Born Frederick Howard Wright in San Diego, California on September 30, 1896, Wright was the middle child of five, born to Lucy Simonds (née Wheeler) and William Sherman Wright. He first performed in public at age 9, when, as a reward for having sold the most tickets to a high school operetta, he was tasked not merely with formally presenting the
frieze purchased by proceeds from the production, but also asked to sing at the ceremony. After attending the
University of California, San Diego, Eventually rising to the rank of
Second Lieutenant, Over the next decade, Wright—as Fred Howard—established himself as a successful stage performer, writer, producer, and director, specializing in musical comedy. His singing was showcased in the trio, Harmony Three. By February 1929, Wright—who, as a solo act, had previously appeared in at least one revue also featuring his soon-to-be partner's recently formed duo—had officially become one half of the Happy Chappies, replacing pianist Nat Vincent's previous partner, tenor Harry Morton, while also facilitating Wright's radio debut on
San Francisco's
KFRC.—at least as late as the summer of 1937. In April 1938, Wright appeared at New York's
Waldorf Astoria Hotel, in the
Lambs Club's annual Spring Gambol, co-starring with
Walter Woolf King and Gene Wolf in the brief operetta,
Tempest in a Teapot, with words and music by Wright. As a radio actor, some of Wright's more notable roles were C. Pemberton Tooley in
Ma Perkins, Mr. Pringle—father of Oogie—in
A Date with Judy, and Pa Buskirk on
The Opie Cates Show From 1949 through 1952, Wright was the principal writer on
The Ruggles, the
Charlie Ruggles sitcom created by
Irving Phillips.
From Fred Howard to Howard Wright In March 1949, Wright—still billed as "Fred Howard"—made his TV debut, starring alongside
K. T. Stevens,
Marc Lawrence, in the
Don Lee Television Workshop episode, "Shoes and Souls". One additional "Fred Howard" credit, for a 1951 appearance on
Racket Squad, preceded the actor's unnoticed—and, accordingly, never explained—1953 professional transition to "Howard Wright" on
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. Among Wright's more notable television credits are two
The Twilight Zone episodes, as "Judge Hardy" in the Season Three episode, "
The Jungle (The Twilight Zone)" and an unnamed judge in the previous season's ''
What's in the Box. He also appeared on numerous episodes of the westerns, Bonanza and Death Valley Days''. In his rave review of the 1956
Barry Shipman/
William Witney western drama,
Stranger at My Door, ''
Variety's'' William Brogdon—as "Brog"—made a point of assigning every bit as much credit to the film's principal supporting players as to the stars. The above mentioned players earn plaudits for characters compellingly performed and right along with them are Louis Jean Heydt, as the sheriff, Howard Wright, a doctor, Slim Pickens, horse trader and millwright, and Malcolm Atterbury, a circuit rider. ==Personal life and death==