Richard Crenna Net Worth

What is Richard Crenna's Net Worth?

Richard Crenna was an American actor and director who had a net worth of $5 million. Richard Crenna was known for starring in the television series "Our Miss Brooks," "The Real McCoys," "Slattery's People," and "All's Fair." He also appeared in numerous films, including "Marooned," "Un flic," "Breakheart Pass," "The Evil," "Summer Rental," and the first three films in the "Rambo" franchise.

Early Life and Education

Richard Crenna was born on November 30, 1926 in Los Angeles, California as the only child of hotel manager Edith and pharmacist Domenick. He was of Italian descent. Crenna attended Virgil Junior High School and Belmont Senior High School, graduating from the latter in 1944. From 1945 to 1946, he served in the United States Army. Upon his return, Crenna enrolled at the University of Southern California, from which he earned his bachelor's degree in English literature.

Career Beginnings on Radio

Crenna began his acting career on radio as a kid, with his first role being on "Boy Scout Jamboree" in the late 1930s. In the late 1940s, he began playing Walter Thompson on "The Great Gildersleeve" and Walter Denton on "Our Miss Brooks." Crenna's other radio credits included appearances on "My Favorite Husband," "A Date with Judy," and "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show."

(Photo by TriStar/Getty Images)

Television Career

After starring on the CBS radio show "Our Miss Brooks," Crenna remained with the cast when the show moved to television in 1952. He starred on the show until 1955. Crenna subsequently appeared in episodes of "The Millionaire," "Frontier," "Medic," "Father Knows Best," and "Matinee Theatre." He had his next main television role starting in 1957, when he began playing Luke McCoy on the sitcom "The Real McCoys." Crenna starred alongside Walter Brennan and Kathleen Nolan, and earned an Emmy Award nomination for his work. He also directed many episodes of the show, which ran for six seasons through mid-1963. Crenna went on to direct several episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" between 1963 and 1964. From 1964 to 1965, he starred as fictional California state senator James Slattery on the CBS series "Slattery's People," for which he received two Emmy Award nominations. Crenna didn't return to the small screen until the 1970s, with guest appearances on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" and roles in such television films as "Double Indemnity," "Shootout in a One-Dog Town," and "A Girl Named Sooner."

Crenna's next main role in a regular series came in 1976, when he started playing Richard C. Barrington on the CBS sitcom "All's Fair." His co-star was Bernadette Peters. The show was ultimately short-lived, running for a single season through the spring of 1977. Crenna starred in many television films after that, including "Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell," "A Fire in the Sky," and "Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure." He also directed the television film "Better Late Than Never" and appeared in the epic miniseries "Centennial." Crenna appeared mostly in television films in the 1980s, with credits such as "Fugitive Family," "The Day the Bubble Burst," "Passions," "The Rape of Richard Beck," "A Case of Deadly Force," "Kids Like These," "Internal Affairs," and "The Case of the Hillside Stranglers." For his performance as the title character in "The Rape of Richard Beck," Crenna won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Among his other television credits in the 1980s, Crenna starred on the short-lived ABC sitcom "It Takes Two" and portrayed Henry Ross Perot in the NBC miniseries "On Wings of Eagles." He continued to focus mostly on television films in the 1990s, with roles in "Montana," "A Place to Be Loved," "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy," "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," and "Deep Family Secrets," among numerous other titles. Crenna also starred on the short-lived ABC crime drama "Pros and Cons" and in the CBS miniseries "Intruders," and was in four episodes of the legal drama series "JAG." His final major role in a series was as the recurring character Jared Duff on "Judging Amy," a role he played from 2000 to 2003. During that time, Crenna portrayed Ronald Reagan in the Showtime television film "The Day Reagan Was Shot." Crenna's last appearance on the small screen was in another Showtime television film, "Out of the Ashes," which premiered three months after his death in 2003.

Vince Bucci/Hulton Archive

Film Career

In 1952, the same year he began acting on television, Crenna had his first substantial film roles in "The Pride of St. Louis" and "It Grows on Trees." Four years later, he was in "Over-Exposed" and the big-screen adaptation of "Our Miss Brooks." Crenna didn't appear on the big screen again until 1965, when he starred as the titular character in the comedy "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!" He followed that with roles in "Made in Paris," "The Sand Pebbles," "Wait Until Dark," and "Star!" Concluding the decade, Crenna starred in the comedy "Midas Run" and the science-fiction film "Marooned." He had his biggest single year on film in 1971, when he appeared in four films: the dramas "Doctors' Wives" and "Red Sky at Morning" and the Westerns "The Deserter" and "Catlow." In 1972, Crenna starred opposite Alain Delon in Jean-Pierre Melville's final film, "Un flic." Over the subsequent years, he starred in "The Man Called Noon" and "Breakheart Pass." In the late 1970s, Crenna had starring roles in "The Evil," "Stone Cold Dead," and "Wild Horse Hank."

Kicking off the 1980s, Crenna starred in the horror film "Death Ship." He next played the doomed husband of Kathleen Turner's character in the 1981 erotic thriller "Body Heat." In 1982, Crenna made his debut in the role of Colonel Sam Trautman in the action war film "First Blood," starring Sylvester Stallone. He went on to reprise his role in the first two sequels, "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) and "Rambo III" (1988). Meanwhile, Crenna starred in "Table for Five" (1983), "The Flamingo Kid" (1984), and "Summer Rental" (1985), earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as gin rummy champion Phil Brody in "The Flaming Kid." His last role of the decade was in the 1989 science-fiction horror film "Leviathan." Crenna's credits in the 1990s included the erotic thriller "Jade," Sydney Pollack's remake of "Sabrina," and the parody films "Hot Shots! Part Deux" and "Wrongfully Accused." Posthumously, he appeared in archival footage as Colonel Sam Trautman in the "Rambo" sequels "Rambo" (2009) and "Rambo: Last Blood" (2019).

Personal Life and Death

Crenna was married to his first wife, Joan Grisham, from 1950 until their divorce in 1955. He was wed to second wife, Penni Sweeney, from 1959 until his passing. Crenna had three children in total.

On January 17, 2003, Crenna died from heart failure. He was also dealing with pancreatic cancer at the time.

Who's Richer?

Richard
Crenna

Compare!

Brian
Dennehy