Michael Balfour

While his name and his participation in British films would suggest some relationship to popular British comedienne Betty Balfour, actor Michael Balfour was actually from the United States, no relation to his more popular namesake. Like Ben Welden and Bernard Nedell before him, Balfour was cast as a "typical" American gangster or tough guy in most of his films -- notably his first, the notorious No Orchids For Miss Blandish (1948). The actor's busiest period was 1950-1960, when he showed up in such films as Obsession (1956) and The Steel Key (1958). Balfour was also a regular on the London-filmed TV detective drama Mark Saber, playing Saber's assistant Barney O'Keefe. The name Michael Balfour might ring a bell with fans of 1950s horror films; he played the unfortunate Sgt. Kasper, whose brains are sucked out by the "Fiend Without a Face" in the 1958 chiller of the same name.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide