Richard Basehart

Infobox actor
name = Richard Basehart


birthname = John Richard Basehart
birthdate = birth date|1914|8|31|mf=n
birthplace = Zanesville, Ohio USA
deathdate = death date and age|1984|9|17|1914|8|31|mf=n
deathplace = Los Angeles, California
restingplace = Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
spouse = Stephanie Klein (1940–1950)
Valentina Cortese (1951–1960)
Diana Lotery (1962–1984)
baftaawards = "Nominated: Best Actor"
1957 "Time Limit"
awards = Hollywood Walk Of Fame

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 Ishmael in "Moby Dick" (1956), and in the drama "Decision Before Dawn" (1951). He was once 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 ' 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. He also appeared in an episode of "The Twilight Zone", "Hawaii Five-0", and as Hannibal Applewood, an abusive school teacher in "Little House on the Prairie" in 1976. He also appeared in the 1972 episode ' in which he and Honor Blackman played a husband-and-wife theatrical team who were loose parodies of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

Basehart had also done a few movies made for TV including "Sole Survivor (1970 film)" 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.

Legacy in popular culture

Basehart had a notable fan in the character of Gypsy from the cult cable television program "Mystery Science Theater 3000".

Basehart is mentioned in the song, "The Radio is Broken". This appears on the 1983 Frank Zappa album, "The Man from Utopia".

External links

*imdb name|id=0000865|name=Richard Basehart
*amg name|id=2:4405|name=Richard Basehart
* [http://www.richardbasehart.com/ Official site] , with biography and filmography.