David Huddleston

David William Huddleston (September 17, 1930 – August 2, 2016) was an American actor born in Vinton, Virginia, to Ismay Hope (née Dooley) and Lewis Melvin Huddleston. He attended Fork Union Military Academy, graduating in the postgraduate class of 1949, and is counted among the school's prominent alumni. After a brief stint as an officer in the United States Air Force, Huddleston pursued formal acting training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Huddleston's Broadway career spanned three decades, from 1967 to 1997. His stage credits included Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Death of a Salesman, The First Law, and The Roast, the last of which earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play in 1984.

His screen career began with a role in the 1968 drama A Lovely Way to Die, after which he became a recurring presence on television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared as a guest on numerous series, among them Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Columbo, The Waltons, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Hawaii Five-O, Charlie's Angels, and The Rockford Files. He held a recurring role as Lieutenant John Ponce on Petrocelli from 1974 to 1976. Later in 1977, he starred as J. T. Kallikak in the NBC sitcom The Kallikaks, and in 1979 he played the title role of a small-town mayor in Hizzonner. He also earned an Emmy Award nomination during his television career. His television movie credits included Heatwave! (1974), The Oregon Trail (1976), Shark Kill (1976), Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (1978), Family Reunion (1981), Computercide (1982), and M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (1983). He later appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation as a train conductor in the episode "Emergence" and twice on The West Wing as Republican Senator Max Lobell. He also held a recurring role as Albert "Gramps" Arnold, the paternal grandfather of the protagonist, on The Wonder Years. In 2010, he appeared in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It's a Very Sunny Christmas, released directly to home video and digital download.

Among his feature film credits, Huddleston appeared in Rio Lobo, Blazing Saddles, McQ, The Klansman, Smokey and the Bandit II, Breakheart Pass, and Crime Busters. He starred in the title role of the 1985 big-budget production Santa Claus: The Movie, which featured Dudley Moore in the top-billed role of an elf. He later played the title role in The Big Lebowski. His stage work extended beyond Broadway as well; his performance as Benjamin Franklin in a Boston production of 1776 is referenced in Sarah Vowell's book Assassination Vacation.

Huddleston died on August 2, 2016, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from heart and kidney disease at the age of 85.