Roy Justus Burrell This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. 'People's Court' bailiff dead at 76

   www.ocregister.com/local/rusty - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/18/2002   Last Visited: 4/18/2002

   Born Roy Justus Burrell in Metropolis, Ill., on Nov. 17, 1925, he grew up in southern Missouri.
   
   ...
   Burrell vowed never to leave the area.
   
   He became a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and was serving as bailiff in a divorce court in the '50s when the producers of the first "Divorce Court" TV show came in to look around.
   
   They found him knowledgeable, personable and handsome.
   
   At first, they asked whether he'd be an adviser to the show. Then they decided to put him in it.
   
   They asked him who he thought would be a good judge, and he picked Wapner.
   ...
   Burrell also had bit parts in several movies.
   
   He spent 32 years with the Sheriff's Department, all the while doing TV work. The department considered it good public relations and made sure he had all the time off he needed.
   
   As a sergeant, he supervised all the bailiffs in Los Angeles County courts. He also served as bailiff during some of the area's most famous trials, including those of Charles Manson, the Onion Fields killer and Patty Hearst.
   
   His built his home in Rosemead largely with the overtime pay he earned during the Manson trial, when he had to guard the long-sequestered jurors, his son Larry said.
   
   He told Biography Magazine in 1998 that during the Manson trial, Manson sat right next to him. "He used to tell me, 'Rusty, why don't you let me go?' And I'd say, 'Charlie, you know I can't do that.' And he said, 'You know, I could get up and walk out of here any time I want.' And I said, 'Charlie, you wouldn't get to the front door.' "
   
   Burrell was an imposing figure and would -- and could -- do whatever it took to keep things in order.
   
   But in his private life, he was gentle and unassuming, modest and down to earth.
   
   Despite his fame and popularity -- he even had a fan club -- he rarely socialized with the stars. He declined invitations to appear on the David Letterman, Jay Leno and Johnny Carson shows and to write his autobiography.
   
   A generous and loving family man with a great sense of humor, he always put family first and spoiled his grandchildren silly.
   
   Agents often asked Burrell if they could cast his freckled, red-headed children in commercials. The answer was always a resounding no. He wanted them in school, playing with their friends and leading happy, ordinary lives.
   
   He is survived by his wife, Clara Mae; sons, Mark and Larry; sister, Faith; brothers, Dale, Troy, Earl and Perry; grandchildren, Kelly, Stacy, Sean, Kimberly and Michael; and great-granddaughter, Abigail Culpepper.
   
   Services are scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.