Acting
Edward Platt
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 / gr-home@pacbell.ne
Filmography
The Female Instinct
Film · 1972
Temperatures Rising
Series · 1972
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
Series · 1971
The Odd Couple
Series · 1970
Love, American Style
Series · 1969
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Series · 1968
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
Film · 1967
CBS Playhouse
Series · 1966
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Film · 1965
Johnny Shiloh
Film · 1965
Get Smart
Series · 1965
Bullet for a Badman
Film · 1964
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Series · 1964
Black Zoo
Film · 1963
A Ticklish Affair
Film · 1963
Burke's Law
Series · 1963
Petticoat Junction
Series · 1963
The Outer Limits
Series · 1963
Arrest and Trial
Series · 1963
Arrest and Trial
Series · 1963
Arrest and Trial
Series · 1963
The Outer Limits
Series · 1963
The Outer Limits
Series · 1963
Temple Houston
Series · 1963
Arrest and Trial
Series · 1963
Cape Fear
Film · 1962
Saints and Sinners
Series · 1962
The Virginian
Series · 1962
General Electric True
Series · 1962
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Film · 1961
Who Killed Julie Greer?
Film · 1961
The Explosive Generation
Film · 1961
The Fiercest Heart
Film · 1961
Dr. Kildare
Series · 1961
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Series · 1961
Pollyanna
Film · 1960
Cash McCall
Film · 1960
Surfside 6
Series · 1960
Thriller
Series · 1960
North by Northwest
Film · 1959
Inside the Mafia
Film · 1959
The Rebel Set
Film · 1959
Destination Space
Film · 1959
They Came to Cordura
Film · 1959
The Twilight Zone
Series · 1959
The Lawless Years
Series · 1959
Rawhide
Series · 1959
One Step Beyond
Series · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
The Deputy
Series · 1959
Rawhide
Series · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
Hawaiian Eye
Series · 1959
Mr. Lucky
Series · 1959
Gunman's Walk
Film · 1958
Damn Citizen
Film · 1958
The Last of the Fast Guns
Film · 1958
The High Cost of Loving
Film · 1958
Summer Love
Film · 1958
The Gift of Love
Film · 1958
77 Sunset Strip
Series · 1958
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Series · 1958
Peter Gunn
Series · 1958
The Rifleman
Series · 1958
Bat Masterson
Series · 1958
77 Sunset Strip
Series · 1958
Bronco
Series · 1958
Designing Woman
Film · 1957
House of Numbers
Film · 1957
The Tattered Dress
Film · 1957
The Helen Morgan Story
Film · 1957
Omar Khayyam
Film · 1957
Oregon Passage
Film · 1957
Trackdown
Series · 1957
Perry Mason
Series · 1957
Have Gun, Will Travel
Series · 1957
Alcoa Theatre
Series · 1957
Wagon Train
Series · 1957
Perry Mason
Series · 1957
Wagon Train
Series · 1957
Trackdown
Series · 1957
Trackdown
Series · 1957
Backlash
Film · 1956
Storm Center
Film · 1956
Written on the Wind
Film · 1956
The Steel Jungle
Film · 1956
The Unguarded Moment
Film · 1956
Reprisal!
Film · 1956
Rock, Pretty Baby
Film · 1956
The Great Man
Film · 1956
Serenade
Film · 1956
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
Film · 1956
The Proud Ones
Film · 1956
West Point
Series · 1956
Wire Service
Series · 1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Series · 1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Series · 1956
State Trooper
Series · 1956
State Trooper
Series · 1956
Rebel Without a Cause
Film · 1955
Cult of the Cobra
Film · 1955
Illegal
Film · 1955
The Shrike
Film · 1955
Sincerely Yours
Film · 1955
Gunsmoke
Series · 1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Series · 1955
The Wonderful World of Disney
Series · 1954
The Wonderful World of Disney
Series · 1954
The Wonderful World of Disney
Series · 1954
Studio 57
Series · 1954
The Wonderful World of Disney
Series · 1954
Letter to Loretta
Series · 1953
Letter to Loretta
Series · 1953
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
Cavalcade of America
Series · 1952
Cavalcade of America
Series · 1952
Four Star Playhouse
Series · 1952
Four Star Playhouse
Series · 1952
Four Star Playhouse
Series · 1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Series · 1951
I Was a Male War Bride
Film · 1949