Whatever happened to John Newland of "One Step Beyond"? - P.R., Warren, Mich.
Stats: Born Nov. 23, 1917, in Cincinnati. Attended Cincinnati public schools. Married five times.Early years: Newland quit high school to go into burlesque as a song and dance man in Chicago. He toured in vaudeville with Milton Berle. After service in the Air Force in World War II, he worked in the theater, spent two years in Hollywood but never made a movie, then returned to New York where he did all the major TV drama shows. He was a member of the "Robert Montgomery Presents" summer drama series 1952-54, and Montgomery gave him his first chance to direct. In 1956, he returned to California to work with Loretta Young on her TV series. He both acted and directed with Young.
Famous for: He hosted and directed many of the episodes of "Alcoa Presents" (syndicated as "One Step Beyond") and "The Next Step Beyond," two series dealing with psychic phenomena, and still popular in reruns.
In recent years: In the mid-1960s, he started directing episodic TV, TV movies and features full time. In 1977, he formed a production company to make TV movies and miniseries, among them "Arch of Triumph," "A Sensitive, Passionate Man" and "Angel City."
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