Edward Platt
Acting • Born 1916-02-14 – Died 1974-03-19
Biography
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
121 credits
North by Northwest
Movie • 1959
Victor Larrabee
Rebel Without a Cause
Movie • 1955
Ray Fremick
Cape Fear
Movie • 1962
Judge
Pollyanna
Movie • 1960
Ben Tarbell
Black Zoo
Movie • 1963
Chief Rivers
Designing Woman
Movie • 1957
Martin J. Daylor
The Female Instinct
Movie • 1972
Julius Nero
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Movie • 1961
Azor the High Priest
Cult of the Cobra
Movie • 1955
Lamian Threatening Death (uncredited)
Gunman's Walk
Movie • 1958
Purcell Avery
Backlash
Movie • 1956
Sheriff J.C. Marson
Storm Center
Movie • 1956
Rev. Wilson
House of Numbers
Movie • 1957
The Warden
Illegal
Movie • 1955
Ralph Ford
Written on the Wind
Movie • 1956
Dr. Paul Cochrane
The Steel Jungle
Movie • 1956
Judge Wahller
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Movie • 1965
The Judge
The Unguarded Moment
Movie • 1956
Attorney Briggs (as Edward C. Platt)
The Tattered Dress
Movie • 1957
Ralph Adams, Reporter (as Edward C. Platt)
Inside the Mafia
Movie • 1959
Dan Regent
Damn Citizen
Movie • 1958
Joseph Kosta (as Edward C. Platt)
The Rebel Set
Movie • 1959
Mr. Tucker / Mr. T
The Helen Morgan Story
Movie • 1957
Johnny Haggerty
Bullet for a Badman
Movie • 1964
Tucker
The Last of the Fast Guns
Movie • 1958
Sam Grypton
Reprisal!
Movie • 1956
Neil Shipley
The High Cost of Loving
Movie • 1958
Eli Cave
Rock, Pretty Baby
Movie • 1956
Thomas Daley Sr.
Summer Love
Movie • 1958
Dr. Thomas Daley
Omar Khayyam
Movie • 1957
Jayhan
The Shrike
Movie • 1955
Harry Downs (as Edward C. Platt)
The Great Man
Movie • 1956
Dr. O'Conner (as Edward C. Platt)
Who Killed Julie Greer?
Movie • 1961
Joe Nolan
A Ticklish Affair
Movie • 1963
Captain Haven Hitchcock
Destination Space
Movie • 1959
Dr. Easton (as Edward C. Platt)
Cash McCall
Movie • 1960
Harrison Glenn
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
Movie • 1967
Chief
I Was a Male War Bride
Movie • 1949
Lieutenant in Gates' Office (uncredited)
They Came to Cordura
Movie • 1959
Col. DeRose
Serenade
Movie • 1956
Everett Carter
Oregon Passage
Movie • 1957
Roland Dane
The Explosive Generation
Movie • 1961
Mr. Morton
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
Movie • 1956
Major Dunning - Psychiatrist
Johnny Shiloh
Movie • 1965
Gen. Thomas
The Gift of Love
Movie • 1958
Dr. Jim Miller
Sincerely Yours
Movie • 1955
Dr. Eubank (uncredited)
The Fiercest Heart
Movie • 1961
Madrigo
The Proud Ones
Movie • 1956
Dr. Barlow
77 Sunset Strip
TV • 1958
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Capt. Frank Metcalfe
Trackdown
TV • 1957
The Odd Couple
TV • 1970
Bill Donnelly
Petticoat Junction
TV • 1963
General Patterson
Surfside 6
TV • 1960
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Mr. Burgess
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Cmdr. Driscoll
Saints and Sinners
TV • 1962
Dr. Gates
Get Smart
TV • 1965
Thaddeus
The Twilight Zone
TV • 1959
Doctor
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Mr. Henshaw
The Lawless Years
TV • 1959
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV • 1958
Rawhide
TV • 1959
Temperatures Rising
TV • 1972
Senator Bradley
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV • 1957
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self (uncredited)
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Stuart Brynmar
Thriller
TV • 1960
James Weeks
Peter Gunn
TV • 1958
West Point
TV • 1956
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Sparks
One Step Beyond
TV • 1959
Will Denning
Bronco
TV • 1958
The Rifleman
TV • 1958
Bat Masterson
TV • 1958
Roy Evens
Wire Service
TV • 1956
Palmer
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Sheriff Galt
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Dr. Banner
Alcoa Theatre
TV • 1957
Lieutenant
General Electric True
TV • 1962
Dr. Kildare
TV • 1961
Dr. Tom Paulson
The Outer Limits
TV • 1963
Dean Radcliffe
Letter to Loretta
TV • 1953
Henry
Arrest and Trial
TV • 1963
Judge Kenneth W. Browne
Wagon Train
TV • 1957
Spinoza de Costa
Arrest and Trial
TV • 1963
Judge Phillips
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
Judge (uncredited)
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
Lease Harris
Arrest and Trial
TV • 1963
Judge
Letter to Loretta
TV • 1953
Sutter
The Outer Limits
TV • 1963
Mr. Terrence
The Outer Limits
TV • 1963
David Hunt (as Edward C. Platt)
Temple Houston
TV • 1963
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
The Dick Van Dyke Show
TV • 1961
Lou Gregory
Arrest and Trial
TV • 1963
Superior Court Judge
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Marshall Mays
Four Star Playhouse
TV • 1952
Freddie
Four Star Playhouse
TV • 1952
Chief of Police
Four Star Playhouse
TV • 1952
Dr. Fain
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Tom Stratton
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
General Thomas
Bonanza
TV • 1959
Harvey Buford
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
TV • 1971
Caldwell
Bonanza
TV • 1959
Wade Colly
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
TV • 1964
Morgan
77 Sunset Strip
TV • 1958
Mr. Jacobin
The Deputy
TV • 1959
Noah Harper
Rawhide
TV • 1959
Jason Clark
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Love, American Style
TV • 1969
Studio 57
TV • 1954
State Trooper
TV • 1956
Stanley Andrews
State Trooper
TV • 1956
John Wilbur Mason
Wagon Train
TV • 1957
Cyrus Bolton
Trackdown
TV • 1957
Adam Madson
Trackdown
TV • 1957
George Mason
Bonanza
TV • 1959
Will Flanders
Hawaiian Eye
TV • 1959
Dr. Wallace Oliver
Mr. Lucky
TV • 1959
Henry Praiswater
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
Ben Tarbell