Richard Xavier Slattery (June 26, 1925 – January 27, 1997) was an American character actor in film, theater and television.
[ Slattery appeared in such films as '']A Distant Trumpet
''A Distant Trumpet'' is a 1964 American Western film, the last directed by Raoul Walsh. It stars Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette and Diane McBain.
The screenplay by John Twist, Albert Beich and Richard Fielder is based on the 1960 novel of th ...
'', ''The Boston Strangler
The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in the Boston, Massachusetts, area during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, ...
'', '' Walking Tall'', ''The No Mercy Man
''The No Mercy Man'' (also known as ''Bad Man'', ''Trained to Kill'', and ''Trained to Kill USA'') is a 1973 action film with elements of a modern-day Western starring Steve Sandor, Rockne Tarkington, Sid Haig, Ron Thompson, Mike Lane, and Rich ...
'' and ''Herbie Rides Again
''Herbie Rides Again'' is a 1974 American comedy film and the second installment of ''The Love Bug'' film series made by Walt Disney Productions starring an anthropomorphic (and quite autonomous) 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. The ...
''.
Early years
Born in New York, Slattery was a graduate of All Hallows High School
All Hallows High School (formerly known as the All Hallows Institute) is a Catholic boys' high school in the South Bronx, New York, United States. Located at 111 East 164th Street, near Yankee Stadium, the school has an enrollment of approximate ...
who briefly studied at Fordham University, where he had scholarships in track and football. He left Fordham and enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, serving as a lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
for two and a half years.[ ] He was awarded the American Campaign Medal
The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...
, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal
The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945.
The Wor ...
.
Career
Slattery was distinguished by a square-jawed look and a rough, gravelly voice that made him ideal as a "tough guy" character, usually as a cop or a drill sergeant type. He had been an NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
police officer for 12 years (1948–1960) and started his acting career in police academy training films, and in community theater in the Bronx.
Slattery was a familiar face on series television during the 1960s thru the 1980s, appearing in numerous guest roles including ''Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
'', ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was re ...
'', ''77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (fr ...
'', ''Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'', '' Rawhide'', ''The Andy Griffith Show
''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
The ...
'', ''Bewitched
''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
'', ''The Invaders
''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...
'', ''F Troop
''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and c ...
'', ''The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media ...
'', '' The Virginian'', ''Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...
'', ''The Partridge Family
''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...
'', ''The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to:
Neil Simon play and its adaptations
* ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon
** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play
*** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...
'','' Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law'', ''The Mod Squad
''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as ...
'', ''Emergency!
''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situatio ...
'', ''Run, Joe, Run
''Run, Joe, Run'' was a Saturday-morning television program that aired on NBC from 1974 to 1975. It centered on Joe, a German Shepherd in the military's K-9 corps, and his master, Sergeant Will Corey (played by Arch Whiting).
The show was consi ...
'', ''The Waltons
''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book ''Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 film ...
'', '' Ironside'', ''Kojak
''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...
'', ''The San Pedro Beach Bums
''The San Pedro Beach Bums'' is a 1977 American sitcom that aired on ABC. It is about five carefree, young men living together on a houseboat in San Pedro, California. The pilot, titled ''The San Pedro Bums'', originally aired on May 13, 1977.Mc ...
'', and ''Knight Rider
''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series ''Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...
''.
Slattery starred in a revival of the play ''The Time of Your Life
''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened on Broadway theatre, Broa ...
'', starting March 17, 1972, at the Huntington Hartford Theater Huntington may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Huntington, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Huntington, New Zealand a suburb in Hamilton, New Zealand
United Kingdom
* Huntington, Cheshire, England
* Huntington, East Lothian, Scotland
* Huntingto ...
in Los Angeles.
For 14 years, Slattery was featured in a series of popular TV commercials for 76 gasoline during the 1970s and early 1980s, playing Murph, the grandfatherly owner of "Murph's 76 Station"Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
). He played Lieutenant Modeen in ''Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
'' and had featured roles in three series: ''The Gallant Men
''The Gallant Men'' is a 1962–1963 ABC Warner Bros. Television series which depicted an infantry company of American soldiers fighting their way through Italy in World War II.
Description
''The Gallant Men'' dramatized the experiences of the ...
'' (as 1st Sgt. John McKenna), '' Mister Roberts'' (as Captain John Morton), and '' C.P.O. Sharkey'' (as Captain "Buck" Buckner).Barnaby Jones
''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was or ...
'' episode titled "The Loose Connection" (March 18, 1973). He appeared on the ''Cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
'' episode, "The Cure That Kills," as a carnival owner, an episode that first aired on February 20, 1974.
Personal life
Slattery was married to Pegeen Rose, an actress, from 1958 to 1968. They had five children. He married Mary Shelquist in 1970 and they divorced in 1979. He married Helene Irene Vergauwen in 1988 and they remained married until his death.
Death
Slattery died on January 27, 1997, at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. The official cause of death was listed as a stroke.[
]
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slattery, Richard X.
1925 births
1997 deaths
Male actors from New York City
American male stage actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
People from the Bronx
New York City Police Department officers
Warner Bros. contract players
20th-century American male actors
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
United States Army Air Forces officers