Overview
- Dennis Rush died Saturday while being taken to a hospital near San Diego, according to longtime friend and co-star Keith Thibodeaux.
- Thibodeaux announced the death on Facebook and said Rush learned in April that he had leukemia.
- Rush was best known as Howie Pruitt, one of Opie Taylor’s friends on The Andy Griffith Show, and as young Creighton Chaney in Man of a Thousand Faces with James Cagney.
- His other screen work included Wagon Train, Laramie, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Lucy Show and Disney’s Follow Me, Boys! in 1966, his final listed role.
- After acting he served in the U.S. Marines, graduated from San Diego State University, worked in hotels and restaurants, and remained a fixture at Mayberry fan festivals that are now sharing tributes.