Richard Deacon (actor)

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Richard Deacon
Deacon as Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Born
Richard Lewis Deacon

(1922-05-14)May 14, 1922
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedAugust 8, 1984(1984-08-08) (aged 62)[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materIthaca College
Bennington College
OccupationActor
Years active1953–1984
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Parents
  • Joseph Gill Deacon (father)
  • Ethel Laughlin Deacon (mother)

Richard Lewis Deacon (May 14, 1922[2][3] – August 8, 1984) was an American television and motion picture actor,[4] best known for playing supporting roles in television shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show,[5] Leave It to Beaver,[6] and The Jack Benny Program,[7] along with minor roles in films such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)[8] and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).[9]

Career[edit]

Deacon often portrayed pompous, prissy, and/or imperious figures in film and television. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Program as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel manager. He made a brief appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds (1963). He played a larger role in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) as a physician in the "book-end" sequences added to the beginning and end of the film after its original previews.

In Billy Wilder's 1957 film adaptation of Charles Lindbergh’s The Spirit of St. Louis, Deacon portrayed the chairman of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation, Charles A. Levine.[10]

His best-known roles are milksop Mel Cooley (producer of The Alan Brady Show) on CBS's The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966) and Fred Rutherford on Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963), although Deacon played Mr. Baxter in the 1957 Beaver pilot episode "It's a Small World".[citation needed] He co-starred as Tallulah Bankhead's butler in an episode of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour called "The Celebrity Next Door". Deacon played Roger Buell on the second season of TV's The Mothers-in-Law (1967–1969), replacing Roger C. Carmel in the role. He played Principal "Jazzbo" Conroy in The Danny Thomas Show (1958). He also appeared in the 1960 Perry Mason episode The Case of the Red Riding Boots as Wilmer Beaslee.

In Carousel (1956), the film adaptation of the Rodgers & Hammerstein stage musical, Deacon had a bit role as the policeman who admonishes Julie and Mr. Bascombe about Billy Bigelow in the "bench scene". It was one of the few films in which he did not wear glasses, as were his roles in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955), and the 1954 costumer Désirée, where he played Jean Simmons' elder brother, an 18th-century Marseilles silk merchant. Philadelphia native Deacon played the role of Morton Stearnes' butler, George Archibald, whose courtroom testimony is a turning point in The Young Philadelphians (1959), starring Paul Newman. He played an imbibing justice of the peace, Reverend Zaron, in the 1957 Budd Boetticher western Decision at Sundown.

Deacon appeared in some Westerns and many sitcoms, including It's a Great Life, The People's Choice, How to Marry a Millionaire, Guestward, Ho!, Pete and Gladys, The Donna Reed Show, Gunsmoke (he was the original actor to portray town banker, Mr. Botkin), The Real McCoys (in the episode "The Tax Man Cometh", he clashes with series star Walter Brennan over property tax assessments in the San Fernando Valley), Get Smart, Bonanza (a deceitful character who cheats the Cartwrights during their visit to San Francisco in the episode "San Francisco"), and The Rifleman (episode "The Hangman", in an uncredited role). In episode 5 of the first season of The Munsters, "Pike's Pique", he plays water district commissioner Mr. Pike, buying the underground rights to lay pipe. In The Addams Family, he administers Cousin Itt a battery of psychological tests in the episode "Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counselor". In 1966, he appeared on Phyllis Diller's short-lived television sitcom, The Pruitts of Southampton.[11] He also guest starred in the NBC family drama National Velvet, and in the ABC/Warner Bros. crime drama Bourbon Street Beat, and played Mr. Whipple on The Twilight Zone in the 1964 episode "The Brain Center at Whipple's". In 1967, Deacon played Ralph Yarby, director of security for lumber baron D.J. Mulrooney, in Disney's The Gnome-Mobile. In 1968, he played Dean Wheaton in the Walt Disney film Blackbeard's Ghost. He was also an occasional panelist in the 1970s/early 1980s versions of Match Game. In 1970, he appeared in four episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies as a psychiatrist treating Granny.

In 1971, Deacon co-starred, along with Elaine Joyce, in the final episode of Green Acres, which was a backdoor pilot for a proposed sitcom titled "The Blonde" or "Carol". Joyce played Oliver's former "dizzy blonde" secretary, Carol Rush, who now lives in Los Angeles with her sister and brother-in-law. Deacon played her no-nonsense boss, Mr. Oglethorpe, whom Carol manages to save from a real estate scam. The pilot was not picked up.

In 1969, he co-starred on Broadway as Horace Vandergelder in the long-running musical Hello, Dolly!, reuniting him onstage with Diller, who played the title character.[11]

Deacon appeared on the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983 as a game show participant / celebrity guest star.

In 1983, Deacon reprised his role of Fred Rutherford in the television movie Still the Beaver, a sequel to the original TV series. When the television movie spawned a series of the same name on The Disney Channel, he was to reprise the role but died weeks before the series began production.

In 1984, Deacon had a cameo role in the teen comedy film Bad Manners.

Personal life[edit]

Although he was born in Philadelphia, he and his family later moved to Binghamton, New York, living on the west side of that city. He attended West Junior High and Binghamton Central High School, where he befriended fellow Binghamton resident Rod Serling.[12][13] After high school, he worked as an orderly at Binghamton General Hospital.[14]

During World War II, Deacon served in the United States Army medical corps. In 1946, upon completion of his service, he returned to Binghamton. He attended Ithaca College, first as a medical student, but later developed an interest in acting.[14] He also did some nighttime radio announcing.[15][self-published source?] In 1949, Deacon, along with several other male actors, was admitted to Bennington College as a student/assistant in the drama department.[16]

Deacon was a gourmet chef in addition to working as an actor. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote a series of cookbooks and hosted a Canadian television series on microwave oven cooking.[1]

While not widely known during Deacon's lifetime, he was a charitable man. At his memorial service, a number of people previously unknown to Deacon's friends and colleagues spoke of how Deacon had provided for needy people and charitable organizations during his life.[17]

According to academic writers David L. Smith and Sean Griffin, Deacon was gay, and was among "a number of actors and actresses who were closeted homosexuals" working in Hollywood and often employed in Disney films.[18][19]

Death[edit]

Deacon died of cardiovascular disease on August 8, 1984, at age 62. His remains were cremated and the ashes scattered at sea.[20]

Selected filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Richard Deacon Dead at 62; A Comic Film and TV Actor". The New York Times. August 11, 1984. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  2. ^ Presbyterian Historical Society; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.s., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1907; Accession Number: Vault Bx 9211 .p49104 T32 V.4
  3. ^ National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147
  4. ^ Major, Jack. "Name dropping - RICHARD DEACON". Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  5. ^ Kulzick, Kate (June 19, 2013). "Greatest TV Pilots: The Dick Van Dyke Show's "The Sick Boy and the Sitter" remains an effective, entertaining opener". PopOptiq. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  6. ^ Kimball, Trevor (July 6, 2010). "Leave It to Beaver: The Cast Reunites to Remember the Classic TV Show". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  7. ^ Gitlin, Martin. "The Greatest Sitcoms of All Time". Scarecrow Press; 7 November 2013. ISBN 978-0-8108-8725-1. p. 125–.
  8. ^ "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Cast List: Full Cast of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Actors/Actresses". Ranker. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  9. ^ Powers, James (March 28, 2017). "'The Birds': THR's 1963 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  10. ^ Lindbergh, Charles (December 9, 2003). The Spirit of St. Louis. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 72–76. ISBN 978-0743237055. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Diller, Phyllis; Buskin, Richard (2005). Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse: My Life in Comedy. New York: The Penguin Group. p. 211. ISBN 978-1585423965.
  12. ^ "High School Friend on Serling's 'Twilight'". Los Angeles Times. April 14, 1964. p. C11. ProQuest 168543480. Two high school friends meet in their first professional association when Richard Deacon appears in his first non-comic portrayal and his first starring role in Rod Serling's drama, 'The Brain at Whipple's' on 'Twilight Zone' in May. Deacon and Serling attended the same school in Binghamton, N.Y.
  13. ^ Handte, Jerry (August 10, 1984). "Deacon's teacher recalls 'stage-struck' boy". The Binghamton Evening Press. p. 9. ProQuest 2044421150. The 62-year-old Philadelphia native, who came to Binghamton as a boy, died of apparently natural causes, possibly after a heart attack, at his West Los Angeles home, a coroner's spokesman said. [...] He had visited his hometown last year, for the world premiere of the movie Twilight Zone, based on the hit television series created by the late Rod Serling, the TV writer from Binghamton. Deacon and Serling were classmates and friends at West Junior and the old Binghamton Central High School.
  14. ^ a b Smith, Gerald R. (June 4, 2016). "Binghamton's link to the Petries". Press & Sun Bulletin. p. 2A. ProQuest 2059699400. He was born in Philadelphia in 1921, but at the age of 10, his father, Joseph Deacon, obtained a job as a salesman for the Franklin Research Co. and moved the family to Binghamton. Richard and his brother Frederick Bruce Deacon grew up on the west side of the city of Binghamton at 121 Crary Ave. His home was only a few blocks from another famous Binghamtonian, Rod Serling, who lived on Bennett Avenue. Both boys would attend Binghamton High School. Richard was a few years ahead of Rod and would graduate in 1938. After high school, Richard wandered a bit looking for a new life. He got a job at Binghamton General Hospital working as an orderly because he thought he wanted to be a doctor. [...] World War II broke out, and because so many young working men joined the armed services, Richard tried to join the Navy. But they turned him down; instead, the recruiter sent him across the street to the Army because, as Richard said later, the Army would take anyone. [...] Richard served in the medical corps during the war. At one time, he was in charge of the laboratory services for a 5,000-bed hospital. After the war, Richard came back and attended Ithaca College to study medicine. It was at this time that he realized medicine was not his calling, and he tried acting.
  15. ^ Shay, Jack Edward (June 12, 2012). Bygone Binghamton: Remembering People and Places of the Past Volume Two. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1467065054. Retrieved July 12, 2019 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ "The Valuable Time of Maturity "Bennington College Seeking Site for Summer Theatre in Area; 10 or 12 Would Seek Triple Cities' Actors' Assistance; Directed at Ithaca; Five Are Assistants; Straw Hat for Triple Cities". Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin. April 12, 1949. p. 5. Retrieved August 15, 2023. "Mr. Deacon and the other four actors are assistants in the drama department and enrolled students at Bennington. [...] Robert Alvin, left, and Richard Deacon of Binghamton, a student at Bennington, discuss plans for establishing a summer theatre in Triple Cities area this year."
  17. ^ DVD Commentary with Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner on The Dick Van Dyke Show Season 1 episode "The Sleeping Brother", DVD.
  18. ^ Webb, Clifton; Smith, David L. (May 17, 2011). Sitting Pretty: The Life and Times of Clifton Webb. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 219. ISBN 978-1604739961. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. ^ Griffin, Sean (2000). Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out. New York: NYU Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0814731239. Retrieved 3 April 2017. richard deacon gay.
  20. ^ "The manager and friends of Richard Deacon, the character..." United Press International. August 10, 1984. Retrieved July 12, 2019.

External links[edit]

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