Roscoe Ates. Throughout the decade he

would work with such Western stars as Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes,

Clayton Moore, and Roy Barcroft.

In the early 1950s he teamed with Audie Murphy in Cimarron Kid (1952), a story presumably

about Bill Doolin and the Dalton gang. Another of his fellow actors in this movie was James Best

who played Bitter Creek Dalton. Best is probably best remembered for his 1970s role Sheriff

Roscoe P. Coletrain in the 1970s hit TV show The Dukes of Hazard.

The 1950s saw Tris appearing mostly in television episodes including such programs as

Superman, Cowboy G-Men, The Cisco Kid with Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo, The Lone

Ranger Rides Again with Clayton Moore in which he played the brother of the Lone Ranger,

Capt. Reid. He rounded out the decade with roles in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok with

Guy Madison and Andy Devine.

Tris died of lung cancer at the age of 80 in Santa Monica, California. His ashes were scattered.

Here’s a reel memories salute to Tristram Coffin, a.k.a. Tris Coffin and a thank you for his

contribution to the Western genre.

William V. Reynolds is the author of “Murder in the Okefenokee” available at The Curiosity

Shop in Murphy, Shenanigan’s Diner and Pat’s Country Kitchen in McCaysville; Parris

Pharmacy, The Book Nook and Ingles in Blue Ridge; and Book Nook in Blairsville