Edward Cuthbert Platt (February 14, 1916 - March 19, 1974) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of "The Chief" in the 1965-70 NBC/CBS television series Get Smart. With his deep voice and mature countenance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.

Stage, film, and television career

Platt was born in Staten Island, New York and studied at the Juilliard School. He attended Princeton University but left after his freshman year. Platt served in the United States Army during World War II.

A powerful, operatically trained bass-baritone, he debuted on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. José Ferrer, who performed with Platt in the Broadway play The Shrike, helped Platt land his first film role in the 1955 film version. Also in 1955, he appeared in Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. Platt returned to Broadway in 1958 with the musical Oh, Captain! playing a romantic role. In 1959, he played Cary Grant's attorney in North by Northwest. In 1959, Platt starred in the movie The Rebel Set, which was "riffed" by the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Platt also appeared in episodes of the original Perry Mason, State Trooper (in the episode "Who Killed Doc Robbins"), Men into Space (in the episode "From Another World"), Bonanza, "The Rifleman", Rawhide, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits (in the first season episode " The Man with the Power"), The Dick Van Dyke Show (in "A Nice Friendly Game Of Cards"), "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" and The Twilight Zone.

His most famous role was the regular role of "Chief" in the espionage parody television series Get Smart (1965-1970). After the series ended he played a recurring role in situation comedy series The Governor & J.J. in 1970. He had guest roles in several other television series of the era, mostly comedies. These included Temperatures Rising, Bewitched, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Love, American Style, The Odd Couple as Oscar Madison's boss in 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 very first independent color motion pictures shot entirely on videotape: Santee, starring Glenn Ford. Platt saw the advantages of using videotape over film, and his crew shot the production with electronic TV cameras and portable VTRs, then had the images transferred to film for theatrical release. The movie was not commercially successful.

Death

On March 19, 1974, Platt's body was found in his apartment, and it was widely reported that he died of an apparent heart attack. One of his sons later confirmed that Platt had, in fact, committed suicide after two previous attempts; he suffered from undiagnosed and untreated depression that was exacerbated by financial troubles. It is rumored that Platt's Get Smart co-star, Don Adams, knew the real cause of death. He left four children from two marriages and a brother living in Santa Barbara, California. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

Filmography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]