Son of Elmer and Eunice Chapman, he grew up in Tulsa and Joplin, finished high school and junior college locally, served five years in the Marine Corps during World II, earned a BFA from the University of Oklahoma in 1947 and, after hitch-hiking to New York with friend Dennis Weaver, secured a part in Come Back, Little Sheba. Starting with a 1951 role on Starlight Theatre, he became a frequent tel…
