Film actor Gene Evans (July 11, 1922 - April 1, 1998) began his acting career while serving in World War II, performing with a theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. Evans, raised in Colton, California, made his film debut in 1947 and ended up appearing in dozens of movies and television programs. He specialized in playing tough guys like cowboys, sheriffs, convicts and Army sergeants. In the mid-50's he played Ken's father on the MY FRIEND FLICKA series, opposite Anita Louise as his wife. The near-sighted actor rarely wore his thick glasses in films, but did wear them while playing a doctor in the B-movie Donovan's Brain (1953). Evans played in one episode of Dallas (TV series) in January 1979. In that episode he played the role of Garrioson Southworth.

He retired to a farm in Tennessee following his role as an evil sheriff in the original Walking Tall.

In the late 1980s, Evans appeared on stage as the gruesome Papa in the stage production Papa is All, directed by playwright Tommy F. Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee.

Gene Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona, on July 11, 1922, and was raised in Colton, California. He served in the army during World War II as a combat engineer, and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for bravery in action. He began his acting career there, performing an a theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. After the war he went to Hollywood, where he made his film debut in 1947's "Under Colorado Skies (1947). The rugged, red-headed character actor was a familiar face in such westerns as Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), War Wagon, The (1967), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), Ballad of Cable Hogue, The (1970) and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He also starred in the war films Steel Helmet, The (1951) and Fixed Bayonets! (1951) and co-starred with future first lady Nancy Davis (I) (before she became Nancy Reagan) in Donovan's Brain (1953). His other major films include Park Row (1952), _Behemoth, the Sea Monster (1959)_ Operation Petticoat (1959) and Walking Tall (1973). He became well known in the 1950s on television, playing the father in "My Friend Flicka" (1956). He remained active in films and television through the 1980s. Evans subsequently retired to a farm near Jackson, Tennessee. He was a popular guest at the Memphis Film Festival for the past decade.