Kerwin Mathews

 Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007)

Matthews was an actor best known for playing the titular heroes in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960) and Jack the Giant Killer (1962). After serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II as a pilot and swimming instructor, he attended and performed at nearby Milton College for two years before transferring to Beloit College on drama and music scholarships. He remained at Beloit three years after graduation teaching speech and dramatic arts and appeared in regional theatre. He also taught high school English in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Mathews' first sizeable role was as Lee J. Cobb's son in The Garment Jungle (1957). He was promoted to star for Tarawa Beachhead (1958), a war film produced by Charles Schneer. Schneer liked the actor's work and cast him in the role of Sinbad in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), directed by Nathan Juran with effects by Ray Harryhausen. Mathews co-starred with Van Johnson in The Last Blitzkrieg (1959), a war film for Sam Katzman, and Man on a String (1960) with Ernest Borgnine. Schneer also cast Mathews in an unofficial follow up to The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), playing the title role, with effects by Harryhausen. Columbia then put him in a prestigious film, The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961), billed underneath Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy. Mathews had support roles in Barquero (1970), the TV movie Death Takes a Holiday (1971), and Octaman (1971). He guest starred on General Hospital and Ironside.

His last lead was The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973). He retired from acting in 1978 and moved to San Francisco, where he ran a clothing and antiques shop. Mathews died in his sleep in San Francisco on July 5, 2007, at the age of 81. He was survived by his partner of 46 years, Tom Nicoll, a British display manager at Harvey Nichols, a British luxury department store, whom he had met in 1961.