Paul E. Richards

Paul E. Richards, born Paul Richard Levitt on November 10, 1924, in Hollywood, California, was an American actor whose career spanned Broadway, film, and television across three decades. He died on December 10, 1974, from cancer in Los Angeles, and his remains are interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, his mother Edith Grossman, and his sister, Mrs. Howard Gluck.

Richards pursued his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned both a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in drama. He supplemented his academic training with practical experience at the Theatre Wing in New York, which served as a foundation for his stage work.

His Broadway career ran from 1953 to 1962 and encompassed a range of productions across genres. He appeared in the drama A Hatful of Rain and End as a Man, as well as the comedies Once More, With Feeling and Viva Madison Avenue!, in addition to A House in the Country and other productions.

Richards married twice. His first marriage, in 1948, was to actress Paula Morgan, born Miriam Spiegelman. From 1950 until his death, he was married to actress Monica Keating.

On television, Richards became a prolific presence in the western genre, guest-starring in series including Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun–Will Travel, Zorro, Johnny Ringo, The Rebel, Zane Grey Theatre, Tombstone Territory, Black Saddle, Bonanza, The Untouchables, Trackdown, Rawhide, The Virginian, The Loner, and The Guns of Will Sonnett. Among his earliest television appearances was a 1955 episode of Lassie titled "Blind Soldier," in which he portrayed a blind veteran using a dog to readjust to civilian life. That same year, he appeared in the first episode of Gunsmoke, "Matt Gets It," playing a near-sighted gunfighter who outdraws and nearly kills Marshal Matt Dillon. He returned to Gunsmoke three more times: in 1956 as a desperate homesteader in "Mr. and Mrs. Amber," in 1958 as an impostor U.S. Marshal in "Joe Phy," and in 1968 as Mel Deevers in "The Jackals."

Richards also appeared in the syndicated series Sheriff of Cochise, The Silent Service, and The Brothers Brannagan, as well as Kenneth Tobey's aviation series Whirlybirds. He made guest appearances on Dragnet, including the 1955 episode "The Big Bird," in which he played Phil Baurch, a yard worker who stole from the homes of his employers. In 1959, he took on the role of Louis Kassoff across a five-part episode of The Lawless Years, and that same year appeared on Perry Mason as actor and makeup artist Earl Mauldin in "The Case of the Startled Stallion." He returned to Perry Mason in 1962 as defendant Ted Chase in "The Case of the Melancholy Marksman," and again in 1973, playing Jules Barron in The New Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Cagey Cager."

In the March 1961 episode "An Absence of Tears" on Route 66, Richards played a mob-connected man and former love interest to a blind woman seeking revenge against the mobsters who killed her husband. In 1962, he appeared in three separate productions: as Vance Caldwell in the Rawhide episode "The Boss's Daughters," as Dr. Max Richter in the Death Valley Days episode "Bloodline," and in an episode of The Lloyd Bridges Show anthology series. He also appeared in Dan Raven, a crime drama, and in summer 1960 had a role on Tate.

Richards took the lead role of Dr. McKinley Thompson in the medical drama Breaking Point, which aired from 1963 to 1964. He subsequently appeared in a 1964 episode of The Fugitive titled "A.P.B." and in the drama The Reporter episode "Murder by Scandal" that same year. Later television credits include Burke's Law, I Spy, Mannix, Banacek, McMillan and Wife, and three appearances on The Mod Squad between 1969 and 1972. He also appeared in a 1968 episode of Hawaii Five-O as a villainous lawyer in "Twenty-four Karat Kill." His television work extended into comedy as well, with a role in the 1967 western sitcom Rango episode "The Town Tamer" and a 1969 appearance on Get Smart as a villain named Ironhands.

In film, Richards played a prisoner in Demetrius and the Gladiators, a sequel to the biblical epic The Robe. He portrayed the mutant leader Mendez in the 1970 science-fiction film Beneath the Planet of the Apes. He also narrated Monument to the Dream, an Academy Award-nominated documentary about the construction of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

Beyond acting, Richards worked extensively in commercial advertising. For several years he served as the pitchman for General Motors' Pontiac Division, appearing in commercials for models including the GTO and Firebird. In 1965, he was a commercial spokesman for Braniff Airways and starred in the airline's End of the Plain Plane television commercial. In the early 1970s, he served as a spokesman for American Express.