William Schallert

William Schallert
Schallert at the 1990 Academy Awards
Born	William Joseph Schallert July 6, 1922 (1922-07-06) (age 87) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1947–present
Spouse(s)	Rosemarie D. Waggner (1949-present)

William Joseph Schallert^[1] (born July 6, 1922) is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Leave It To Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Get Smart.

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 has appeared in supporting roles on numerous television programs since the early 1950s. He has also appeared in several movies, including The Man from Planet X (1951) with Robert Clarke, The Tarnished Angels (1958) with Robert Stack, In the Heat of the Night (1967) with Rod Steiger, The Jerk (1979) with Steve Martin, Speedway (1968) with Elvis Presley, 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 was a founding member of the Circle Players at The Circle Theatre, started in 1946, now know as El Centro Theatre

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 the late actress Jean Byron. 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.

Schallert starred in an innovative 1964 TV pilot for ABC Philbert, 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 1981, he guest starred in several Waltons episodes.

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.

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 most recently in a 2007 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. Most recently he had a guest role on "Desperate Housewives" on March 15, 2009. He played the role of a small newspaper editor. He also appeared in an episode of According to Jim.

Filmography

References

External links

• William Schallert at the Internet Movie Database
• William Schallert at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• William Schallert Interview at Elvis2001.net