Edward Platt

This article is about the American actor. For the English author, see Edward Platt (author). For the English professional footballer, see Ted Platt.

Edward Platt
Platt in The Rebel Set (1959)
Born	Edward Cuthbert Platt (1916-02-14)February 14, 1916 Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Died	March 19, 1974(1974-03-19) (aged 58) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Juilliard School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1941–1974
Spouse	Suzanne Belcher ​ ​ (m. 1954; div. 1973)​
Children	4

Edward Cuthbert Platt (February 14, 1916 – March 19, 1974) was an American actor widely known for his portrayal of the Chief in the 1965–1970 NBC/CBS television series: Get Smart. With his deep voice and mature appearance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.

Early life and military service

Platt was born in Staten Island, New York. He spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky and upstate New York, where he attended the Northwood School, a private school in Lake Placid, and was a member of the ski jump team. He also studied at the Juilliard School. He attended Princeton University, but left after his freshman year. He served in the United States Army during World War II. Before becoming an actor, he sang for two years with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

Acting career

Platt in the TV series Four Star Playhouse (1954)

Virginia Brissac, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Edward Platt and James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

An operatically trained bass-baritone with a powerful voice, he debuted on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. José Ferrer, who performed with Platt in the Broadway play The Shrike, helped him land his first film role in the 1955 film version. Also in 1955, Platt appeared in Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo.In 1957 he had a supporting role in “Designing Woman” with Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall. He returned to Broadway in 1958 with the musical Oh, Captain!, in a romantic role. In 1959, he played Cary Grant's attorney in North by Northwest, and he starred in the movie The Rebel Set.

Platt also appeared in episodes of the original Perry Mason ("The Case of the Slandered Submarine" and "The Case of the Larcenous Lady"); 77 Sunset Strip, Trackdown, State Trooper (in the episode "Who Killed Doc Robbins"), Men into Space ("From Another World"), Ripcord ("Million Dollar Drop"), Gunsmoke, Bonanza, One Step Beyond, The Rifleman (S5 E7 "The Assailants" as Sen. Bordon 1962), Rawhide, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits ("The Man with the Power" and "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"), The Dick Van Dyke Show ("A Nice Friendly Game Of Cards"), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bat Masterson (in the 1959 episode "Incident in Leadville"), Tales of Wells Fargo, The Twilight Zone, and Wagon Train

Platt was widely known for his role as The Chief in the espionage parody television series Get Smart (1965–1970). After it ended, he had a recurring role in the situation comedy series The Governor & J.J. in 1970. He had guest roles in several other television series of the era, mostly comedies, including Temperatures Rising, Bewitched, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Love, American Style, and The Odd Couple as Oscar Madison's boss in the episode "Oscar's New Life".

Platt appeared as Sotto Voce in the 1969 KCET television reading of Norman Corwin's 1938 radio play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.

Work as producer

In 1973, Platt raised the money to produce one of the first independent feature films shot entirely on videotape: Santee, starring Glenn Ford. His crew shot the production with electronic TV cameras and portable video tape recorders, then had the images transferred to film for theatrical release. The movie was not commercially successful.

Death

On March 19, 1974, Platt was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment, at the age of 58. Initial reports indicated the cause of death was a heart attack, but Platt's son later said that his father died from suicide, after a long struggle with untreated depression.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1949	I Was a Male War Bride	Lieutenant in Gates's Office	Uncredited
1955	Cult of the Cobra	Lamian Threatening Death	Uncredited
	The Shrike	Harry Downs
	The McConnell Story	Medical Corps Instructor	Uncredited
	Illegal	Ralph Ford
	Rebel Without a Cause	Ray Fremick
	Sincerely Yours	Dr. Eubank	Uncredited
1956	The Lieutenant Wore Skirts	Major Dunning
	The Steel Jungle	Judge Wahller
	Backlash	Sheriff J.C. Marson	Credited as Edward C. Platt
	Serenade	Everett Carter
	The Proud Ones	Dr. Barlow
	Storm Center	Reverend Wilson
	The Unguarded Moment	Attorney Briggs
	Written on the Wind	Dr. Paul Cochrane
	Reprisal!	Neil Shipley
	Rock, Pretty Baby	Thomas Daley Sr. M.D.
	The Great Man	Dr. O'Connor
1957	The Tattered Dress	Ralph Adams
	Designing Woman	Martin J. Daylor
	Omar Khayyam	Jayhan
	House of Numbers	The Warden
	The Helen Morgan Story	Johnny Haggerty
	Oregon Passage	Roland Dane
1958	The Gift of Love	Dr. Jim Miller
	Damn Citizen	Joseph Kosta
	The High Cost of Loving	Eli Cave
	Summer Love	Dr. Thomas Daley
	The Last of the Fast Guns	Sam Grypton	Credited as Edward C. Platt
	Gunman's Walk	Purcell Avery
1959	The Rebel Set	Mr. Tucker / Mr. T
	North by Northwest	Victor Larrabee
	They Came to Cordura	Colonel DeRose
	Inside the Mafia	Dan Regent
1960	Cash McCall	Harrison Glenn
	Pollyanna	Ben Tarbell
1961	The Fiercest Heart	Madrigo
	Atlantis, the Lost Continent	Azar the High Priest
	Snow White and the Three Stooges	Villager	Uncredited
	The Explosive Generation	Mr. Morton
1962	Cape Fear	Judge
1963	Black Zoo	Detective Rivers
	Johnny Shiloh	General George Henry Thomas
	A Ticklish Affair	Captain Haven Hitchcock
1964	Shock Treatment	District Attorney	Uncredited
	Bullet for a Badman	Tucker
1965	The Man from Button Willow	The Man in the Black Cape	Voice, Uncredited

Television credits

Year	Series	Role	Notes
1955	Gunsmoke	Mr. Burgess	Season 1 Episode 7: "Smoking Out the Nolans"
1958	Silent Service	Captain Benítez	Episode: "The Last Dive"
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Doc Bell	Season 2 Episode 18: "Doc Bell"
	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Sheriff Galt	Season 2 Episode 14: "Trial by Fear"
1959	Wagon Train	Matthew Sinclair	Season 2 Episode 30: "The Duke LeMay Story" (airdate: April 29, 1959)
	Have Gun – Will Travel	Mayor	Season 2 Episode 17: "The Traffetta Mayor" (airdate: January 10, 1959)
	One Step Beyond	Will Denning	Season 1 Episode 16: "The Burning Girl" (airdate: May 5, 1959)
	Rawhide	Jason Clark	Season 2 Episode 6: "Incident of the Thirteenth Man" (airdate: October 23, 1959)
	Mr Lucky	Henry Praiswater	Season 1 Episode 3: "The Stowaway"
	Police Station	Desk Sergeant
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Doc Bell	Season 4 Episode 12: "Return of Doc Bell"
1960	Wagon Train	Spinoza de Costa	Season 3 Episode 16: "The Maidie Brant Story" (airdate: Jan. 20, 1960)
	Men into Space	Dr. Luraski	Season 1 Episode 29: "From Another World"
	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Marshall Mays	Season 5 Episode 4: "The Ox"
	Perry Mason	Commander Driscoll	Season 3 Episode 23: "The Case of the Slandered Submarine"
	Perry Mason	Tom Stratton	Season 4 Episode 12: "The Case of the Larcenous Lady"
	Bonanza	Harvey Bufford	Season 1 Episode 17: "The Outcast"
1961	The Twilight Zone	The Doctor	Season 2 Episode 23: "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim"
	Boris Karloff's Thriller	Jim Weeks	Season 1 Episode 27: "Late Date"
	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Mr. Henshaw	Season 6 Episode 25: "Museum Piece"
1962	Wagon Train	Cyrus Bolton	Season 5 Episode 34: "The Frank Carter Story" (airdate: May 23, 1962)
	Bronco	Sheriff Ben Lockwood	Season 4 Episode 7: "Ride the Whirlwind"
	The Rifleman	Senator Jim Bordon	Season 5 Episode 7: "The Assailants"
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Doc Bell	Season 6 Episode 34: "Vignette of a Sinner"
	Bonanza	Wade Colly	Season 3 Episode 23: "The Guilty"
1963	The Outer Limits	Dean Radcliffe	Season 1 Episode 4: "The Man with the Power"
	Bonanza	Will Flanders	Season 4 Episode 15: "The Colonel"
	Ripcord	Jake Miller	Season 2 Episode 23: "Million Dollar Drop"
1964	The Outer Limits	Mr. Terrence	Season 1 Episode 28: "The Special One"
	Kraft Suspense Theatre	2nd patient (Sam)	Season 2 Episode 10: "The Gun"
	The Outer Limits	David Hunt	Season 2 Episode 12: "Keeper of the Purple Twilight"
	The Virginian	Stuart Brynmar	Season 2 Episode 26: "The Secret of Brynmar Hall"
	Petticoat Junction	General Patterson	Season 2 Episode 12: "The Lost Patrol"
1965–1970	Get Smart	Chief of CONTROL	Main cast (137 episodes)
1970	The Governor & J.J.	Orrin Hacker	Season 2 Episode 6: "Fawcett is Running"
	The Governor & J.J.	Orrin Hacker	Season 2 Episode 9: "The Making of the Governor"
	The Governor & J.J.	Orrin Hacker	Season 2 Episode 10: "A Day in the Life"
	The Governor & J.J.	Orrin Hacker	Season 2 Episode 12 "P.S. I Don't Love You"
	Bewitched	Jennings Booker	Season 7 Episode 10 Samantha's Old Man
1971	The Odd Couple	Bill Donnelly	Season 1 Episode 21: "Oscar's New Life"
1972	The Snoop Sisters	Julius 'Jules' Nero	Season 1 Pilot Episode: "The Female Instinct"

External links

• Edward Platt at IMDb 
• Edward Platt at the Internet Broadway Database
• "Chief" places 6th on Great Secondary TV Characters list