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SCHALLERT, WILLIAM (1922– ). American actor.
Acted in television: Commando
Cody, Sky Marshal of the Universe (tv series) (1953); "A Visit from Dr.
Pliny" (1955), episode of Science Fiction Theater; "Epilogue" (1959),
"Tidal Wave" (1960), episodes of One Step Beyond; "A Handful of Hours"
(1960), episode of Men into Space; "Mr. Bevis" (1960), episode of The
Twilight Zone; "Dialogues with Death" (1961), episode of Thriller;
"Bad Actor" (1962), episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents; "The Train"
(1967), episode of Mission Impossible; "The Trouble with Tribbles"
(1967), episode of Star Trek; "The Night of the Bubbling Death" (1967),
"The Night of the Gruesome Games" (1968), "The Night of the Winged Terror"
(two-part episode) (1969), episodes of The Wild, Wild West; "A Man
Called Smart" (three-part episode) (1967), "Return of the Ancient Mariner,"
"With Love and Twitches" (1968), "Witness for the Execution" (1970), episodes
of Get Smart; "Samantha's Curious Cravings" (1969), episode of Bewitched;
"The Clones" (1969), episode of Land of the Giants; "The Praying Mantis
Kills" (1973), episode of Kung Fu; "Eyewitness to Murder" (1974),
episode of The Six Million Dollar Man; "Claws" (1976), episode of The
Bionic Woman; The Nancy Drew Mysteries (tv series) (1977–1978); The
Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (tv series) (1978); The Legends of the
Super-Heroes (tv series) (1979); The Smurfs (animated tv series;
voice) (1981–1990); "Call Me Responsible" (1984), episode of The Duck
Factory; Amazons (tv movie) (Paul Michael Glaser 1984); "Shadow
Play" (1986), episode of Twilight Zone; "Man's Best Friend" (two-part
episode) (1987), episode of Highway to Heaven; "So Help Me God" (1989),
episode of Quantum Leap; "Power Erupts" (voice) (1991), episode of Dinosaurs;
"Sanctuary" (1993), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (1996), episodes of Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine; Harvey (tv movie) (George Schaefer 1996); The
Second Civil War (tv movie) (Dante 1997); "The River Rising" (animated;
voice) (2002), episode of The Zeta Project.
But Schallert knew, even at the start
of his career, that his frail, faintly professorial appearance ensured that he
would be cast as Rosencrantz or Guildenstern, never Hamlet. With powerful
connections to exploit—his father was a major drama critic for The Los
Angeles Times—Schallert could get his foot in the door, but he would be
given small parts that demanded virtually no talent, providing him with only
the mild challenge of going through the motions in a manner slightly better
than the hundreds of other actors who could have handled the part. If you
actually gave him something to do, however, he might seize the
opportunity with surprising ferocity. Thus, if The Man from Planet X
would serve as the strong opening of your William Schallert film festival, its
smashing conclusion would be Matinee, where director Joe DANTE's
film-within-a-film Mant (and a film vastly more entertaining that the
one that surrounds it) allowed Schallert to go deliciously over the top as a
crazed doctor slowly turning into an ant.
What other Schallert films might
merit a revival? According to his credits, he appeared in several major science
fiction films of the 1950s, but about the only one where he is onscreen long
enough to make an impression would be The Incredible Shrinking Man,
where he is characteristically ineffectual as the physician trying to minister
to an inexorably diminishing patient. In the 1960s, he garnered his greatest
fame as the hapless father on The Patty Duke Show while fidgeting his
way through guest appearances on westerns and other television shows, including
a semi-regular role on Get Smart and another archetypal Schallert
performance as a myopic, meddlesome bureaucrat on the classic Star Trek
episode "The Trouble with Tribbles." Later, having proven with Patty Duke how
well he could play a father easily manipulated by his daughter, he was a
natural choice to play Carson Drew in the 1970s Nancy Drew series. Now
established as a television icon, Schallert would only occasionally return to
films, including two turns as the befuddled Professor Quigley dealing with boy
genius Kurt RUSSELL in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The
Strongest Man in the World and a portrayal of the CIA Director who cannot
cope with Colossus: The Forbin Project. Oddly, even as his fellow actors
continued to walk all over him on the set, they also, in 1979, elected him as
the head of the Screen Actors Guild, indicating that his solid professionalism
and strong work ethic had earned him some respect from his peers, if not from
casting directors and the general public.
The year 1979 also brough another
career highlight, the two-part series The Legends of the Super-Heroes,
where Schallert upstaged better-known colleagues as the over-the-hill hero
Retired Man. Yet the role also served as a reminder that Schallert himself was
nearing retirement age, and he has correspondingly slowed down his pace of work
in his last two decades. Always ready for an occasional film or television
role, especially in the films of Joe Dante—who evidently admires him
greatly—Schallert has also found work as a voice for animated films and sometimes
returns to the stage. If you haven't noticed his recent performances, Schallert
would no doubt take that in stride; most of the time, throughout his career, it
has been Schallert's job to avoid being noticed. But when he is allowed to do
so, William Schallert can also make himself memorably conspicuous.
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