Edward Cuthbert Platt 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 appearance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.
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 playThe 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 later mocked on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Platt also appeared in episodes of the original Perry Mason ; 77 Sunset Strip, Trackdown, State Trooper, Men into Space, Ripcord, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, ', The Rifleman, Rawhide, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Bat Masterson, Tales of Wells Fargo and The Twilight Zone. His most famous role was the regular role of Chief in the espionageparody television series Get Smart. 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, including Temperatures Rising; Bewitched; '; Love, American Style; and The Odd Couple as Oscar Madison's boss in the episode "Oscar's New Life." Platt appeared as Sotto Voce in the 1969 KCET television reading of Norman Corwin's 1938 radio playThe Plot to Overthrow Christmas.
Work as producer
In 1973, Platt raised the money to produce one of the 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 was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment, at the age of 58; Initially it was reported that he had died from a heart attack, but Platt's son later admitted his father's death was from suicide, after a long struggle with untreated depression.
