Marshall Thompson November 27 1925 May 18 1992 was an American film and television actor He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria Illinois In 1943 Thompson known for his boynextdoor good looks was signed by Universal Pictures He played quiet thoughtful teens in Universals feature films including a lead opposite singing star Gloria Jean in Reckless Age earning 350 weekly During 1946 Universal discharged most of its contract players that same year Thompson moved to MGM and his film roles steadily increased and improved Thompson became a freelance actor in the 1950s and worked for various studios on a variety of pictures including a number of horror and sciencefiction features this included the role of Carruthers in It The Terror from Beyond Space 1958 one of the two feature films that would later inspire the plot for director Ridley Scotts 1979 big budget feature film Alien Thompson also starred as Mel Hunter in the syndicated science fiction TV series World of Giants about a man who has been miniaturized and must live in a dollhouse By the 1960s Thompsons boyish looks had matured and his screen persona became more authoritative He costarred with Annie Fargé in the 33episode CBS sitcom Angel 19601961 about an American architect with a charming but scatterbrained French wife who often got into zany Lucy Ricardoesque situations caused in part by her lack of English the show was canceled after 33 episodes due to low ratings despite critical acclaim for Frenchborn newcomer Annie Fargé In the mid1960s Thompson starred in CBSs Daktari a television series about a veterinarian in Africa the series was based on Thompsons 1965 feature film Clarence the CrossEyed Lion Later in his career he appeared in many television episodes and in feature films such as The Turning Point 1977 and The Formula1980 Thompson was a brotherinlaw of actor Richard Long best known for his role as Jarrod Barkley in ABCs The Big Valley Thompsons wife Barbara was Longs sister Marshall Thompson died from congestive heart failure at the age of sixtysix in Royal Oak Michigan Description above from the Wikipedia article Marshall Thompson licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia