A memorial service is scheduled Saturday April 4, 2009 for John Drummond Erskine of Cold Spring Harbor, a former member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
In 1942, Erskine volunteered for the Army's first airborne unit, and completed jump and glider training at Fort Benning, Ga. He served as a trainer with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the subject of the History Channel documentary "Band of Brothers. "Erskine's wartime tales of running up and down mountains were no exaggeration. The 506th was based at Currahee Mountain, Ga., and the unit's obsession was physical fitness.As a young lieutenant, Erskine broke his hip during a maneuvers jump in Tennessee and was told he would never jump again. However, he recovered enough to join his unit in Europe, where he participated in some of the biggest battles of the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. He ended his service as a lieutenant colonel.
Erskin was a longtime character actor best known in recent years for cameo TV appearances that included a running gag on the David Letterman show. Erskine died March 21, a few weeks short of his 90th birthday. His acting career spanned more than 50 years, including the appearances on "Late Show With David Letterman" last year, where he pretended to be an aging Regis Philbin. "The idea of being on the planet and not living life to the fullest was unthinkable to him," said a niece, Marion Lee of Manhattan. "He used to run up and down mountains in the service. "James Drummond Erskine III, better known to his many nieces and nephews as "Uncle Drummy," was born in Manhattan in 1919. He enrolled in a series of private schools and the University of Virginia, before leaving to join the Army at the onset of World War II.
After the war, Erskine worked for the Firestone tire company in Liberia and the United States, while also pursuing an acting career. He appeared in more than 75 films, and also in TV and stage productions. His deeply chiseled features made him a natural for frequent performances as Abraham Lincoln, including once in a 1950s " Alcoa Hour" show. A favorite Erskine story was of his narrow loss of the lead in a play to a scene-stealing Charlton Heston. "He wouldn't just walk down the stairs - he'd leap," Erskine told a Newsday reporter.Erskine is survived by a sister, Alison Farrar of Lyme, N.H., and three generations of nieces and nephews. The 11 a.m. memorial service is scheduled at St. John's Episcopal Church, Cold Spring Harbor, to be followed by a reception.
Information from JOHN HILDEBRAND Newsday
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