Sam Buffington

Sam Buffington was an American actor whose promising career in the late 1950s spanned stage, radio, film, and television, leaving behind a legacy of compelling character performances despite his tragically short life. Born Samuel Elisha Buffington on October 12, 1931, in Swansea, Massachusetts, he was the youngest of four children to parents Carl Buffington, a lumber company manager, and Annette Gendron, and he developed an early interest in performance arts that led him to the Leland Powers School of Radio and Theater in Brookline. His early professional endeavors included work as a nightclub MC and comic dancer, followed by summer stock performances with the Allegheny Players in Pennsylvania, where he honed his craft in various productions including taking the male lead in a comedy during a week-long run in Ebensburg. Buffington's move to the West Coast in 1956 marked a turning point, as he struggled initially with only $90 to his name and relied on his wife's support for eight months before landing his breakthrough role in Alfred Hitchcock Presents in May 1957, where critics praised his portrayal of a rude, sloppy hypochondriac as the show-stealing performance.

His radio career peaked when he landed the title role in the CBS western series Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, which debuted in February 1958 and featured him as a Civil War cavalryman turned cattleman in Arizona, broadcasting nationally for twenty-five minutes per episode. Despite his radio commitments, Buffington maintained a prolific television presence, appearing in sixteen episodes in 1958 and seventeen more in 1959, including roles in Maverick, Perry Mason, and Sugarfoot, while also securing film parts in movies like Damn Citizen and Invasion of the Saucer Men where he specialized in playing thoroughly unpleasant characters with convincing cunning. His final regular role came as Chief of Police John Richards in the NBC western series Whispering Smith, starring alongside Audie Murphy and Guy Mitchell, where he was third-billed and filmed twenty episodes before his untimely death. Beyond acting, Buffington was an accomplished oil portrait painter who donated eight of his works to children's hospitals, showcasing his artistic versatility and generosity. Tragically, on May 15, 1960, at the age of 28, Buffington died by suicide in his West Hollywood home, leaving a note apologizing to his wife for not being able to support her, despite having earned over $20,000 the previous year and possessing strong career prospects. This untimely death cut short what promised to be a remarkable career in entertainment.