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James McEachin
James McEachin
James McEachin guest appears in two episodes of "All In The Family".
Personal Information
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Rennert, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation/
Career:
Actor
Years active: 1966–2007
Spouse(s): Lois McEachin (?-present)
Character/Series involvement
Series: All in the Family
Episodes appeared in: Archie's Fraud in Season 2
Archie the Liberal in Season 7
Character played: Mr. Turner/Solomon Jackson
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James McEachin (born May 20, 1930) is a veteran actor, award-winning[1] author, and known for his many character roles such as portraying police Lieutenant Brock in several Perry Mason television movies. James appears in two episodes of All in the Family, first as Mr. Ike Turner, an IRS agent who audits Archie in the Season 2 episode "Archie's Fraud" (#2), then as Solomon Jackson, an African-American Jewish co-worker of Archie's at Pendergast Tool and Die whom Archie tries to recruit into his lodge as a token minority to keep the Urban League from investigating it for discriminatory initiation practices in the Season 7 episode "Archie the Liberal" (#24).

Military career[]

McEachin served in the United States Army during, the Korean War, in King Company, 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was nearly fatally wounded in an ambush and nearly left for dead. McEachin was one of only two soldiers to survive the ambush. He was awarded both the Purple Heart and Silver Star in 2005 by California Congressman David Dreier after McEachin participated in a Veterans History Project interview given by Dreier's office and in which they discovered McEachin had no copies of his own military records. Dreier's office quickly traced the records and notified McEachin of the Silver Star commendation and awarding him all seven of his medals of valor shortly thereafter, fifty years after his service.

Civil Service and acting career[]

Following his military career, McEachin dabbled in civil service, first as a fireman and then a policeman in Hackensack, New Jersey, before he moved to California and became a record producer. Known as Jimmy Mack in the industry, he worked with young artists such as Otis Redding and went on to produce The Furys. He began his acting career shortly after, and was signed by Universal as a contract actor in the 1960s. He was regularly cast in professional, "solid citizen" occupational roles, such as a lawyer or a police commander, guesting on numerous series such as Hawaii Five-O, Rockford Files, Mannix, and Dragnet. He also played the deejay Sweet Al Monty in Play Misty for Me in 1971 with Clint Eastwood. In 1973, McEachin starred as Harry Tenafly, the title character in Tenafly, a short-lived detective series about a police officer turned private detective who relied on his wits and hard work rather than guns and fistfights. He also appeared occasionally as Lieutenant Ron Crockett on Emergency!

James appeared as Dr. Victor Millson, chairman of the fictitious National Council of Astronautics in the 1984 movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact. In addition to his appearing role with Roy Scheider, his character often appears in video dispatches transmitted to the American astronauts in the film.

While continuing to guest star in many television series and appearing in several feature-length films, McEachin landed his most memorable role, that of police lieutenant Brock in the 1986 television movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun. He would reprise this role in more than a dozen Perry Mason telemovies from 1986 until 1995, appearing opposite Raymond Burr.

Writing work[]

In the 1990s, McEachin semi-retired from acting to pursue a writing career. His first work was a military history of the court-martial of 63 black American soldiers during the First World War, titled Farewell to the Mockingbirds (1995), which won the 1998 Benjamin Franklin Award.[2] His next works, mainly fiction novels, included The Heroin Factor (1999), Say Goodnight to the Boys in Blue (2000), The Great Canis Lupus (2001), and Tell me a Tale: A Novel of the Old South (2003). McEachin also published Pebbles in the Roadway in (2003), a collection of short stories and essays which he describes as "a philosophical view of America and Americans." In 2005, McEachin produced the award-winning[3] audio book Voices: A Tribute to the American Veteran.

In early 2006, the film short Reveille, in which McEachin starred with David Huddleston, began to play to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and people began to request copies of the film.[4] The film was posted on video.google.com and quickly garnered 1.5 million hits and a deluge of fan mail to the jamesmceachin.com website; this inspired McEachin's latest contribution, Old Glory,[5] which he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in. Old Glory was McEachin's directorial debut.

In 2001, McEachin received the Distinguished Achievement Award[6] from Morgan State University. In 2005, he became an Army Reserve Ambassador; this distinction carries the protocol of a two-star general.[7]

Family/Personal life[]

McEachin is married with three grown children. His daughter Felecia McEachin was assistant to the Emmy Award winning producer Sam Simon.

The pronunciation of "McEachin," as he uses it, rhymes with "thicken."

References[]

  1. Benjamin Franklin Award 2006 Best Audio, 2004 Best Fiction. ForeWord Magazine 2006 Best Audio, 2004 Best Fiction
  2. PMA Magazine, Benjamin Franklin Award, announced at 1998 Book Expo America
  3. PMA Magazine Benjamin Franklin Award announced at 2006 Book Expo America, Washington DC
  4. Written and verbal requests from Generals, soldiers, and civilians
  5. Winner of the 2007 GI Film Festival, Best Narrative Short, announced at 2007 GI FILM Festival, Washington DC
  6. News Release
  7. Acclaimed actor is newest Army Reserve Ambassador.(People) - Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical

External links[]

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