Crawford was born in
Colfax, Washington, and studied at the School of Drama at the
University of Washington. In films from the 1940s, Crawford appeared in bit parts for many years before playing leads in several films in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1960 in the UK, he appeared in
Danger Man in the episode entitled "The Girl in the Pink Pajamas" as Dr. Keller. When he returned to the United States, he played supporting roles in several films but was more prolific on TV in character roles, in scores of series such as
State Trooper (in the episode "The Last Stage Robbery"),
Gunsmoke (14 episodes between 1959 and 1974),
The Twilight Zone,
Combat!,
The Fugitive,
Harry O,
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,
Wheels,
The Dukes of Hazzard,
The Incredible Hulk,
The Time Tunnel,
Mannix,
Lost in Space,
Star Trek,
Mission: Impossible, ''
Hogan's Heroes, The Rockford Files'' and most notably as Sheriff Ep Bridges on
CBS'
The Waltons. Crawford co-wrote the screenplay of the film
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), directed by
Sam Peckinpah. In addition to appearing with
James Arness in 14 episodes of
Gunsmoke, he was in two episodes of Arness' subsequent western series
How the West Was Won (1976–79) and in two episodes of Arness' subsequent police detective series ''
McClain's Law'' (1981–1982). His other notable silver screen turns include the investigating State Trooper in
I Saw What You Did (1965), the Chief Engineer in
The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Callahan in
The Towering Inferno (1974), and as Brian Deering in
The Boogens (1981). ==Death==