Sheriff, Bailiff, and Reality Actor. Born in Metropolis, Illinois,  as Roy Justus Burrell, better known as Rusty, he had sometimes moonlighted as an actor in his youth. A World War II Navy veteran who had lied about his age to join, After his discharge he was a minor league baseball player who played for a couple of years as a pitcher and outfielder in the St. Louis Browns’ farm system.  As a sheriff’s deputy in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Rusty served as bailiff during the trials of Caryl Chessman, Charles Manson, Patty Hearst and “The Onion Field” murder trial among other high-profile cases. But for millions of Americans, Rusty was best known as the affable, silver-haired bailiff in the courtroom of Judge Joseph Wapner on TV’s “The People’s Court.”  Rusty would spend 25 of his 31 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a bailiff in the court system, including working in Wapner’s Los Angeles Superior Court courtroom.  He married Clara and they had two sons. He was 76 at the time of his death. (bio by: Shock)  Family links:  Spouse:  Clara M. Burrell (1929 – 2007)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Lung Cancer