Richard Basehart
Acting
John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson. One of his most notable film roles was the acrobat known as "the Fool" in the acclaimed Italian film La strada directed by Federico Fellini. He also appeared as the killer in the film noir classic He Walked by Night (1948), as a psychotic member of the Hatfield clan in Roseanna McCoy (1949), as Ishmael in Moby Dick (1956), and in the drama Decision Before Dawn (1951). He was married to Italian Academy Award-nominated actress Valentina Cortese, with whom he had one son before their divorce in 1960. Cortese and Basehart also costarred in Robert Wise's The House on Telegraph Hill (1951). Basehart was also noted for his deep, distinctive voice and was prolific as a narrator of many television and movie projects ranging from features to documentaries. In 1980, Basehart narrated the mini-series written by Peter Arnett called Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War that covered Vietnam and its battles from the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945 to the final American embassy evacuation on April 30, 1975. He appeared in the pilot episode of the television series Knight Rider as billionaire Wilton Knight. He is the narrator at the beginning of the show's credits. In 1971, Basehart played "Captain Sligo", a comical Irishman with a pet buffalo who negotiates a flawed but legal cattle purchase and unconventionally courts a widow with two children, played by Salome Jens, in CBS's western series, Gunsmoke, with James Arness. Basehart appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, and as Hannibal Applewood, an abusive schoolteacher in Little House on the Prairie in 1976. In 1972, he appeared in the Columbo episode Dagger of the Mind in which he and Honor Blackman played a husband-and-wife theatrical team who were loose parodies of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. In the feature realm, he played a supporting role as a doctor in Rage (1972), a theatrical feature starring and directed by George C. Scott. He made a few TV movies including Sole Survivor (1970) and The Birdmen (1971). Both were based on true stories during World War II. He died at age 70 following a series of strokes. One month before his death, Basehart was an announcer for the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
as Adm. Harriman Nelson
Age 50 (now 70)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
as Cpl. Denno (archive footage) (uncredited)
Age 87 (now 70)
Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet
as Self
Age 68 (now 70)
Knight Rider: Knight of the Phoenix
as Wilton Knight
Age 68 (now 70)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
as King Arthur
Age 63 (now 70)
Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model?
as Elliott Osborn
Age 62 (now 70)
Judgment: The Court Martial of Lt. William Calley
as George Latimer
Age 60 (now 70)
They've Killed President Lincoln!
as Host / Narrator
Age 56 (now 70)
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
as Narrator
Age 53 (now 70)
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
as Narrator (voice)
Age 50 (now 70)
Playhouse 90: The Hiding Place
as Martin Lambert
Age 45 (now 70)
Little House on the Prairie
as Hannibal Applewood
Age 60 (now 70)
The Streets of San Francisco
as Bishop Tim Farrow
Age 58 (now 70)
National Geographic Specials
as Narrator (voice)
Age 51 (now 70) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
as Adm. Harriman Nelson
Age 50 (now 70)
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as Philip Townsend
Age 48 (now 70)
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as David Manning
Age 42 (now 70)
Gathering insights...
Also Known As
Ричард Бейсхарт, Ричард Бэйзхарт, John Richard Basehart
IMDB
nm0000865