Albert Lea’s overlooked star: Richard Carlson

Ed Shannon, Between the Corn Rows

Published Friday, November 28, 2008

Not long ago local historical researcher Kevin Savick gave me three Tribune articles from 1938 and early 1939 based on a “former local boy” who was gaining fame out in Hollywood. This “boy” was named Richard Carlson and he was actually 26 years old when these articles were written.

Kevin’s contributions revived my interest in a former Albert Lea resident who was a real star in films, television and stage plays for nearly four decades. And as I will prove, he was also one of the best educated of the stars of this or any other era.

During his busy lifetime, Carlson appeared in 50 films, was a college teacher, had the leading role in two TV series, was in the casts of other television programs and stage plays, directed five films and was a prolific writer.

Richard Carlson was born in Albert Lea on April 29, 1912, the son of Henry and Mabel (Du Toit) Carlson. He had two older sisters and an older brother. His father’s parents came from Denmark and settled in Riceland Township. His mother was of French ancestry and grew up in Chaska.

His, father, Henry, graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1892, attended the University of Minnesota, and was a local lawyer. The family lived at 525 Park Ave. from 1910 to about 1918 when they moved to Minneapolis.

There’s no indication that Richard ever attended school in Albert Lea. He did attend the Minneapolis schools and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota. After obtaining his master’s degree in English, he became an instructor at the university for a short time.

One of the Tribune articles found by Kevin said Carlson was very active in dramatics at the university and later had a repertory company in Minneapolis which was an “artistic success and a financial failure.” At this point he flipped a coin to decide whether to go west or east. New York City won.

Thus, he went east was soon in two plays on Broadway. The following year David O. Selznick (producer of “Gone with the Wind”) brought Carlson to Hollywood to be a script writer of a film called ”The Young At Heart” starring Janet Gaynor. This actress suggested that Carlson also do some acting. This 1938 film was his first.

In 1939 he married model Mona Mayfield. During World War II, Carlson joined the U.S. Navy and served for just over four years.

During his motion picture days which ended in 1969, Carlson was in the casts of “The Duke of West Point,” “Winter Carnival,” “No, No, Nanette,” “King Solomon’s Mines,” “It Came From Outer Space,” “Creature From the Black Lagoon,” “Retreat, Hell,.” “The Helen Morgan Story,” and many other films.

One biographical sketch I found said Richard Carlson played “leads in B pictures and supporting roles in major productions. ... He also wrote articles and stories for leading magazines (such as Reader’ Digest and McCalls) and contributed scripts for various TV productions.”

During the era of western-type television shows, he had the lead in a short-run series called “McKenzie’s Raiders.” However, Carlson’s best known and most lasting legacy is with a program called :”I Led Three Lives” which ran on TV from 1953 to 1956.

Richard Carlson died on Nov. 15, 1977, at the age of 65 in Encino, Calif. He was survived by his wife, Mona, and two sons, Christopher and Henry.

I haven’t yet found any indication that Carlson ever came back to Albert Lea to visit his relatives in the area later in life. By the way, the reference sources confirm this city as his birthplace.

Maybe Richard Carlson is a somewhat overlooked star of the past here in Albert Lea. Yet, out in Hollywood there’s a special star for him embedded in the sidewalk on the Walk of Fame. It‘s located at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard.

Ed Shannon’s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.