Granville Gustavus Withers (January 17, 1905 – March 27, 1959) was an American film actor who acted under the screen name Grant Withers. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into sound films, establishing himself with a list of headlined features as a young and handsome male lead. "As his career progressed ... his importance diminished, but he did manage a 10-year contract with Republic." His friendships with both John Ford and John Wayne secured him a spot in nine of Wayne's films, but later roles dwindled to supporting roles, mainly as villains in B-movies, serials, and television. Early life and career "Born in Pueblo, Colorado, Withers worked as an oil company salesman and newspaper reporter before breaking into films near the end of the silent era." His more-than-30-year acting career took off in the late 1920s. While in his twenties, he was a leading man over rising talent James Cagney in Other Men's Women (1931). The comedy short So Long Bill (1926) marked Withers's film debut. Withers's early work had him opposite actors such as W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton, Boris Karloff, Mae West, and Shirley Temple. Appearing in The Red-Haired Alibi (1932) with Temple, he played the role of her first on-screen parent. Starring roles in major pictures later dwindled to supporting parts, mainly as villains in B-movies and serials. Notable exceptions included a 12-part Jungle Jim movie serial (1937), starring Withers and released by Universal Pictures, and the recurring role of the brash police captain Bill Street in the five-film Monogram Pictures series Mr. Wong, starring Boris Karloff, beginning in 1938. He was under a Republic Pictures contract from February 1944 through April 1954. Withers's credits at Republic total about 60 films from 1937 to 1957. After 1940, he was a character actor and tough guy in westerns. He took numerous supporting roles in television as his popularity in films waned. He guest-starred as baseball coach Whitey Martin in the 1956 episode "The Comeback" on Crossroads. He was cast as Gus Andrews and Miles Breck, respectively, in two episodes, titled "The time for All Good Men" (1957) and "King of the Frontier" (1958), on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian. In 1956, he played “Jed Lardner” (a callous cowboy who left his injured partner to die) in S2E15, “Pucket’s New Year”, on the TV western Gunsmoke. In 1958, Withers portrayed wealthy rancher