Edward Platt

This article is about the American actor. For the English author, see Edward Platt (author). For the English professional footballer, see Ted Platt.

Edward Platt
File:Edwardplatt.jpg
Born	Edward Cuthbert Platt (1916-02-14)February 14, 1916 Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Died	March 19, 1974(1974-03-19) (aged 58) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Juilliard School
Years active	1941–1974
Spouse	Suzanne Belcher ​ ​ (m. 1954⁠–⁠1974)​
Children	4

Edward Cuthbert Platt (February 14, 1916 – March 19, 1974) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the Chief in the 1965–70 NBC/CBS television series: Get Smart. With his deep voice and mature appearance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.

Early life and military service

Platt was born in Staten Island, New York. He spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky and upstate New York, where he attended the Northwood School, a private school in Lake Placid, and was a member of the ski jump team. He also studied at the Juilliard School. He attended Princeton University, but left after his freshman year. He served in the United States Army during World War II.

Acting career

An operatically trained bass-baritone with a powerful voice, he debuted on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. José Ferrer, who performed with Platt in the Broadway play The Shrike, helped him land his first film role in the 1955 film version. Also in 1955, Platt appeared in Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. He returned to Broadway in 1958 with the musical Oh, Captain!, in a romantic role. In 1959, he played Cary Grant's attorney in North by Northwest, and he starred in the movie The Rebel Set.

Platt also appeared in episodes of the original Perry Mason ("The Case of the Slandered Submarine" and "The Case of the Larcenous Lady"); 77 Sunset Strip, Trackdown, State Trooper (in the episode "Who Killed Doc Robbins"), Men into Space ("From Another World"), Ripcord ("Million Dollar Drop"), Gunsmoke, Bonanza, One Step Beyond, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits ("The Man with the Power" and "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"), The Dick Van Dyke Show ("A Nice Friendly Game Of Cards"), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bat Masterson (in the 1959 episode "Incident in Leadville"), Tales of Wells Fargo, The Twilight Zone, and Wagon Train

His most famous role was the regular role of The Chief in the espionage parody television series Get Smart (1965–1970). After it ended, he had a recurring role in the situation comedy series The Governor & J.J. in 1970. He had guest roles in several other television series of the era, mostly comedies, including Temperatures Rising, Bewitched, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Love, American Style, and The Odd Couple as Oscar Madison's boss in the episode "Oscar's New Life".

Platt appeared as Sotto Voce in the 1969 KCET television reading of Norman Corwin's 1938 radio play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.

Work as producer

In 1973, Platt raised the money to produce one of the first independent feature films shot entirely on videotape: Santee, starring Glenn Ford. His crew shot the production with electronic TV cameras and portable video tape recorders, then had the images transferred to film for theatrical release. The movie was not commercially successful.

Death

On March 19, 1974, Platt was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment, at the age of 58. Initial reports indicated the cause of death was a heart attack, but Platt's son later said that his father died from suicide, after a long struggle with untreated depression.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1949	I Was a Male War Bride	Lieutenant in Gates's Office	Uncredited
1955	Cult of the Cobra	Lamian Threatening Death	Uncredited
	The Shrike	Harry Downs
	The McConnell Story	Medical Corps Instructor	Uncredited
	Illegal	Ralph Ford
	Rebel Without a Cause	Ray Fremick
	Sincerely Yours	Dr. Eubank	Uncredited
1956	The Lieutenant Wore Skirts	Major Dunning
	The Steel Jungle	Judge Wahller
	Backlash	Sheriff J.C. Marson	Credited as Edward C. Platt
	Serenade	Everett Carter
	The Proud Ones	Dr. Barlow
	Storm Center	Rev. Wilson
	The Unguarded Moment	Attorney Briggs
	Written on the Wind	Dr. Paul Cochrane
	Reprisal!	Neil Shipley
	Rock, Pretty Baby	Thomas Daley Sr. M.D.
	The Great Man	Dr. O'Connor
1957	The Tattered Dress	Ralph Adams
	Designing Woman	Martin J. Daylor
	Omar Khayyam	Jayhan
	House of Numbers	The Warden
	The Helen Morgan Story	Johnny Haggerty
	Oregon Passage	Roland Dane
1958	The Gift of Love	Dr. Jim Miller
	Damn Citizen	Joseph Kosta
	The High Cost of Loving	Eli Cave
	Summer Love	Dr. Thomas Daley
	The Last of the Fast Guns	Sam Grypton	Credited as Edward C. Platt
	Gunman's Walk	Purcell Avery
1959	The Rebel Set	Mr. Tucker / Mr. T
	North by Northwest	Victor Larrabee
	They Came to Cordura	Col. DeRose
	Inside the Mafia	Dan Regent
1960	Cash McCall	Harrison Glenn
	Pollyanna	Ben Tarbell
1961	The Fiercest Heart	Madrigo
	Atlantis, the Lost Continent	Azar the High Priest
	Snow White and the Three Stooges	Villager	Uncredited
	The Explosive Generation	Mr. Morton
1962	Cape Fear	Judge
1963	Black Zoo	Detective Rivers
	Johnny Shiloh	General George Henry Thomas
	A Ticklish Affair	Captain Haven Hitchcock
1964	Shock Treatment	District Attorney	Uncredited
	Bullet for a Badman	Tucker
1965	The Man from Button Willow	The Man In The Black Cape	Voice, Uncredited

Television credits

Year	Series	Role	Notes
1955	Gunsmoke	Mr. Burgess	Episode "Smoking Out the Nolans"
1958	Silent Service	Capt. Benítez	Episode "The Last Dive"
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Doc Bell	Episode "Doc Bell"
1959	Wagon Train	Matthew Sinclair	Episode "The Duke LeMay Story," Season 2, Episode 30, airdate: Apr. 29, 1959
	One Step Beyond	Will Denning	Episode "The Burning Girl," Season 1, Episode 16, airdate: May 5, 1959
	Rawhide	Jason Clark	Episode "Incident of the Thirteenth Man," Season 2, Episode 6, airdate: Oct. 23, 1959
	Mr Lucky	Henry Praiswater	Episode "The Stowaway"
	Police Station	Desk Sgt.
1960	Wagon Train	Spinoza de Costa	Episode "The Maidie Brant Story," Season 3, Episode 16, airdate: Jan. 20, 1960
	Men into Space	Dr. Luraski	Episode "From Another World"
	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Marshall Mays	Episode "The Ox"
	Perry Mason	Cmdr. Driscoll	Episode "The Case of the Slandered Submarine," "The Case of the Larcenous Lady"
1960-1963	Bonanza	Harvey Bufford / Wade Colly / Will Flanders	Episodes: "The Outcast", "The Guilty" and "The Colonel"
1961	The Twilight Zone	The Doctor	Episode "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim"
	Boris Karloff's Thriller	Jim Weeks	Episode "Late Date"
1962	Wagon Train	Cyrus Bolton	Episode "The Frank Carter Story," Season 5, Episode 34, airdate: May 23, 1962
	Bronco	Sheriff Ben Lockwood	Episode "Ride the Whirlwind"
	The Rifleman	Senator Jim Borden	Episode "The Assailants"
	Ripcord	Jake Miller	Episode "Million Dollar Drop"
1963	The Outer Limits	Dean Radcliffe	Episode "The Man with the Power"
1964	The Outer Limits	Mr. Terrence	Episode "The Special One"
	Kraft Suspense Theatre	2nd patient (Sam)	Episode "The Gun"
	The Outer Limits	David Hunt	Episode "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"
	The Virginian	Stuart Brynmar	Episode "The Secret of Brynmar Hall"
Petticoat Junction	General Patterson	Episode "The Lost Patrol"
1965-1970	Get Smart	Chief of CONTROL	"Thadeus"
1969-1970	The Governor & J.J.	Orrin Hacker	Recurring role
1970	Bewitched	Jennings Booker	Season 7 Episode 10 Samantha's Old Man
1971	The Odd Couple	Bill Donnelly	Episode "Oscar's New Life"
1972	The Snoop Sisters	Jules Nero	Episode The Female Instinct

External links

• Edward Platt at IMDb
• Edward Platt at the Internet Broadway Database
• "Chief" places 6th on Great Secondary TV Characters list