Paul Birch

Paul Birch, born Paul Lowery Smith in Atmore, Alabama, was a stocky and barrel-chested actor, gifted with a resonant baritone speaking voice. Birch was a veteran of 39 movies, 50 stage dramas and an untold number of television shows, including the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951). He entered motion pictures via small roles in several westerns in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In the middle 1950s he became part of the repertory company of Roger Corman, where he achieved star billing, but which he left following a physical confrontation with Corman during the filming of one of Birch's best-remembered films, Not of This Earth (1957), which had to be completed with the use of a double. In the late 1950s, Birch starred, along with William Campbell, in the syndicated series Cannonball (1958), a half-hour drama/adventure show about long-haul truckers. He was the original "Marlboro Man" in TV commercials and played both Union Gen. U.S. Grant and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in several historical playlets. He started out as the first of the original members of the Pasadena Playhouse and his stage work included "The Caine Mutiny". He was often called upon to play Grant due to the striking resemblance (when bearded) he bore to the former General and President. He enjoyed playing the roles of Lee and Grant and once remarked, "There were times when I was switching those two roles so fast I could have surrendered to myself." Birch died on May 24, 1969 in St. George, Grenada, West Indies.