Edward Platt
Forever and fondly remembered as Don Adams' foil on the popular Mel Brooks/Buck Henry spy series Get Smart (1965), character actor Ed Platt (also billed as Edward C. Platt) had been around for two decades prior to copping that rare comedy role. Born in Staten Island, New York, on Valentine's Day, 1916, he inherited an appreciation of music on his mother's side. He spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky and in upstate New York where he attended Northwood, a private school in Lake Placid, and was a member of the ski jump team. He majored in romantic languages at Princeton University but left a year later to study at the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati after his thoughts turned to a possible operatic career. He later was accepted into Juilliard.
Instead of opera, however, Ed first became a band vocalist with Paul Whiteman and Orchestra. He then sang bass as part of the Mozart Opera Company in New York. With the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company in 1942, he appeared in the operettas "The Mikado," "The Gondoliers" and "The Pirates of Penzance".
WWII interrupted his early career. Ed served as a radio operator with the army and would find himself on radio again in the post-war years where his deep, resonant voice proved ideal. A number of musical comedy roles also came his way again. In 1947, he made it to Broadway with the musical "Allegro." Star José Ferrer took an interest in Ed while they both were appearing in "The Shrike" on Broadway in 1952.
Around 1953, Edward moved to Texas to be near his brother and began anchoring the local news and kiddie birthday party show called "Uncle Eddie's Kiddie Party." Ferrer remembered Platt and invited him to Hollywood where Ferrer was starring in the film version of The Shrike (1955). Ed recreated his stage role. He also earned fine notices as James Dean's understanding juvenile officer in the classic film Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
This led to a plethora of film and TV support offers where the balding actor made fine use of his dark, rich voice, stern intensity and pragmatic air, portraying a slew of professional and shady types in crime yarns, soap dramas and war pictures -- everything from principals and prosecutors to mobsters and murderers.
After years of playing it serious, which included stints on the daytime drama General Hospital (1963), Ed finally was able to focus on comedy as "The Chief" to Don Adams klutzy secret agent on Get Smart (1965), a show that inevitably found a cult audience. Picking up a few occasional guest spots in its aftermath, he later tried producing.
Twice married and the father of four, Platt died on March 19, 1974. Death was attributed to a massive heart attack at the time. Years later his son revealed that his father, suffering from acute depression and undergoing severe financial pressures, committed suicide at his Santa Monica, California apartment.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.ne
Fotos
Películas (48)
The Female Instinct
1972 · Julius Nero
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
1967 · Chief
Johnny Shiloh
1965 · Gen. Thomas
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
1965 · The Judge
Bullet for a Badman
1964 · Tucker
A Ticklish Affair
1963 · Captain Haven Hitchcock
Black Zoo
1963 · Chief Rivers
Cape Fear
1962 · Judge
The Explosive Generation
1961 · Mr. Morton
Who Killed Julie Greer?
1961 · Joe Nolan
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
1961 · Azor the High Priest
The Fiercest Heart
1961 · Madrigo
Pollyanna
1960 · Ben Tarbell
Cash McCall
1960 · Harrison Glenn
Inside the Mafia
1959 · Dan Regent
North by Northwest
1959 · Victor Larrabee
The Rebel Set
1959 · Mr. Tucker / Mr. T
They Came to Cordura
1959 · Col. DeRose
Destination Space
1959 · Dr. Easton
Gunman's Walk
1958 · Purcell Avery
The Last of the Fast Guns
1958 · Sam Grypton
The High Cost of Loving
1958 · Eli Cave
Summer Love
1958 · Dr. Thomas Daley
Damn Citizen
1958 · Joseph Kosta
The Gift of Love
1958 · Dr. Jim Miller
Oregon Passage
1957 · Roland Dane
The Helen Morgan Story
1957 · Johnny Haggerty
House of Numbers
1957 · The Warden
Omar Khayyam
1957 · Jayhan
Designing Woman
1957 · Martin J. Daylor
The Tattered Dress
1957 · Ralph Adams, Reporter
The Unguarded Moment
1956 · Attorney Briggs
Rock, Pretty Baby
1956 · Thomas Daley Sr.
The Great Man
1956 · Dr. O'Conner
Reprisal!
1956 · Neil Shipley
Written on the Wind
1956 · Dr. Paul Cochrane
Storm Center
1956 · Rev. Wilson
The Proud Ones
1956 · Dr. Barlow
Serenade
1956 · Everett Carter
Backlash
1956 · Sheriff J.C. Marson
The Steel Jungle
1956 · Judge Wahller
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
1956 · Major Dunning - Psychiatrist
Sincerely Yours
1955 · Dr. Eubank (uncredited)
Rebel Without a Cause
1955 · Ray Fremick
Illegal
1955 · Ralph Ford
The Shrike
1955 · Harry Downs
Cult of the Cobra
1955 · Lamian Threatening Death (uncredited)
I Was a Male War Bride
1949 · Lieutenant in Gates' Office (uncredited)
Series (52)
Temperatures Rising
1972 · Senator Bradley
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971 · Caldwell
The Odd Couple
1970 · Bill Donnelly
Love, American Style
1969
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968 · Self (uncredited)
CBS Playhouse
1966 · Judge
Get Smart
1965 · Thaddeus
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
1964 · Morgan
Petticoat Junction
1963 · General Patterson
Burke's Law
1963 · Capt. Frank Metcalfe
Temple Houston
1963
The Outer Limits
1963 · Dean Radcliffe, Mr. Terrence, David Hunt
Arrest and Trial
1963 · Judge Kenneth W. Browne, Judge Phillips, Judge, Superior Court Judge
General Electric True
1962
The Virginian
1962 · Stuart Brynmar
Saints and Sinners
1962 · Dr. Gates
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961 · Lou Gregory
Dr. Kildare
1961 · Dr. Tom Paulson
Surfside 6
1960
Thriller
1960 · James Weeks
Mr. Lucky
1959 · Henry Praiswater
Hawaiian Eye
1959 · Dr. Wallace Oliver
The Twilight Zone
1959 · Doctor
Bonanza
1959 · Harvey Buford, Wade Colly, Will Flanders
The Deputy
1959 · Noah Harper
The Lawless Years
1959
One Step Beyond
1959 · Will Denning
Rawhide
1959 · Jason Clark
77 Sunset Strip
1958 · Mr. Jacobin
Bat Masterson
1958 · Roy Evens
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The Rifleman
1958
Bronco
1958 · Ben Lockwood
Peter Gunn
1958
Trackdown
1957 · Adam Madson, George Mason
Alcoa Theatre
1957 · Lieutenant
Perry Mason
1957 · Cmdr. Driscoll, Tom Stratton
Wagon Train
1957 · Spinoza de Costa, Cyrus Bolton
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
West Point
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · Sheriff Galt, Marshall Mays
Wire Service
1956 · Palmer
State Trooper
1956 · Stanley Andrews, John Wilbur Mason
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Mr. Henshaw
Gunsmoke
1955 · Mr. Burgess
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954 · Judge (uncredited), Lease Harris, General Thomas, Ben Tarbell
Studio 57
1954
Letter to Loretta
1953 · Henry, Sutter
General Electric Theater
1953
Cavalcade of America
1952 · Dr. Banner
Four Star Playhouse
1952 · Freddie, Chief of Police, Dr. Fain
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Sparks