[msb-alumni] Re: Veteran TV Performer William Schallert Dies at 92

From: "Chris Rasmussen" <chrisnzella@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 15:40:04 -0400

BlankHe was also “Mr. Perkins” on The Walton’s.

Chris Rasmussen

From: Steve
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2016 3:30 PM
To: msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [msb-alumni] Veteran TV Performer William Schallert Dies at 92

William Schallert, a veteran TV performer and Hollywood union leader who played
Patty Duke's father and uncle on television and led a long, contentious
strike for actors, has died. Schallert died Sunday at his home in Pacific
Palisades, California, said his son, Edwin. He was 93.

Though usually seen in secondary roles, Schallert's lean, friendly face was
familiar to baby boomers for roles in two classic sitcoms as a teacher to
Dwayne Hickman and his pals in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" and as the dad
in "The Patty Duke Show.

"The Patty Duke Show" (1963-66) was challenging for Duke, who had already
achieved stardom on Broadway as the young Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker"
and repeated the role in the film, winning her a supporting actress Oscar. (

Duke died in March at age 69.) In the television series she played a double
role, as Patty Lane, a typical American teenager, and as her cultured cousin,
Cathy, who lives with Patty's family. Cathy was newly arrived from overseas,
where, the theme song told viewers, she "adores a minuet, the Ballets Russes
and crepes suzette. Patty just likes rock 'n' roll and hot dogs.

Schallert was cast as Patty's harried father (and Cathy's uncle), who was
confused by the lookalike girls. He was similarly frustrated as English teacher
Mr. Pomfritt on "Dobie Gillis. The show, which ran from 1959 to 1963, starred
Hickman as a teenager comically yearning for the perfect girl, and a strong
supporting cast including Bob Denver as his beatnik pal, Maynard. "You ready,
my young barbarians? Mr. Pomfritt would ask his students, comically pining for
the days of corporal punishment in the classroom.

In 1979, Schallert was elected president of the 46,000-member Screen Actors
Guild, an honor held at one time or another by James Cagney, George Murphy,
Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston and other screen notables. Most of them had
little to do but conduct meetings and issue statements.

With Schallert it was different. In 1980 he led the union as it staged a
13-week strike over such issues as actors' pay for films made for the then-new
cable television industry. He told the Los Angeles Times his message to actors
was that "we have to respect ourselves as artists" and recalled the pre-union
days when actors were sometimes expected to work until midnight and be back at
work six hours later.

Schallert was defeated in his bid for a second two-year term as SAG president
in 1981 by "Lou Grant" star Ed Asner, who had strongly criticized the agreement
the union had reached to end the strike. Asner ran into his own controversies
as SAG chief by taking stands critical of U.S. foreign policy, and he decided
not to seek a third term in 1985. He was succeeded by none other than
Schallert's former screen daughter, Duke.

Schallert said in 2008 that his greatest accomplishment as SAG president was
the formation of a committee for performers with disabilities.  "We had
established committees for all of the various ethnic minorities, women and
seniors. I'm a big beneficiary of that right now because I'm 85 and I still
work. Among his later TV roles were guest shots on "Desperate Housewives" and
"True Blood. In 2008, he played Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in
"Recount," HBO's Emmy-winning dramatization of the 2000 presidential election.

In all, Schallert appeared in hundreds of movies, television series and
specials, playing characters and walk-ons. He was a messenger in "Singin' in
the Rain," a Union soldier in "The Red Badge of Courage" and an admiral in "Get
Smart. In addition to Justice Stevens, he played such real-life figures such as
Gen. Mark Clark in "The War Years" and Gen. Robert E. Lee in "North and South
Book II.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1966, Schallert lamented being
cast as "the second man through the door," or supporting player. "I did come
close to a lead once," he said. "This was a pilot I made for a series named
'Filbert. But when the producers calculated the series would cost $75,000 per
episode, they figured a top name would be needed in the lead to assure success.
So they gave up the project. It was a hard pill to swallow.

William Joseph Schallert was born in 1922, in Los Angeles. His father, Edwin,
was drama editor of the Los Angeles Times from 1919 to 1958.

William spent his high school years in a seminary. After military service he
graduated from UCLA and went to England on a Fulbright scholarship in 1952.  He
studied repertory theater and lectured on American theater at Oxford
University. In his early years he was a founding member of the Circle Theater
in Hollywood. The director was Charlie Chaplin, whose son Sydney was a cast
member.

Schallert recalled that after a preview performance Chaplin would suggest a
couple of things to correct. "When it was about five or six in the morning,"
Schallert said, "Oona (Chaplin's wife) would say 'Come on, Charlie, let them go
home. They've got a performance to do tonight.'

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References:
- [msb-alumni] Veteran TV Performer William Schallert Dies at 92
  - From: Steve

[msb-alumni] Re: Veteran TV Performer William Schallert Dies at 92

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