Richard Erdman
Encyclopedia
Richard Erdman is an American
film
and television
actor
and director
.
, and McNulty in the classic Twilight Zone
episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch
". In Tora Tora Tora he played Colonel Edward F. French, the officer who responded to the failure to transmit the warning to Pearl Harbor
using Army radio to instead use commercial telegraph rather than using the Navy or FBI radio systems.
Erdman co-starred with Ray Bolger
in both seasons of the 1953-1955 ABC
sitcom with a variety show
theme, Where's Raymond?
, renamed The Ray Bolger Show
. Bolger portrayed the optimistic Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who was repeatedly barely on time for his performances. Erdman was cast as the pessimistic Pete Morrisey, Ray's landlord and press agent. Others on the series were Allyn Joslyn
, Betty Lynn
, Sylvia Lewis
, Gloria Winters
, and Verna Felton
.
Erdman appeared as the blackmailer, Arthur Binney, in the Perry Mason
first season television episode "The Case Of The Gilded Lily," which aired on CBS
on May 24, 1958. In 1960, he co-starred with Tab Hunter
in the short-lived The Tab Hunter Show
on NBC, which aired opposite The Ed Sullivan Show
on CBS and Lawman
with John Russell
on ABC
. He appeared comically as Buck Brown, a Broadway wardrobe man on The Dick Van Dyke Show
. In 1962, Erdman had a recurring role as Klugie, the photographer, in the short-lived Nick Adams - John Larkin
NBC series Saints and Sinners
.
In 1990, Erdman appeared as Howard Banks on Wings in the episode "Around the World in Eighty Years". As of 2010, he has a recurring role as Leonard on Community
.
He and his wife Sharon had one daughter, Erica, who was born in 1954 and died in 2010, of an accidental overdose of prescription medicine. Erica was a well known and respected poet and illustrator (The Ellyn Maybe Coloring Book, Sacred Beverage Press, among others) and the author of one full length collection of poems (The Apocalyptic Kid, Sacred Beverage Press). She was a long time student in Laurel Ann Bogen's master class in poetry in Los Angeles.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Notable roles
In a career that has spanned seven decades, his best known roles are that of the barracks chief Hoffy in Stalag 17Stalag 17
Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor...
, and McNulty in the classic Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch
A Kind of a Stopwatch
"A Kind of a Stopwatch" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Star Pulse ranks this as the best episode of the series.-Synopsis:...
". In Tora Tora Tora he played Colonel Edward F. French, the officer who responded to the failure to transmit the warning to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
using Army radio to instead use commercial telegraph rather than using the Navy or FBI radio systems.
Erdman co-starred with Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
in both seasons of the 1953-1955 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom with a variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
theme, Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
, renamed The Ray Bolger Show
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
. Bolger portrayed the optimistic Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who was repeatedly barely on time for his performances. Erdman was cast as the pessimistic Pete Morrisey, Ray's landlord and press agent. Others on the series were Allyn Joslyn
Allyn Joslyn
Allyn Joslyn was an American stage, film and television actor.-Biography:Allyn Joslyn was born in Milford, Pennsylvania, the son of a mining engineer...
, Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn is an American actress. She is best known for playing Thelma Lou in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
, Sylvia Lewis
Sylvia Lewis
Sylvia Lewis is an American actress, dancer and choreographer.-Career:Sylvia Lewis was born in York, Pennsylvania. She first performed as a young child in the last days of vaudeville in Baltimore, Maryland. She received her first classical training as a scholarship student at the Peabody...
, Gloria Winters
Gloria Winters
Gloria Winters was an actress most remembered for having portrayed the well-mannered niece, Penny King, in the 1950s-1960s American television series Sky King.-Early life and career:Gloria Winters grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, but later moved to Hollywood...
, and Verna Felton
Verna Felton
Verna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...
.
Erdman appeared as the blackmailer, Arthur Binney, in the Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
first season television episode "The Case Of The Gilded Lily," which aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
on May 24, 1958. In 1960, he co-starred with Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
in the short-lived The Tab Hunter Show
The Tab Hunter Show
The Tab Hunter Show is a 32-episode situation comedy starring former teen idol Tab Hunter. The series ran new episodes on NBC from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.-Synopsis:...
on NBC, which aired opposite The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
on CBS and Lawman
Lawman (tv series)
Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....
with John Russell
John Russell (actor)
John Lawrence Russell was an American actor, and World War II veteran, most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962....
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. He appeared comically as Buck Brown, a Broadway wardrobe man on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
. In 1962, Erdman had a recurring role as Klugie, the photographer, in the short-lived Nick Adams - John Larkin
John Larkin (radio and television actor)
John Larkin was an American actor whose nearly-30-year career was capped by his 1950s portrayal of two fictional criminal attorneys — Perry Mason on radio and Mike Karr on television daytime drama The Edge of Night...
NBC series Saints and Sinners
Saints and Sinners (1962 TV series)
Saints and Sinners is an 18-episode American television series that appeared on NBC for the 1962-63 television season. The program starred 31-year-old Nick Adams as newspaper reporter Nick Alexander, and John Larkin as his mentor, newspaper editor Mark Grainger...
.
In 1990, Erdman appeared as Howard Banks on Wings in the episode "Around the World in Eighty Years". As of 2010, he has a recurring role as Leonard on Community
Community (TV series)
Community is an American television comedy series created by Dan Harmon that airs on NBC. The series is about a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. The series heavily uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television...
.
He and his wife Sharon had one daughter, Erica, who was born in 1954 and died in 2010, of an accidental overdose of prescription medicine. Erica was a well known and respected poet and illustrator (The Ellyn Maybe Coloring Book, Sacred Beverage Press, among others) and the author of one full length collection of poems (The Apocalyptic Kid, Sacred Beverage Press). She was a long time student in Laurel Ann Bogen's master class in poetry in Los Angeles.