Richard Basehart

About

John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson. One of his most notable film roles was the acrobat known as "the Fool" in the acclaimed Italian film La strada directed by Federico Fellini. He also appeared as the killer in the film noir classic He Walked by Night (1948), as a psychotic member of the Hatfield clan in Roseanna McCoy (1949), as Ishmael in Moby Dick (1956), and in the drama Decision Before Dawn (1951). He was married to Italian Academy Award-nominated actress Valentina Cortese, with whom he had one son before their divorce in 1960. Cortese and Basehart also costarred in Robert Wise's The House on Telegraph Hill (1951). Basehart was also noted for his deep, distinctive voice and was prolific as a narrator of...

Known for

ColumboSeries • 1971The Love BoatSeries • 1977IronsideSeries • 1967Hawaii Five-OSeries • 1969The Alfred Hitchcock HourSeries • 1962Little House on the PrairieSeries • 1974Knight RiderSeries • 1982The Twilight ZoneSeries • 1959Combat!Series • 1962Dick Powell's Zane Grey TheatreSeries • 1956Studio OneSeries • 1948Naked CitySeries • 1958Tales of the UnexpectedSeries • 1979Ben CaseySeries • 1961RawhideSeries • 1959Route 66Series • 1960Marcus Welby, M.D.Series • 1969GunsmokeSeries • 1955Vega$Series • 1978The Streets of San FranciscoSeries • 1972Voyage to the Bottom of the SeaSeries • 1964Arrest and TrialSeries • 1963How the West Was WonSeries • 1977Joe ForresterSeries • 1975