Edward Cuthbert Platt was an American actor, singer, and producer, who, for Disney, played Ben Tarbell in Pollyanna, as well as roles in the Walt Disney Presents anthology series.
Platt was born in Staten Island, New York and attended the Northwood School before studying at the Juilliard School to study music and voice. and briefly attended Princeton University. He served in the United States Army during World War II and sang for two years with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra before becoming an actor. With his deep voice and mature appearance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.
He debuted on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. José Ferrer, who performed with Platt in the Broadway play The Shrike, helped him land his first film role in the 1955 film version. This led to roles in films, such as The Rebel Set, Rebel Without a Cause, The Steel Jungle, The Tattered Dress, Designing Woman, Oregon Passage, The Gift of Love, The Last of the Fast Guns, North by Northwest, The Fiercest Heart, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, Snow White and the Three Stooges, and Cape Fear. His television credits included Bat Masterson, Gunsmoke, Have Gun – Will Travel, Rawhide, Tales of Wells Fargo, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, The Dick van Dyke Show, The Virginian, Petticoat Junction, The Governor & J.J., Bewitched, and The Odd Couple. However, he was widely known for his role as The Chief in the espionage parody television series Get Smart.
In 1973, Platt raised the money to produce one of the first independent feature films shot entirely on videotape: Santee, starring Glenn Ford. The movie was not commercially successful. A year later, Platt was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment. Initial reports indicated the cause of death was a heart attack, but Platt's son later said that his father died from suicide after a long struggle with untreated depression.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1958-1959 | Texas John Slaughter | Lease Harris |
| 1960 | Pollyanna | Ben Tarbell |
| 1963 | Johnny Shiloh | General George Henry Thomas |
| 1965 | Gallegher | Judge (uncredited) |
