Ed Platt

Edward Cuthbert Platt was born on February 14, 1916, in Staten Island, New York, and grew up spending portions of his childhood in Kentucky and upstate New York. He attended the Northwood School, a private school in Lake Placid where he was a member of the ski jump team, before going on to study at the Juilliard School. He enrolled at Princeton University but departed after his first year. During World War II, Platt served in the United States Army. Prior to pursuing an acting career, he sang for two years with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

An operatically trained bass-baritone, Platt made his Broadway debut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro. He subsequently appeared in All in Fun in 1940. His Broadway work also included The Shrike, in which he performed alongside José Ferrer, and the 1958 musical Oh, Captain!, in which he took on a romantic role.

Ferrer's connection to Platt proved professionally significant: the two men's collaboration on The Shrike led directly to Platt's first film role, in the 1955 screen adaptation of that play. That same year he appeared in Rebel Without a Cause, the James Dean film that also starred Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. In 1957, Platt had a supporting role in Designing Woman alongside Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall. In 1959, he played Cary Grant's attorney in North by Northwest and starred in The Rebel Set.

Television became a central part of Platt's career. He appeared in episodes of Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Wagon Train, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bat Masterson, Tales of Wells Fargo, One Step Beyond, The Rifleman, Whispering Smith, Trackdown, State Trooper, Men into Space, Ripcord, and Bewitched, among others. He also appeared as Sotto Voce in a 1969 KCET television reading of Norman Corwin's 1938 radio play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.

Platt became most widely recognized for his portrayal of the Chief in the NBC/CBS espionage parody series Get Smart, which ran from 1965 to 1970. Following that series, he had a recurring role in the situation comedy The Governor and J.J. in 1970, and later made guest appearances in Temperatures Rising, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Love American Style, and The Odd Couple, in which he played Oscar Madison's boss.

In 1973, Platt raised the financing to produce Santee, starring Glenn Ford, one of the first independent feature films shot entirely on videotape. His crew used electronic television cameras and portable video tape recorders, with the footage subsequently transferred to film for theatrical release. The film was not commercially successful.

Platt was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment on March 19, 1974, at the age of 58. Initial reports attributed his death to a heart attack, though his son later stated that Platt died by suicide following a prolonged struggle with untreated depression.