Jack Lambert (American actor)
John Taylor Lambert (April 13, 1920 – February 18, 2002) was an American character actor known for playing tough guys and villains. Born in Yonkers, New York, he started on Broadway before moving to Hollywood in 1942. He became famous for the psychotic, cat-loving villain Steve “the Claw” Michel in Dick Tracy’s Dilemma (1947). After World War II, he appeared in many Westerns and crime dramas, including The Killers, The Enforcer, Bend of the River, Vera Cruz, Kiss Me Deadly, and How the West Was Won.
Lambert also worked a lot in television. He appeared on various shows such as State Trooper, Bat Masterson (two episodes), Gunsmoke (as Kin Creed in 1959), Have Gun – Will Travel, Sugarfoot, Tales of Wells Fargo, Daniel Boone, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Get Smart, and The Andy Griffith Show. He was a regular on Riverboat from 1959 to 1960, playing Joshua Walcek in 23 of 42 episodes.
In his personal life, Lambert was married twice, to Frances Dalton (divorced) and then Marjorie Hall (married in 1958). He had a son named Lee J. Lambert. He moved to Palm Springs in 1959, retired from acting in 1970, and died in Carmel, California, in 2002 at age 81.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:33 (CET).