Weekly Movie Challenge

Edward Platt

Biography

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 / [email protected]

Actor

The Snoop Sisters

1972

as Julius Nero

Get Smart: A Man Called Smart

1967

as Chief

The Further Adventures of Gallegher

1965

as The Judge

Bullet for a Badman

1964

as Tucker

A Ticklish Affair

1963

as Captain Haven Hitchcock

Black Zoo

1963

as Chief Rivers

Johnny Shiloh

1963

as General Thomas

Cape Fear

1962

as Judge

The Explosive Generation

1961

as Mr. Morton

Who Killed Julie Greer?

1961

as Joe Nolan

Atlantis: The Lost Continent

1961

as Azor the High Priest

The Fiercest Heart

1961

as Madrigo

Pollyanna

1960

as Ben Tarbell

Cash McCall

1960

as Harrison Glenn

Inside the Mafia

1959

as Dan Regent

North by Northwest

1959

as Victor Larrabee

The Rebel Set

1959

as Mr. Tucker / Mr. T

They Came to Cordura

1959

as Col. DeRose

Destination Space

1959

as Dr. Easton (as Edward C. Platt)

Gunman's Walk

1958

as Purcell Avery

The Last of the Fast Guns

1958

as Sam Grypton

The High Cost of Loving

1958

as Eli Cave

Summer Love

1958

as Dr. Thomas Daley

Damn Citizen

1958

as Joseph Kosta (as Edward C. Platt)

The Gift of Love

1958

as Dr. Jim Miller

Oregon Passage

1957

as Roland Dane

The Helen Morgan Story

1957

as Johnny Haggerty

House of Numbers

1957

as The Warden

Omar Khayyam

1957

as Jayhan

Designing Woman

1957

as Martin J. Daylor

The Tattered Dress

1957

as Ralph Adams, Reporter (as Edward C. Platt)

The Unguarded Moment

1956

as Attorney Briggs (as Edward C. Platt)

Rock, Pretty Baby

1956

as Thomas Daley Sr.

The Great Man

1956

as Dr. O'Conner (as Edward C. Platt)

Reprisal!

1956

as Neil Shipley

Written on the Wind

1956

as Dr. Paul Cochrane

Storm Center

1956

as Rev. Wilson

The Proud Ones

1956

as Dr. Barlow

Serenade

1956

as Everett Carter

Backlash

1956

as Sheriff J.C. Marson

The Steel Jungle

1956

as Judge Wahller

The Lieutenant Wore Skirts

1956

as Major Dunning - Psychiatrist

Sincerely Yours

1955

as Dr. Eubank (uncredited)

Rebel Without a Cause

1955

as Ray Fremick

Illegal

1955

as Ralph Ford

The Shrike

1955

as Harry Downs (as Edward C. Platt)

Cult of the Cobra

1955

as Lamian Threatening Death (uncredited)

I Was a Male War Bride

1949

as Lieutenant in Gates' Office (uncredited)