William Schallert

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
William Schallert

Schallert at the 1990 Academy Awards
Born William Joseph Schallert
July 6, 1922 (1922-07-06) (age 89)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1947–present
Spouse Rosemarie D. Waggner (1949-present)

William Joseph Schallert[1] (born July 6, 1922) is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get Smart and Lawman.

Contents

[edit] Life and career

Schallert was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Elza Emily (née Baumgarten) and Edwin Francis Schallert, a drama editor.[1] Schallert has appeared in supporting roles on numerous television programs since the early 1950s. He has also appeared in several movies, including The Man from Planet X (1951) with Robert Clarke, The Tarnished Angels (1958) with Robert Stack, Blue Denim (1959) with Brandon De Wilde, In the Heat of the Night (1967) with Rod Steiger, Speedway (1968) with Elvis Presley, The Jerk (1979) with Steve Martin, Teachers (1984) with Nick Nolte, and Innerspace (1987), in which he played Martin Short's doctor. He also played (uncredited) an ambulance attendant in the early minutes of the 1950s sci-fi classic, Them! (1954). He appeared three times as Major Karl Richmond on NBC's Steve Canyon, starring Dean Fredericks in the title role. He is a founding member of the Circle Players at The Circle Theatre, started in 1946, now known as El Centro Theatre.

Schallert is known as the editor of a newspaper (The Chronicle) and patriarch Mr. Martin Lane on The Patty Duke Show, as a wise teacher, Mr. Leander Pomfritt on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and also as The Admiral on Get Smart. Coincidentally, on the two former shows he worked opposite actress Jean Byron. He is also remembered for playing the role of Nilz Baris in the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles". He also appeared in the archive footage of that episode which was used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations". Schallert appeared in DS9 himself, in the second season episode "Sanctuary", in which he played Varani, a Bajoran musician.

Schallert starred in Philbert, an innovative 1964 TV pilot for ABC, which combined live action camera work and animation. Created by Friz Freleng and directed by Richard Donner, ABC backed out of the series shortly before full production was to begin, though the completed pilot was released in theaters as a short subject.

Schallert played the role of Carson Drew in the television series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977–1979), featuring Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew. In 1981, he guest starred in several Waltons episodes.

In addition to his onscreen performances, Schallert has done voiceover work for numerous television and radio commercials over the years. Among these were a recurring role as "Milton the Toaster" in animated commercials for Kellogg's Pop-Tarts.[2]

Schallert was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1979 to 1981 (his former co-star and television daughter, Patty Duke, would follow him from 1985 to 1988).

He continues to work steadily, appearing in a 2007 episode of How I Met Your Mother, the HBO television movie Recount (2008) as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, the HBO series True Blood, and his distinctive voice continues to bring him work for commercial and animation voiceovers. 2009 appearances included a guest role on "Desperate Housewives" on March 15, 2009, in which he played the role of a small newspaper editor, and he also appeared in an episode of According to Jim. More recently he appeared in the January 21, 2010 pilot episode of The Deep End on ABC as a retiring CEO with Alzheimer's Disease. He also made an appearance on Medium on the February 5, 2010 episode and a cameo on the June 26, 2011 season premiere of True Blood as the Mayor of Bon Temps. He played Max Devore, a secondary antagonist, in the A&E adaptation of Bag of Bones. In 2011, he also made a series of Public Service Announcement videos with Patty Duke and other castmates from The Patty Duke Show for the Social Security Administration, which can be found at www.ssa.gov.

[edit] Filmography (Partial)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b http://www.filmreference.com/film/94/William-Schallert.html
  2. ^ William Schallert (biography) – Turner Classic Movies.

[edit] External links

Ralph Morgan (1933) · Eddie Cantor (1933) · Robert Montgomery (1935) · Ralph Morgan (1938) · Edward Arnold (1940) · James Cagney (1942) · George Murphy (1944) · Robert Montgomery (1946) · Ronald Reagan (1947) · Walter Pidgeon (1952) · Leon Ames (1957) · Howard Keel (1958) · Ronald Reagan (1959) · George Chandler (1960) · Dana Andrews (1963) · Charlton Heston (1965) · John Gavin (1971) · Dennis Weaver (1973) · Kathleen Nolan (1975) · William Schallert (1979) · Edward Asner (1981) · Patty Duke (1985) · Barry Gordon (1988) · Richard Masur (1995) · William Daniels (1999) · Melissa Gilbert (2001) · Alan Rosenberg (2005) · Ken Howard (2009)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Schallert&oldid=478987583"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages