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Dick Johnstone
Dick Johnstone
Dick Johnstone
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Richard Davis Johnstone (23 June 1936 – 18 November 2022) was a New Zealand track and road cyclist who participated in the 1964 Summer Olympic games, the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games.[1]

Key Information

Johnstone went as an official to two Commonwealth Games, 1986 Edinburgh, Scotland and 1994 Victoria, Canada. He was elected as an official of the boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

Johnstone was a New Zealand National Track cycling coach (1976–1994) and coached the winning team Tour of the Future (1992) in Arizona, United States. He was a New Zealand Cycling Selector.

Johnstone died in Auckland on 18 November 2022, at the age of 86.[2]

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Dick Johnstone

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Dick Johnstone (also known as Richard Johnstone) was a British character actor known for his prolific career as a film extra and supporting player in Hollywood, spanning five decades from the 1930s through the 1970s. Born on May 16, 1893, in Cumbria, England, he immigrated to the United States and built a long career appearing in over 130 motion pictures and television programs, often in uncredited roles portraying townspeople, jurors, miners, and other background figures. Johnstone worked with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and appeared in films such as North by Northwest (uncredited courtroom spectator), To Kill a Mockingbird (uncredited courtroom spectator), The Raven (uncredited), Friendly Persuasion (uncredited Quaker), and The Bad and the Beautiful (uncredited mourner). In television, he frequently appeared in series like The Virginian, Daniel Boone, Wagon Train, and The Andy Griffith Show, earning a credited role as Mr. Yancey in The Cheyenne Social Club (1970). He died on September 12, 1978, in Los Angeles, California, leaving behind a legacy as one of Hollywood's most enduring background performers whose presence enriched countless classic productions.

Early life

Birth and origins

Dick Johnstone was born Richard Johnstone on May 16, 1893, in Dalston, Cumberland, England. He was of English origin, from the historic county of Cumberland in northern England, part of the United Kingdom. His parents were Richard Johnstone and Jemina Bell. Details regarding his childhood or pre-career activities are limited in available sources. He later emigrated to the United States.

Film career

Early sound films

Dick Johnstone began his documented acting career in the early 1930s as a character actor and extra in Hollywood productions. He appeared in numerous uncredited background roles, often as townsmen, jurors, spectators, or other minor figures, establishing himself as a reliable bit player during Hollywood's Golden Age. His contributions spanned multiple decades, with work on films associated with major directors including Alfred Hitchcock, though typically in uncredited capacities. Over the course of more than four decades in the film industry, Johnstone's career remained primarily uncredited, reflecting his consistent presence as an extra and supporting player rather than a featured performer.

Roles in major productions

Dick Johnstone frequently appeared in uncredited bit parts and background roles in several notable Hollywood feature films during the 1950s and 1960s, often portraying archetypal minor characters such as townsmen, spectators, jurors, prisoners, or mourners. He played a courtroom spectator in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classic North by Northwest (1959) and repeated a similar courtroom spectator role in the critically acclaimed To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Other uncredited appearances include a prospector in the Western adventure River of No Return (1954), a townsman in Budd Boetticher's The Tall T (1957), a Quaker in Friendly Persuasion (1956), a mourner in the drama The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and a prisoner in King Rat (1965). In Roger Corman's horror-comedy The Raven (1963), Johnstone had an uncredited role. These parts exemplified his career pattern of contributing to major productions through small, often silent background performances that added atmosphere to classic films across genres including Westerns, dramas, and thrillers. His only credited role in a feature film was as Mr. Yancey in The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), a Western comedy directed by Gene Kelly and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda. A photograph from the set of The Cheyenne Social Club shows Johnstone with director Gene Kelly, Henry Fonda, and actor J. Pat O'Malley.

Later film work

In the later years of his film career, Dick Johnstone largely took on uncredited background roles in Hollywood productions of the 1960s, frequently portraying generic figures such as townsmen, spectators, jurors, and other minor onlookers. These small parts reflected his ongoing work as a reliable character actor in Westerns, comedies, and other genres during this period. Representative examples include his appearance as a man in gym in The Loved One (1965), a juror in A Covenant with Death (1967), townsmen in The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) and The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967), a townsman at barricade in The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), and a show spectator in Star! (1968). Johnstone's final credited film role came in The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), where he portrayed Mr. Yancey at the age of 76–77. This marked the end of his on-screen appearances in feature films.

Television career

Guest appearances

Dick Johnstone made numerous uncredited guest appearances on American television series during the 1960s, typically in minor background or extra roles that capitalized on his ability to portray elderly townspeople, settlers, or frontiersmen. These appearances were concentrated in Western and adventure programs, reflecting a pattern common among character actors who provided atmospheric depth to episodic storytelling without receiving screen credit. He appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) between 1966 and 1968, credited as Old Man in one instance and as Mr. Calvin in the other. Johnstone had a more frequent presence on Daniel Boone (1964–1970), appearing uncredited as a settler or trapper in five episodes spanning 1965 to 1966. His other notable guest roles included three uncredited appearances on The Virginian (1962–1971) from 1964 to 1965, two uncredited spots on Wagon Train (1957–1965) between 1963 and 1964, one uncredited role on Run for Your Life (1965–1968) in 1967, one uncredited appearance as a hotel guest on The Invaders (1967–1968) in 1968, and one uncredited role as a prisoner on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968) in 1965. These television credits illustrate Johnstone's steady work as a reliable background performer in the era's popular genre series, contributing to the visual texture of frontier and adventure narratives without prominent billing.

Later years and death

Final years

In his final years, Dick Johnstone resided in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, where he had long been based as a Hollywood motion picture actor and extra for over five decades. Public information about his personal life, including family details or non-acting activities during this period, remains limited and largely undocumented in available records. He continued occasional work into the early 1970s, with his last known role appearing in 1970.

Passing and burial

Dick Johnstone died on September 12, 1978, in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 85. He was buried at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo, Ventura County, California. His memorial recognizes him as a Hollywood motion picture actor and extra who worked in the industry for over five decades.
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