Mel Archer

History

Born in 1910, Spokane Washington. He worked in the oil fields as a rough neck. Competed in the 1932 Olympics in race walking. Worked as an extra in several movies. Joined the US Marines in 1942? where he eventually rose to the rank of Commissioned Warrent Officer. Instituted swimming programs at Camp Pendleton prior to shipping in the Pacific Theater of WW2. Fought in hand to hand combat on Iwo Jima and several other Japanese held islands. After the war Mel came back to the LA area where he worked as an illustrator for the Westmore Bros make up artists. Eventually he moved on to working as the head of the art dept for Pacific Title and Art Studio, supervising the creation of backgrounds and titles for many epic movies, among them: The Alamo, How the West was Won and many others. Mel worked at Pacific Title until his untimely and early death at the age of 53. Struck down in the prime of his life by pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in his lungs) Mel left his beloved wife Leatrice and 3 children, Melanie, Kim (Mel) and Jennifer. It was long suspected that his blood clots were caused by the numerous bayonet wounds to his legs from the combat.

Movies

Blades of the Musketeers
Blades of the Musketeers
Porthos
In 1625 France, D'Artagnan joins the king's musketeers, meets three new friends - Athos, Porthos and Aramis - among them and, together, the four quickly find themselves embroiled in court intrigue with Prime Minister Richelieu attempting to sabotage the congenial relationship existing between France and England. Originally produced as a 60-minute episode of THE MAGNAVOX THEATER on CBS as THE THREE MUSKETEERS. This has the distinction of being the first movie specifically made for TV. Later retitled and released theatrically.
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire
Foreman (uncredited)
A fading southern belle tries to build a new life with her sister in New Orleans.
Undercover Girl
Undercover Girl
Collar
After her father is murdered, a girl joins the police force in an effort to track down the killers.
Winchester '73
Winchester '73
Bartender (uncredited)
Lin McAdam rides into town on the trail of Dutch Henry Brown, only to find himself in a shooting competition against him. McAdam wins the prize, a one-in-a-thousand Winchester rifle, but Dutch steals it and leaves town. McAdam follows, intent on settling his old quarrel, while the rifle keeps changing hands and touching a number of lives.