 One of the plays in which he performed, during his junior year of high school in 1937, was "Before Morning", a 1933 play made into a film that same year.After graduating from high school in 1939, he attended Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, where he majored in accounting, was elected freshman class president and served as head cheerleader.After two years of college, he moved to Hollywood, to pursue a career in acting and resumed his original last name of Phipps.