JAMES DRURY

Actor James Drury is widely-acclaimed for playing the lead role in the Western TV series, The Virginian. Drury earned a degree at New York University and UCLA. In 1954, he signed a film contract with MGM and later on, with 20th Century Fox. He then appeared in the films Love Me Tender and Bernardine, and his other popular films are Good Day for a Hanging and The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. He also landed roles in numerous TV shows.

James Child Drury was not born in the western United States, but in New York. His father is Irish and was a professor of marketing and advertising at New York University. Young James grew up on a family ranch in Salem, Oregon, where he learned to be a professional rider. At the age of twelve, James began performing in plays, touring in a theater company, and then studying acting at his father’s college.