Francis L. Urry(1908-1985)

Francis L. Urry was a Utah-based actor. His career in speech and drama began in 1937 as a private teacher, and then he worked at radio station KSL in Salt Lake City for many years. As his career progressed, he performed on network radio and television, and appeared in live theater productions. Urry chose to remain in Utah rather than seeking a more visible career in Los Angeles or New York for that is where he wished to raise his family. This led to his appearance in several films produced by Brigham Young University for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In these films he commonly was one of the few professional actors in the cast, often playing "fatherly" roles. He is probably best known today for his role as a trader running a small store on a small Polynesian island during the 19th Century in the inspirational short film Johnny Lingo (1969). Although this film did not deal with religious subjects and was widely shown in public schools, Catholic schools, and even within corporations, it became principally viewed by multiple generations of Mormon high school students in religious "Seminary" classes and has become part of Latter Day Saint culture. Urry's most notable film performance was in the central role of Windows of Heaven (1963) where he portrayed the aged, 85 year old president of the Mormon Church Lorenzo Snow. His performance was made more remarkable by the fact that he realistically played a figure about 30 years older than himself. Urry also worked as a narrator for some programs with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and appeared in independent feature films such as The Hideout (1977) .