William Schallert

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William Schallert
Schallert at the 2000 Academy Awards
President of the Screen Actors Guild
In office
1979–1981
Preceded byKathleen Nolan
Succeeded byEdward Asner
Personal details
Born
William Joseph Schallert

(1922-07-06) July 6, 1922 (age 101)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor

William Joseph Schallert[1] (born July 6, 1922) is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as Perry Mason, The Smurfs, Jefferson Drum, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, The Patty Duke Show, 87th Precinct, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get Smart, Lawman, and in later years, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

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 began his career as a News Anchor, in Cleveland, Ohio. Schallert has appeared in supporting roles on numerous television programs since the early 1950s including Gunsmoke, season 4, episode 16 "Gypsum Hills Fued " in 1958. 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 deWilde, Pillow Talk (1959) with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, In the Heat of the Night (1967) with Rod Steiger, Speedway (1968) with Elvis Presley, The Partridge Family As very humble folk singing guitar player with "Stage Fright" January 1971 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

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. Schallert made three guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason between 1957-1962, including the role of Donald Graves in the series' fifth episode, "The Case of the Sulky Girl," and Dr. Bradbury in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Misguided Missile." 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.One interesting sidelight, Schallert appeared in Both the movie version of "In The Heat of The Night" 1967 and the TV version, of In The Heat of the Night, in 1992...a very rare feat.

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 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 2008 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, Schallert 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.

Filmography (partial in alphabetical order)

References

  1. ^ a b "William Schallert Biography". Film Reference. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  2. ^ William Shallert at the TCM Movie Database

External links

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