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.
Cause of death	Suicide
Alma mater	Juilliard School
Years active	1949 – 1974
Spouse	Suzanne Belcher ​ ​ (m. 1954⁠–⁠1974)​ (his death) (4 children)

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 countenance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.

Stage, film, and television career

Platt was born in Staten Island, New York, and studied at the Juilliard School. He attended Princeton University, but left after his freshman year. Platt served in the United States Army during World War II.

A powerful, operatically trained bass-baritone, he debuted on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. José Ferrer, who performed with Platt in the Broadway play The Shrike, helped Platt land his first film role in the 1955 film version. Also in 1955, he appeared in Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo. Platt returned to Broadway in 1958 with the musical Oh, Captain!, playing a romantic role. In 1959, he played Cary Grant's attorney in North by Northwest. In 1959, Platt starred in the movie The Rebel Set, which was "riffed" by the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Platt also appeared in episodes of the original Perry Mason, State Trooper (in the episode "Who Killed Doc Robbins"), Men into Space (in the episode "From Another World"), Bonanza, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits (in the first-season episode "The Man with the Power"), The Dick Van Dyke Show (in "A Nice Friendly Game Of Cards"), "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea", and The Twilight Zone.

His most famous role was the regular role of Chief in the espionage parody television series Get Smart (1965–1970). After the series ended, he played a recurring role in situation comedy series The Governor & J.J. in 1970. He had guest roles in several other television series of the era, mostly comedies. These included 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 color motion pictures shot entirely on videotape: Santee, starring Glenn Ford. Platt saw the advantages of using videotape over film, and his crew shot the production with electronic TV cameras and portable VTRs, then had the images transferred to film for theatrical release. The movie was not commercially successful.

Death

On March 19, 1974, Platt's body was found in his apartment. It was widely reported that he died of an apparent heart attack. One of his sons later confirmed that Platt had, in fact, committed suicide after two previous attempts; he suffered from undiagnosed and untreated depression that was exacerbated by financial troubles. He left four children from two marriages and a brother living in Santa Barbara, California. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

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
	Rebel Without a Cause	Ray Fremick
	Illegal	Ralph Ford
	Sincerely Yours	Dr. Eubank	Uncredited
1956	The Lieutenant Wore Skirts	Major Dunning
	The Steel Jungle	Judge Wahller
	Serenade	Everett Carter
	Backlash	Sheriff J.C. Marson	Credited as Edward C. Platt
	The Proud Ones	Dr. Barlow
	Storm Center	Rev. Wilson
	Reprisal!	Neil Shipley
	The Unguarded Moment	Attorney Briggs
	Rock, Pretty Baby	Thomas Daley Sr. M.D.
	The Great Man	Dr. O'Connor
	Written on the Wind	Dr. Paul Cochrane
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
	Summer Love	Dr. Thomas Daley
	Oregon Passage	Roland Dane
	Damn Citizen	Joseph Kosta
1958	The Gift of Love	Dr. Jim Miller
	The Last of the Fast Guns	Sam Grypton	Credited as Edward C. Platt
	The High Cost of Loving	Eli Cave
	Gunman's Walk	Purcell Avery
1959	They Came to Cordura	Col. DeRose
	The Rebel Set	Mr. Tucker / Mr. T
	North by Northwest	Victor Larrabee
	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	Johnny Shiloh	General Thomas
	Black Zoo	Detective Rivers
	A Ticklish Affair	Captain Haven Hitchcock
1964	Bullet for a Badman	Tucker
	Shock Treatment	District Attorney	Uncredited
1965	The Man from Button Willow	The Man In The Black Cape	Voice, Uncredited

Television credits

Year	Series	Role	Notes
1959	Wagon Train	Matthew Sinclair	Episode "The Duke LeMay Story"
1960	Men into Space	Dr. Luraski	Episode "From Another World"
1961	The Twilight Zone	The Doctor	Episode "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim"
1964	The Outer Limits	David Hunt	Episode "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"
1965-1970	Get Smart	Chief of CONTROL
1969-1970	The Governor & J.J.	Orrin Hacker	Recurring role
1971	The Odd Couple	Bill Donnelly	Episode "Oscar's New Life"

External links

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