William Bogert

William Bogert (January 25, 1936 – January 12, 2020) was an American character actor born in New York, New York. He worked across Broadway, television, and film over a career spanning several decades, and became particularly recognized for recurring television roles and his involvement in a notable political advertisement.

Bogert's Broadway career ran from 1961 to 1974 and included productions such as The Sudden & Accidental Re-Education of Horse Johnson, Play It Again Sam, The Freedom of the City, A Man for All Seasons, and The Star-Spangled Girl. In 1964 he also appeared in the touring production of A Man for All Seasons.

That same year, Bogert was cast in the "Confessions of a Republican" television advertisement produced in support of Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign. A lifelong Republican himself, Bogert met a casting requirement that the actor hold genuine Republican affiliation. The ad brought him renewed attention more than five decades later when, in July 2016, he appeared in a reprise of the spot during the convention that nominated Donald Trump as the Republican presidential candidate, stating "He scares me" in reference to Trump, echoing his original remarks about Barry Goldwater. Bogert also discussed the ad's continued relevance in television appearances on CNN with Don Lemon on March 17, 2016, and on the Rachel Maddow Show on May 2, 2016.

On television, Bogert was best known for playing neighbor Brandon Brindle across all four seasons of the series Small Wonder from 1985 to 1989, and for portraying Kent Wallace, the fictional Frontline host featured in Chappelle's Show spoofs from 2003 to 2004. His guest appearances spanned an extensive range of series including M*A*S*H, Columbo, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Barney Miller, Lou Grant, Taxi, Hill Street Blues, Law & Order, Gilmore Girls, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Melrose Place, The Wonder Years, Matlock, Knots Landing, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, Fantasy Island, Starsky & Hutch, and many others.

Bogert's film work included Death Wish (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Front (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978), WarGames (1983), A Perfect Murder (1998), and Time Out of Mind (2014), among other features and television movies.

In his personal life, Bogert was married to Eren Ozker, a puppeteer known for her work with The Muppets, until her death in 1993 at the age of 44. Bogert died in New York on January 12, 2020, at the age of 83, thirteen days before what would have been his 84th birthday.