Taliaferro Ware "Tol" Avery was an American film and television character actor with more than a hundred screen appearances between 1950 and 1974.
Biography
Early in his career, Avery appeared as "Dennison" in an episode of the 1953–1954 ABCsituation comedy, The Pride of the Family. He portrayed Lieutenant Steve King on The Thin Man. Noted for his girth and cultured voice, Avery usually played sophisticated and articulate villains, including the featured nemesis in six out of seven episode appearances on the ABC/Warner Brothers westerntelevision seriesMaverick starring James Garner, Jack Kelly and Roger Moore, between 1957 and 1962 In 1958, he appeared in the episode "Devil to Pay" of the ABC/WB series, Sugarfoot, starring Will Hutchins in the title role. Avery played Jim Case, the owner of a trading post in Arapaho country. Avery was cast twice during this time in another ABC/WB western series, Colt.45, starring Wayde Preston. Avery played the role of Archer Belgrade in "Circle of Fear" and Barnes in "Queen of Dixie". In the latter episode, he was cast with Andy Clyde in the role of Captain Gibbs. In 1960, he was cast as Theodore and John Nichols, respectively, in the episodes "Key to the City" and "False Identity" of the ABC/WB crime drama, Bourbon Street Beat, starring Andrew Duggan, Richard Long and Van Williams. He also guest starred on the CBS sitcom, Pete and Gladys with Harry Morgan and Cara Williams. As one of several appearances in different roles on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show, Avery in 1964 played Ben Weaver in the episode "The Shoplifters." That same year, he was cast as "Speaker Bert Metcalf" on the CBS drama series Slattery's People, starring Richard Crenna. He appeared five times during the 1960s on the long running NBC western series The Virginian. In 1966, Avery appeared three times on the syndicated western anthology series, Death Valley Days, as Frank Brenner in "The Resurrection of Deadwood Dick" and as Walter Benson in "Doc Holliday's Gold Bars", and as a judge, Sidney Edgerton, who later becomes the first governor of Montana Territory, in the segment "Lucia Darling and the Ostrich". He also appeared three times each on ABC's Batman and CBS's Mannix. One of his last appearances was as Justice Redding in the 1973 TV-movieThe Marcus-Nelson Murders, which served as the pilot for the CBS detective series, Kojak, starring Telly Savalas. Avery received a real estate license at about the same as he won his role in Slattery's People. He continued his sales job, working in real estate on weeekends. Avery died of a heart attack on August 27, 1973, at age 58.
