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Richard Basehart
Actor
Died September 17, 1984 (70 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.
One of his most notable film roles was the acrobat known as "the Fool" in the acclaimed Italian film La strada directed by Federico Fellini. He also appeared as the killer in the film noir classic He Walked by Night (1948), as a psychotic member of the Hatfield clan in Roseanna McCoy (1949), as Ishmael in Moby Dick (1956), and in the drama Decision Before Dawn (1951). He was married to Italian Academy Award-nominated actress Valentina Cortese, with whom he had one son before their divorce in 1960. Cortese and Basehart also costarred in Robert Wise's The House on Telegraph Hill (1951).
Basehart was also noted for his deep, distinctive voice and was prolific as a narrator of many television and movie projects ranging from features to documentaries. In 1980, Basehart narrated the mini-series written by Peter Arnett called Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War that covered Vietnam and its battles from the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945 to the final American embassy evacuation on April 30, 1975. He appeared in the pilot episode of the television series Knight Rider as billionaire Wilton Knight. He is the narrator at the beginning of the show's credits.
In 1971, Basehart played "Captain Sligo", a comical Irishman with a pet buffalo who negotiates a flawed but legal cattle purchase and unconventionally courts a widow with two children, played by Salome Jens, in CBS's western series, Gunsmoke, with James Arness. Basehart appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, and as Hannibal Applewood, an abusive schoolteacher in Little House on the Prairie in 1976.
In 1972, he appeared in the Columbo episode Dagger of the Mind in which he and Honor Blackman played a husband-and-wife theatrical team who were loose parodies of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. In the feature realm, he played a supporting role as a doctor in Rage (1972), a theatrical feature starring and directed by George C. Scott. He made a few TV movies including Sole Survivor (1970) and The Birdmen (1971). Both were based on true stories during World War II.
He died at age 70 following a series of strokes. One month before his death, Basehart was an announcer for the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
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Filmography
| 2020 | Fellini of the Spirits · as Raul detto Picasso |
| 2017 | The Green Fog · as Howard Mason |
| 2003 | Los Angeles Plays Itself · as Roy Morgan |
| 1991 | Knight Rider 2000 · as Wilton Knight - Flashback sequence |
| 1983 | The Crowded Life · as Narrator |
| 1982 | Knight Rider (TV Series) · as Wilton Knight |
| 1981 | Mr. Merlin (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1981 | Masada (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1980 | Marilyn: The Untold Story · as John Huston |
| 1979 | Being There · as Vladimir Skrapinov |
| 1979 | Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) · as Slade |
| 1978 | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court · as King Arthur |
| 1978 | Vega$ (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1978 | Greatest Heroes of the Bible (TV Series) · as Johtan |
| 1977 | The Great Bank Hoax · as Manny Benchly |
| 1977 | The Love Boat (TV Series) · as Stan Ellis |
| 1977 | The Island of Dr. Moreau · as Sayer of the Law |
| 1976 | Mansion of the Doomed · as Dr. Leonard Chaney |
| 1976 | 21 Hours at Munich · as Willy Brandt |
| 1976 | How the West Was Won (TV Series) · as Colonel Flint |
| 1974 | Little House on the Prairie (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1973 | ...and Millions Die! · as Dr Douglas Pruitt |
| 1972 | Chato's Land · as Nye Buell |
| 1972 | The Bounty Man · as Angus Keough |
| 1972 | Rage · as Dr. Roy Caldwell |
| 1972 | The Streets of San Francisco (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1971 | City Beneath the Sea · as The President |
| 1971 | The Birdmen · as Schiller |
| 1971 | Columbo (TV Series) · as Nicholas Framer |
| 1970 | The Andersonville Trial · as Henry Wirz |
| 1969 | Love Is a Funny Thing · as Acteur - cameo appearance |
| 1969 | Hans Brinker · as Dr. Boeker |
| 1969 | Giotto · as Narrator |
| 1969 | Marcus Welby, M.D. (TV Series) · as Professor Andrew Kirkcastle |
| 1968 | Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) · as Murdock |
| 1967 | Ironside (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1965 | The Satan Bug · as Dr. Gregor Hoffman |
| 1965 | Lost in Space (TV Series) · as Shakespeare-Reading Tape Recorder Voice |
| 1965 | National Geographic Specials (TV Series) · as Narrator |
| 1964 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV Series) · as Adm. Harriman Nelson |
| 1963 | Kings of the Sun · as Ah Min |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1962 | Hitler · as Adolf Hitler |
| 1962 | Combat! (TV Series) · as Capt. Steiner |
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) · as Philip Townsend |
| 1961 | The Savage Guns · as Steve Fallon |
| 1960 | For the Love of Mike · as Father Phelan |
| 1960 | Route 66 (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1959 | Rawhide (TV Series) · as Tod Stone |
| 1959 | The Twilight Zone (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1958 | The Brothers Karamazov · as Ivan Karamazov |
| 1958 | Love and Troubles · as Unknown |
| 1958 | Naked City (TV Series) · as Lester Bergson |
| 1957 | Time Limit · as Maj. Harry Cargill |
| 1957 | Miracles of Thursday · as Martino |
| 1956 | Moby Dick · as Ishmael |
| 1956 | Finger of Guilt · as Reginald 'Reggie' Wilson |
| 1956 | Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) · as David Manning |
| 1955 | Canyon Crossroads · as Larry Kendall |
| 1955 | La vena d'oro · as Ing. Stefano Manfredi |
| 1955 | Il Bidone · as Picasso |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Captain Aron Sligo |
| 1955 | Cartouche · as Il conte Jacques de Maudy |
| 1954 | The Road · as Il 'Matto' |
| 1954 | The Good Die Young · as Joe Halsey |
| 1954 | Jailbirds · as Dottor Stefano Luprandi |
| 1954 | Angels of Darkness · as Bit Part |
| 1953 | Titanic · as George S. Headley |
| 1951 | Decision Before Dawn · as Lt. Dick Rennick |
| 1951 | The House on Telegraph Hill · as Alan Spender |
| 1951 | Fixed Bayonets! · as Cpl. Denno |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Conway |
| 1949 | Reign of Terror · as Maximilian Robespierre |
| 1949 | Roseanna McCoy · as Mounts Hatfield |
| 1948 | He Walked by Night · as Roy Martin / Roy Morgan |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) · as Matt Donovan |
| 1947 | Repeat Performance · as William Williams |
| 1947 | Cry Wolf · as James Caldwell Demarest |