Jody McCrea on AllMovie

The son of actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee, Jody McCrea didn't seem to have much direction in life until his father insisted that they be co-starred in the 1959 TV western Wichita Town. The younger McCrea attempted to follow in his father's rugged, "strong silent-type" footsteps in his subsequent film appearances. By the time he became a regular in the Beach Party flicks at American-International in the mid-1960s, however, McCrea had found his true cinematic niche as goofy, vacant-eyed comedy relief. Jody McCrea gave up show business in 1970 to become a rancher in New Mexico.