Richard Basehart | |
|---|---|
 Basehart in 1969 | |
| Born | John Richard Basehart (1914-08-31)August 31, 1914 Zanesville, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | September 17, 1984(1984-09-17) (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Burial place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1938–1984 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingJackie |
John Richard Basehart[1] (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. Known for his "deep, resonant baritone voice and craggy good looks,"[2] he was active in film, theatre and television from 1947 until 1983. He won twoNational Board of Review Awards, for his performances inFourteen Hours (1951) andMoby Dick (1956), and was nominated for aBAFTA Award forTime Limit (1957).
Basehart was known to television viewers for starring as AdmiralHarriman Nelson on the televisionscience-fiction dramaVoyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–68). He also portrayedWilton Knight in the pilot episode of the TV seriesKnight Rider (1982), and provided thenarration that was heard during the opening credits throughout the entire series. He appeared in a number of British and Italian films in the mid-1950s, includingFederico Fellini'sLa Strada andIl Bidone. He also narrated a wide range of television and film projects.
In 1960, Basehart received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion-picture industry.[1]
Basehart was born inZanesville, Ohio, one of five children born to Mae (née Wetherald) and Harry T. Basehart, a former actor turned editor ofThe Zanesville Times-Signal. He worked as a reporter at his father's newspaper and as a radio announcer in Zanesville andColumbus, Ohio, before entering a stage career at theHedgerow Theatre in Pennsylvania,[3] where he met his first wife Stephanie Klein, a costume designer.[4]
Basehart made hisBroadway debut in 1938. He won the 1945New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Young Actor for his starring role inJohn Patrick's playThe Hasty Heart, which was adapted into a1949 film of the same name. He made his film debut withRepeat Performance (1947). So confident wasEagle-Lion Films in his performance that the film was first screened in his hometown.[5]
He soon appeared as the killer in thefilm noir classicHe Walked by Night (1948) for Eagle-Lion, then he appeared as a psychotic member of theHatfield clan inRoseanna McCoy (1949), asMaximilien Robespierre in the period film noirReign of Terror (1949), as a timid husband inTension (1950), as Ishmael inMoby Dick (1956), in the dramaDecision Before Dawn (1951), George S. Healey inTitanic (1953) and as Ivan inThe Brothers Karamazov (1958).
One of his most notable film roles was the acrobat and clown known as "the Fool" in the acclaimed Italian filmLa Strada (1954), directed byFederico Fellini.[6] He starred in a French-Australian dramaThe Restless and the Damned,[7] portrayed thetitle character inHitler (1962), and a high priest inKings of the Sun (1963).
Basehart played a supporting role as a doctor in the feature filmRage (1972), a theatrical feature starring and directed byGeorge C. Scott. Also in the 1970s, he co-starred inChato's Land (1972) andThe Island of Dr. Moreau (1977). In 1979, he appeared as a Russian diplomat withPeter Sellers inBeing There.[8]
From 1964 to 1968, Basehart played the lead role, Admiral Harriman Nelson, onIrwin Allen's first foray into science-fiction television,Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.[8]
Basehart appeared in the pilot episode of the television seriesKnight Rider as billionaire Wilton Knight. He is the narrator at the beginning of the show's credits.[9] He accepted thelead role in the 1962 filmHitler. He appeared in "Probe 7, Over and Out", an episode ofThe Twilight Zone,[10]Hawaii Five-O, and as Hannibal Applewood, an abusive schoolteacher inLittle House on the Prairie in 1976. In 1972, Basehart appeared in theColumbo episode "Dagger of the Mind", in whichHonor Blackman and he played a husband-and-wife theatrical team who accidentally kill Sir Roger Haversham, the producer of their rendition of Macbeth.[11]
Basehart made a few TV movies, includingSole Survivor (1970) andThe Birdmen (1971). Both were based on true stories duringWorld War II.
Basehart narrated a wide range of television and movie projects. As well as appearing onscreen asIshmael, he also read extended passages ofMelville's prose while relating theabridged story forJohn Huston andRay Bradbury's version ofMoby Dick.
In 1964, he narrated theDavid Wolper documentary about theKennedyassassination,Four Days in November.[12] In 1980, Basehart narrated the miniseries written byPeter Arnett calledVietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War that coveredVietnam and its battles from the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, to the final American embassy evacuation on April 30, 1975.[13]
One month before his death, Basehart narrated a poem during the extinguishing of the flame at the closing ceremonies of the1984 Summer Olympics.[14][15]
Basehart was married three times. His first wife, Stephanie Klein, died following a brain operation in July 1950.[4] He next married Italian actressValentina Cortese in 1951, with whom he had one son, actorJackie Basehart; the couple divorced in 1960.[16][17]
In 1962, he married his third wife, Diana Lotery, with whom he had two children. He and Diana remained married until his death in 1984.[18]
Basehart died in Los Angeles on September 17, 1984, following a series of strokes. He was 70 years old. His body was cremated, and the ashes interred atWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[8]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Repeat Performance | William Williams | |
| Cry Wolf | James Demarest | ||
| 1948 | He Walked by Night | Roy Martin / Roy Morgan | |
| 1949 | Roseanna McCoy | Mounts Hatfield | |
| Reign of Terror | Maximilian Robespierre | ||
| 1950 | Tension | Warren Quimby / Paul Sothern | |
| Outside the Wall | Larry Nelson | ||
| Side Street | Bank Teller | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | Fourteen Hours | Robert Cosick | |
| The House on Telegraph Hill | Alan Spender | ||
| Fixed Bayonets! | Corporal Denno | ||
| Decision Before Dawn | Lieutenant Dick Rennick | ||
| 1953 | Titanic | George S.Healey / FatherThomas Byles | |
| 1954 | The Stranger's Hand | Joe Hamstringer | |
| Angels of Darkness | Bit Part | Uncredited | |
| The Good Die Young | Joe Halsey | ||
| La Strada | The Fool | ||
| Avanzi di galera | Dr. Stefano Luprandi | ||
| 1955 | Canyon Crossroads | Larry Kendall | |
| Le avventure di Cartouche | Count Jacques de Maudy | ||
| Golden Vein | Stefano Manfredi | ||
| Il bidone | Raul "Picasso" | ||
| 1956 | The Extra Day | Joe Blake | |
| Moby Dick | Ishmael | ||
| The Intimate Stranger | Reginald 'Reggie' Wilson | ||
| 1957 | Miracles of Thursday | Martino | |
| Time Limit | Major Harry Cargill | ||
| 1958 | The Brothers Karamazov | Ivan Karamazov | |
| Love and Troubles | Paolo Martelli | ||
| 1959 | The Restless and the Damned | George Rancourt | |
| Jons und Erdme | Wittkuhn, der Schmied | ||
| 1960 | Five Branded Women | Captain Eric Reinhardt | |
| Portrait in Black | Howard Mason | ||
| For the Love of Mike | Father Francis Phelan | ||
| Passport to China | Don Benton | ||
| 1962 | Hitler | Adolf Hitler | |
| Savage Guns | Steve Fallon | ||
| 1963 | Kings of the Sun | Ah Min | |
| 1965 | The Satan Bug | Dr. Gregor Hoffman | |
| 1969 | Love Is a Funny Thing | Himself | Cameo appearance |
| Giotto | Narrator (voice) | ||
| 1972 | Chato's Land | Nye Buell | |
| Rage | Dr. Roy Caldwell | ||
| 1976 | Mansion of the Doomed | Dr. Leonard Chaney | |
| 1977 | The Island of Dr. Moreau | Sayer of the Law | |
| 1978 | The Great Bank Hoax | Manny Benchly | |
| 1979 | Being There | Vladimir Skrapinov |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Studio One | Matt Donovan | 2 episodes |
| 1957–60 | Playhouse 90 | Martin Lambert / David Connelly / Lionel Amblin / Himself - Host | 4 episodes |
| 1958 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | David Manning | Episode: "Medal for Valor" |
| 1960 | DuPont Show of the Month | Dr. George Ferguson | Episode: "Men in White" |
| Shangri-La | Hugh Conway | Television film | |
| 1961 | The Play of the Week | Stranger | Episode: "He Who Gets Slapped" |
| The Light That Failed | Dick Heldar | Television film | |
| Rawhide | Todd Stone | Season 4 Episode 7: "The Black Sheep" | |
| 1962 | The Paradine Case | Anthony Keane | Television film |
| Theatre '62 | Anthony Keane | Episode: "The Paradine Case" | |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | Narrator | Episode: "D-Day" | |
| Naked City | Lester Bergson | Episode: "Dust Devil on a Quiet Street" | |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Phillip Townsend / David Webber | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Black Curtain" | |
| 1963 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Miles Crawford | Season 2 Episode 7: "Starring the Defense" |
| Route 66 | Julian Roebuck | Episode: "You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti" | |
| The Dick Powell Theatre | Judge Zachary | Episode: "The Judge" | |
| Combat! | Captain Steiner | 2 episodes | |
| Ben Casey | Mark Cassidy | Episode: "Light Up the Dark Corners" | |
| Arrest and Trial | Alexander Stafford | Episode: "Inquest Into a Bleeding Heart" | |
| The Twilight Zone | Adam Cook | Episode: "Probe 7, Over and Out" | |
| 1964–68 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Admiral Harriman "Harry" Nelson | 110 episodes |
| 1965 | Lost in Space | Shakespeare-Reading Tape Recorder Voice | Episode: "The Derelict" |
| 1968 | The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich | Narrator | Documentary |
| 1969 | Hans Brinker | Dr. Boekman | Television film |
| 1970 | Sole Survivor | Brigadier General Russell Hamner | |
| The Andersonville Trial | Henry Wirz | ||
| Ironside | Noel Seymour | Episode: "Noel's Gonna Fly" | |
| Dan August | Professor Theodore Rye | Episode: "Quadrangle for Death" | |
| 1971 | Gunsmoke | Captain Aron Sligo | Episode: "Captain Sligo" |
| City Beneath the Sea | the President | Television film | |
| They've Killed President Lincoln! | Host / Narrator | ||
| The Birdmen | Schiller | ||
| The Death of Me Yet | Robert Barnes | ||
| 1972 | Assignment: Munich | Major Barney Caldwell | |
| The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | Dr. Stephen McLayne | Episode: "Is This Operation Necessary?" | |
| The Bounty Man | Angus Keough | Television film | |
| Columbo | Nicholas Frame | Episode: "Dagger of the Mind" | |
| 1973 | Hawaii Five-O | Bernard Murdock | Episode: "The Odd Lot Caper" |
| And Millions Will Die | Dr. Douglas Pruitt | Television film | |
| Maneater | Carl Brenner | ||
| 1974 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Reece Sutton / Professor Andrew Kirkcastle | 2 episodes |
| The First Woman President | Woodrow Wilson | Television film | |
| 1975 | Judgment: The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley | George Latimer | |
| The American Parade | Lambdin Milligan | Episode: "The Case Against Milligan" | |
| Medical Story | Dr. Charles Galpin | Episode: "The God Syndrome" | |
| Joe Forrester | Al Morgan | Episode: "No Probable Cause" | |
| Valley Forge | General George Washington | Television film | |
| 1976 | The Streets of San Francisco | Bishop Tim Farrow | Episode: "Requiem for Murder" |
| Little House on the Prairie | Hannibal Applewood | Episode: "Troublemaker" | |
| Time Travelers | Dr. Joshua Henderson | Television film | |
| 21 Hours at Munich | Chancellor Willy Brandt | ||
| Flood! | John Cutler | ||
| 1977 | Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? | Elliott Osborn | |
| 1978 | How the West Was Won | Colonel Harry Albert Flint | 3 episodes |
| Once Upon a Classic | King Arthur | Episode: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" | |
| The Critical List | Matt Kinsella | Television film | |
| W.E.B. | Gus Dunlap | 5 episodes | |
| 1979 | The Rebels | Duke of Kentland | Television miniseries |
| Greatest Heroes of the Bible | Johtan | Episode: "Tower of Babel" | |
| The Christmas Songs | Television film | ||
| 1980 | Marilyn: The Untold Story | Johnny Hyde | |
| 1981 | Vegas | J. Terrance Wainwright | Episode: "Set Up" |
| Masada | Narrator, Modern Day Scene | Television miniseries | |
| The Love Boat | Stan Ellis | Episode: "Chef's Special/Beginning Anew/Kleinschmidt" | |
| Mr. Merlin | Herbert Montrose | Episode: "A Moment in Camelot" | |
| 1982–86 | Knight Rider | Narrator (voice) / Wilton Knight | Episode: "Knight of the Phoenix: Part 1"[a] 83 episodes[b] |
| 1983 | Tales of the Unexpected | Slade | Episode: "The Turn of the Tide" |
| The Crowded Life | Narrator | Television film |
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | National Board of Review Awards | Best Actor | Fourteen Hours | Won | [19] |
| 1956 | Best Supporting Actor | Moby Dick | [20] | ||
| 1958 | BAFTA Awards | Best Foreign Actor | Time Limit | Nominated | [21] |
| 1960 | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Motion Pictures | - | Inducted | [22] |
| International | |
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