G. D. Spradlin, American actor (North Dallas Forty, The Godfather Part II) died he was , 90 .

Gervase Duan "G.D." Spradlin was an American actor died he was , 90 .. He often played devious authority figures. He is credited in over 70 television and film productions, and performed alongside such notable actors as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, and George C. Scott, among others.

(August 31, 1920 – July 24, 2011)

Early life

Spradlin was born on August 31, 1920, in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. His parents both worked as schoolteachers. Spradlin obtained his bachelor's degree in education from the University of Oklahoma. He then served in the Army Air Force during World War II, where he was stationed in China.^[1]
Following World War II, Spradlin returned to the University of Oklahoma, where he completed a law degree in 1948.^[1] He first began his career as an attorney working in Venezuela and then became an independent oil producer forming Rouge Oil Company.^[1] Before he turned to acting he was active in local politics campaigning for John F. Kennedy in 1959. He joined the Oklahoma Repertory Theatre in 1964.^[2]

Career

A notable break for Spradlin resulted from his work in television in the 1960s. Fred Roos had cast Spradlin in such television shows as I Spy and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. When Roos co-produced The Godfather Part II, he recommended Spradlin play the role of Senator Geary.^[2] He worked with Jack Webb on the series Dragnet playing multiple roles from a safecracker to a low-level con man.^[3]
Spradlin portrayed a corrupt U.S. Senator from Nevada, Pat Geary, in The Godfather, Part II. He also played a conspirator in the attempted assassination of a state governor in Nick of Time. Among his film credits are One on One (1977) (as an authoritarian basketball coach), Apocalypse Now (as the general who assigns Martin Sheen's character to the search mission).^[2] He played the head football coach B.A. Strother in North Dallas Forty (1979), General Durrell the commandant of the "Carolina Military Institute" in the 1983 movie The Lords of Discipline, and Ed Wood and The Long Kiss Goodnight, as the President of the United States.^[3]
In 1984, Spradlin played a villainous Southern sheriff in Tank. In 1988, he played Admiral Raymond A. Spruance in the miniseries War and Remembrance. In 1989, Spradlin played a small role in the film War of the Roses as a divorce lawyer, with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.^[1]
Spradlin retired from acting after his last film, Dick (1999), in which he played Ben Bradlee.^[1] He appeared in the Electronic Arts Godfather II video game in 2009.

Death

Spradlin died of natural causes at his cattle ranch in San Luis Obispo, California on July 24, 2011 at the age of 90. His first wife, Nell, with whom he had two daughters, died in 2000. He was survived by his second wife, Frances Hendrickson, whom he married in 2002.^[1]

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