Wally Cox
Acting • Born 1924-12-06 – Died 1973-02-15
Biography
Wally Cox was a beloved character actor who made his mark in television and ranks as one of the medium's most memorable performers. His ability to show his range likely was limited by his short stature, slight frame, and high-pitched voice, which along with his talent for being very funny, made him ideal for comedy parts such as his memorable turn as Professor P. Caspar Biddle in "The Bird-Watchers" episode of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) in 1966. His television persona was that of a shy, timid man in horn-rimed glasses who spoke in a tentative, though distinctly enunciated, voice. It was a persona that his long-time friend Marlon Brando said was completely at odds with the real man. Cox always will be remembered as the eponymous "Mr. Peepers" and the voice of "Underdog," but he was an actor of wider talents seldom used by the industry, as can be seen in his turns as the sonar operator in The Bedford Incident (1965) and as the potential suicide Wally Haverstraw in The Bill Cosby Show (1969) episode "Goodbye, Cruel World" in 1970. Dying unexpectedly on February 15, 1973, from what some newspapers described as an accidental overdose of sedatives but which Marlon Brando in his autobiography said was a heart attack, Wally Cox's cremated remains were kept hidden in a closet by his old friend for three decades. According to Brando's son Miko, both his father's and Cox's ashes were scattered at the same time in Death Valley, California, in a ceremony following Brando's death, thus reuniting the lifetime friends.
Filmography
83 credits
The Barefoot Executive
Movie • 1971
Mertons
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
Movie • 1990
(archive footage)
A Guide for the Married Man
Movie • 1967
Technical Adviser (Married 14 years)
The Night Strangler
Movie • 1973
Mr. Berry
State Fair
Movie • 1962
Hipplewaite
The Boatniks
Movie • 1970
Jason
Spencer's Mountain
Movie • 1963
Preacher Goodman
The Yellow Rolls-Royce
Movie • 1964
Ferguson
The Bedford Incident
Movie • 1965
Seaman Merlin Queffle
Fate Is the Hunter
Movie • 1964
Ralph Bundy
Up Your Teddy Bear
Movie • 1970
Clyde King
Quarantined
Movie • 1970
Wilbur Mott
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
Movie • 1970
Mr. Bester
Reel Horror
Movie • 1985
Clyde (archive footage)
The Young Country
Movie • 1970
Aaron Grimes / Ira Greebe
Magic Carpet
Movie • 1972
Harold Kane
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
Movie • 1968
Mr. Wampler
Television: The First Fifty Years
Movie • 1999
Robinson J. Peepers (archive footage)
Ironside
Movie • 1967
Scoutmaster
Morituri
Movie • 1965
Dr. Ambach
Once Upon a Mattress
Movie • 1972
The Jester
The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City
Movie • 1970
Becker
Babes in Toyland
Movie • 1954
Grumio, the Toymaker
Babes in Toyland
Movie • 1955
Grumio, the Toymaker
Something's Got to Give
Movie • 1962
Shoe Salesman
Murder at N.B.C.
Movie • 1966
Heidi
Movie • 1955
Peter
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Count Carlo Szipesti
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Rock Barnett
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1966
Little John Doe
The Odd Couple
TV • 1970
Mr. Fegivney
The Dick Van Dyke Show
TV • 1961
The Lucy Show
TV • 1962
Harold Tuttle
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV • 1962
Professor P. Caspar Biddle
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
Alias Smith and Jones
TV • 1971
The Bill Cosby Show
TV • 1969
Wally Haverstraw
Lost in Space
TV • 1965
Tiabo
Hollywood Squares
TV • 1966
Self
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Monroe Winkler
Mission: Impossible
TV • 1966
Terry Targo
Mister Roberts
TV • 1965
Mister Peepers
TV • 1952
Robinson Peepers
The Twilight Zone
TV • 1959
James Elwood
Underdog
TV • 1964
McMillan & Wife
TV • 1971
The Hollywood Palace
TV • 1964
Self
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
TV • 1969
Self
Search
TV • 1972
Your Show of Shows
TV • 1950
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
The Adventures of Hiram Holliday
TV • 1956
Hiram Holliday
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
Suspense
TV • 1949
Danger
TV • 1950
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self
Vacation Playhouse
TV • 1963
Alfred
I Spy
TV • 1965
Herbie
Max Liebman Presents
TV • 1954
Letter to Loretta
TV • 1953
Leslie Nettleton
It Takes a Thief
TV • 1968
Tourist
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Wally Manley
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Gustav Vandemeer
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Dr. Heresford Handy
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Tommy Tucker
The Lux Show
TV • 1957
Self
Wagon Train
TV • 1957
Vincent Eaglewood
Suspense
TV • 1949
Ace McCoy
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Panelist
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV • 1957
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
DuPont Show of the Month
TV • 1957
Messenger 7013
Love, American Style
TV • 1969
Peter
Underdog
TV • 1964
Underdog (Voice)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self (uncredited)
Get Smart
TV • 1965
TV Repairman (uncredited)