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Akins played in many golf tournaments to raise money for various charities.
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Claude Akins was always a very friendly, likeable, and goodnatured person off screen.
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After his stint in World War II ended, Akins worked briefly as a salesman before getting into acting.
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Akins made his film debut in the classic 1953 film From Here to Eternity.
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Akins filled in for Neville Brand on five episodes of Laredo when Brand took a rest from the series because of the grind.
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Upon his death, Akins' was cremated and his ashes given to family members.
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Akins was married to Theresa Fairfield from 1952 until his death. The couple had three children: Claude, Jr., Michelle, and Wendy.
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Akins stood 6 feet, 1 inch tall when doing battle with John Wayne in the classic 1959 Western Rio Bravo.
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Akins' best friend in Hollywood was fellow thespian Robert J. Wilke.
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Akins was an avid golfer in real life.
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Akins was a graduate of Northwestern University.
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Though born in Nelson, GA, Akins grew up in the town of Bedford, Indiana.
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Akins twice played Native American characters on television. Once for laughs on an episode of I Love Lucy and once for serious drama on an episode of Daniel Boone.
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Claude was both well-recognized and lampooned for his role in Poligrip commercials in the 1980s, in which he would hold up a dental bridge and put a seed underneath them, saying "Ouch" to illustrate what would happen to denture wearers that didn't use Poligrip.
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Claude served in the US Army Signal Corps in the Phillipines and Burma in World War Two.