Edward Platt
Biography: Forever and fondly remembered as Don Adams' foil on the popular Mel Brooks/Buck Henry spy series Get Smart (1965), character actor Ed Platt (also billed as Edward C. Platt) had been around for two decades prior to copping that rare comedy role. Born in Staten Island, New York, on Valentine's Day, 1916, he inherited an appreciation of music on his mother's side. He spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky and in upstate New York where he attended Northwood, a private school in Lake Placid, and was a member of the ski jump team. He majored in romantic languages at Princeton University but left a year later to study at the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati after his thoughts turned to a possible operatic career. He later was accepted into Juilliard. Instead of opera, however, Ed first became a band vocalist with Paul Whiteman and Orchestra. He then sang bass as part of the Mozart Opera Company in New York. With the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company in 1942, he appeared in the operettas "The Mikado," "The Gondoliers" and "The Pirates of Penzance". WWII interrupted his early career. Ed served as a radio operator with the army and would find himself on radio again in the post-war years where his deep, resonant voice proved ideal. A number of musical comedy roles also came his way again. In 1947, he made it to Broadway with the musical "Allegro." Star José Ferrer took an interest in Ed while they both were appearing in "The Shrike" on Broadway in 1952. Around 1953, Edward moved to Texas to be near his brother and began anchoring the local news and kiddie birthday party show called "Uncle Eddie's Kiddie Party." Ferrer remembered Platt and invited him to Hollywood where Ferrer was starring in the film version of The Shrike (1955). Ed recreated his stage role. He also earned fine notices as James Dean's understanding juvenile officer in the classic film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). This led to a plethora of film and TV support offers where the balding actor made fine use of his dark, rich voice, stern intensity and pragmatic air, portraying a slew of professional and shady types in crime yarns, soap dramas and war pictures -- everything from principals and prosecutors to mobsters and murderers. After years of playing it serious, which included stints on the daytime drama General Hospital (1963), Ed finally was able to focus on comedy as "The Chief" to Don Adams klutzy secret agent on Get Smart (1965), a show that inevitably found a cult audience. Picking up a few occasional guest spots in its aftermath, he later tried producing. Twice married and the father of four, Platt died on March 19, 1974. Death was attributed to a massive heart attack at the time. Years later his son revealed that his father, suffering from acute depression and undergoing severe financial pressures, committed suicide at his Santa Monica, California apartment. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.ne
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: February 14, 1916
Deathday: March 19, 1974
Popularity:
Known For
North by Northwest
1959-07-08
North by Northwest
Overview: Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Genres: Thriller Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-07-08
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Rebel Without a Cause
1955-10-27
Rebel Without a Cause
Overview: After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-10-27
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Cape Fear
1962-04-12
Cape Fear
Overview: Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-04-12
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Pollyanna
1960-05-19
Pollyanna
Overview: A young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.
Genres: Comedy Drama Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-05-19
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Black Zoo
1963-05-15
Black Zoo
Overview: Michael Conrad, owner of a group of strange animals, trains his beasts to obey him, unleashing them on anyone who stands in his way. His wife and mute assistant begin to suspect that they too are becoming part of the black zoo.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-05-15
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Designing Woman
1957-05-16
Designing Woman
Overview: A sportswriter who marries a fashion designer discovers that their mutual interests are few, although each has an intriguing past which makes the other jealous.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-05-16
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The Snoop Sisters
1972-12-18
The Snoop Sisters
Overview: A spinster and her widowed sister, both authors of murder mystery novels, try to track down the killer of a former movie star.
Genres: Comedy Crime Drama Mystery TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-12-18
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Atlantis: The Lost Continent
1961-05-03
Atlantis: The Lost Continent
Overview: A Greek Fisherman brings an Atlantean Princess back to her homeland which is the mythical city of Atlantis. He is enslaved for his trouble. The King is being manipulated by an evil sorcerer who is bent on using a natural resource of Atlantis to take over the world. The Atlanteans, or rather the slaves of Atlantis, are forced to mine a crystalline material which absorbs the suns rays. These crystals can then be used for warmth. The misuse of science has created weapons out of the crystals that can fire a heat ray to destroy whatever it touches.
Genres: Adventure Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-05-03
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Cult of the Cobra
1955-03-30
Cult of the Cobra
Overview: While stationed in Asia, six American G.I.'s witness the secret ritual of Lamians (worshipers of women who can change into serpents). When discovered by the cult, the High Lamian Priest vows that "the Cobra Goddess will avenge herself". Once back in the United States, a mysterious woman enters into their lives and accidents begin to happen. The shadow of a cobra is seen just before each death.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-03-30
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Gunman's Walk
1958-07-01
Gunman's Walk
Overview: A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-07-01
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Backlash
1956-03-14
Backlash
Overview: Jim Slater's father (whom he never knew) died in the Apache ambush at Gila Valley, and Jim is searching for the one survivor, who supposedly went for help but disappeared with a lot of gold. In the process, he gets several people gunning for him, and he keeps meeting liberated woman Karyl Orton, who may be on a similar mission. Renewed Apache hostilities and an impending range war provide complications.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-03-14
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Storm Center
1956-07-31
Storm Center
Overview: Politicians go after a small-town librarian when she refuses to ban a book. She's quickly labeled a Communist.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-07-31
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House of Numbers
1957-09-12
House of Numbers
Overview: Story of twin brothers - one trying to help another escape from prison.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-09-12
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Illegal
1955-10-09
Illegal
Overview: A hugely successful DA goes into private practice after sending a man to the chair -- only to find out later he was innocent. Now the drunken attorney only seems to represent criminals and low lifes.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-10-09
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Written on the Wind
1956-10-04
Written on the Wind
Overview: Mitch Wayne is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jasper, works hard to establish the family business, his irresponsible son, Kyle, is an alcoholic playboy, and his daughter, Marylee, is the town tramp. Mitch harbors a secret love for Kyle's unsatisfied wife, Lucy -- a fact that leaves him exposed when the jealous Marylee accuses him of murder.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-10-04
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The Steel Jungle
1956-03-10
The Steel Jungle
Overview: The tale of a young bookie, married to a beautiful woman who goes to jail, and becomes involved with hoodlums.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-03-10
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The Further Adventures of Gallegher
1965-10-03
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
Overview: The young copyboy helps the town’s first female newspaper reporter, who is writing a series on confidence men. The swindlers are caught up in a sting, but they catch on and the reporter and Gallegher have to subdue them in order to escape and write their article.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-10-03
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The Unguarded Moment
1956-12-27
The Unguarded Moment
Overview: A high-school music teacher is the victim of a student who writes indecent notes and assaults women.
Genres: Crime Drama Mystery Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-12-27
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The Tattered Dress
1957-03-14
The Tattered Dress
Overview: After a wild night, wealthy Michael Reston's adulterous wife Charleen comes home with her ripe young body barely concealed by a dress in rags; murder results. Top New York defense lawyer J.G. Blane, whose own marriage exists in name only, arrives in Desert View, Nevada to find the townsfolk and politically powerful Sheriff Hoak distinctly hostile to the Restons. In due course, Blane discovers he's been "taken for a ride," and that quiet desert communities can be deadly.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-03-14
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Inside the Mafia
1959-09-01
Inside the Mafia
Overview: A mob assassin holds innocent hostages at an airport in upstate New York.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-09-01
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Damn Citizen
1958-03-01
Damn Citizen
Overview: Louisiana's governor asks war hero Francis C. Grevemberg (Keith Andes) to lead the state police against corruption.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-03-01
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The Rebel Set
1959-06-28
The Rebel Set
Overview: Three beatniks are brought together to rob an armored car, only to face betrayal from amongst their ranks.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-06-28
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The Helen Morgan Story
1957-10-02
The Helen Morgan Story
Overview: Torch singer Helen Morgan rises from sordid beginnings to fame and fortune only to lose it all to alcohol and poor personal choices.
Genres: Drama Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-10-02
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Bullet for a Badman
1964-09-01
Bullet for a Badman
Overview: Former Texas Rangers Sam Ward and Logan Keliher become enemies when Sam turns bank robber and Logan marries Sam's ex-wife.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-09-01
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The Last of the Fast Guns
1958-07-01
The Last of the Fast Guns
Overview: A rich, dying Easterner hires gunfighter Brad Ellison to find his brother and heir in Mexico. En route, it becomes clear to Ellison that his is a dying profession. At a remote rancho, Ellison enlists ranch foreman Miles Lang to help him search the hills where the missing man is rumored to have lived. They find nothing ...except that someone wants to kill them; and Ellison becomes wrapped in a maze of double crosses.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-07-01
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Reprisal!
1956-11-02
Reprisal!
Overview: New ranch owner Frank Madden, half Indian but posing as white, arrives just as an all white jury finds the three white Shipley brothers who lynched three Indians innocent. There is soon trouble between Frank and the Shipleys who are using Frank's land to graze their cattle. When the brother of one of the Indian victims kills a Shipley, Frank is accused and put in jail. The Shipleys then organize a lynch mob and head for the jail.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-11-02
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The High Cost of Loving
1958-05-16
The High Cost of Loving
Overview: Middle-aged middle-manager Jim Fry, with the same company for fifteen years, is in a comfortable rut. But life becomes less predictable when he doesn't receive an invitation to an important luncheon being held by the new company president. Convinced that he's about to lose his job, Jim begins to mull over his limited prospects when his wife confirms that she's pregnant.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-05-16
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Rock, Pretty Baby
1956-12-01
Rock, Pretty Baby
Overview: A high school rock group enters a band contest.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-12-01
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Summer Love
1958-03-10
Summer Love
Overview: A neighborhood rock band gets a job playing at a summer camp.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-03-10
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Omar Khayyam
1957-08-23
Omar Khayyam
Overview: Omar Khayyam was one of the greatest Persian poets. He was also a brilliant mathematician. Though his quatrains were written in the 11th century, they are still popular the world over. The details of his life are unknown, so this movie invents a biography for him and includes in it his real achievements - the invention of a new calendar and the penning of those epigrammatic poems. This film has him romancing a sultan's bride and foiling the assassin sect's plot to kill the sultan's son.
Genres: Adventure Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-08-23
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The Shrike
1955-06-16
The Shrike
Overview: Film version of Joseph Kramm's Pulitzer Prize play, about a Broadway playwright driven to a nervous breakdown by his shrewish wife.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-06-16
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The Great Man
1956-12-01
The Great Man
Overview: Joe Harris, preparing a eulogy for popular radio commentator Herb Fuller, finds that nobody has a good word to say about him.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-12-01
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Who Killed Julie Greer?
1961-09-26
Who Killed Julie Greer?
Overview: Amos Burke is an L.A. cop who's inherited millions and usually arrives at crime scenes in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce. Investigating the death of actress Julie Greer, he finds lots of suspects - but the killer's identity surprises him.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-09-26
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A Ticklish Affair
1963-08-18
A Ticklish Affair
Overview: A young widow Amy Martin with three young boys is investigated by the Navy after one of her children inadvertently sends out a distress signal in Morse code by the blinds on his upstairs bedroom window. Commander Weedon and crew observe the signal from their ship and investigates. He falls for the young mother and proposes marriage. However, she is reluctant to have her family live out of a suitcase and initially declines. Gramps tries to bring her on board to sail the sea of love with the commander.
Genres: Romance Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-08-18
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Destination Space
1959-01-01
Destination Space
Overview: 1959 television science fiction
Genres: Science Fiction TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-01-01
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Cash McCall
1960-01-20
Cash McCall
Overview: Wealthy hotshot Cash McCall makes his money by purchasing unsuccessful businesses, whipping them into shape and then selling them for a huge profit. When Cash comes across Austen Plastics, a small manufacturing corporation on its last legs, he realizes it might be a gamble to buy the company. But when Cash finds out that the company's owner is the father of his old flame, Lory, he buys the business just to get a second chance at romance.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-01-20
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Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
1967-04-08
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
Overview: KAOS steals a secret formula that turns water into vapor and threatens the USA to dry up its entire water supply.
Genres: Comedy Action Crime Mystery Family TV Movie Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-04-08
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I Was a Male War Bride
1949-08-26
I Was a Male War Bride
Overview: After marrying an American lieutenant with whom he was assigned to work in post-war Germany, a French captain attempts to find a way to accompany her back to the States under the terms of the War Bride Act.
Genres: Comedy Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-08-26
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They Came to Cordura
1959-06-01
They Came to Cordura
Overview: An army major, himself guilty of cowardice, is asked to recommended soldiers for the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Mexican Border Incursion of 1916.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-06-01
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Serenade
1956-03-23
Serenade
Overview: A wealthy woman discovers a vineyard worker with a beautiful operatic singing voice. She helps make him a star but then breaks his heart. He flees in misery to Mexico where he meets a sweet farm girl.
Genres: Drama Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-03-23
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Oregon Passage
1957-12-29
Oregon Passage
Overview: A cavalry lieutenant becomes a hated enemy of a Shoshone chief, Black Eagle, when he rescues an Indian maid from a ceremonial camp in this action-packed Western.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-12-29
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The Explosive Generation
1961-10-19
The Explosive Generation
Overview: Peter Gifford is a likable, dedicated schoolteacher that teaches a senior life skills class. When student Janet Sommers brings up the topic of sex and dating, he asks students to write questions on the topic, and will cover them in the next class. The parents get wind of what Gifford is about to do, notify the principal, and he warns Peter not to read the questions in class. Gifford decides to go against this and is suspended. The whole student body protests, and the administration gets worried on what to do.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-10-19
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The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
1956-01-11
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
Overview: TV writer Greg Whitcomb did his military service heroically but now has settled into everyday life with a young wife, Katy. A letter from the war department arrives that Katy believes is calling Greg back to active duty from the Air Force reserve, but she hides it during a party celebrating their wedding anniversary.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-01-11
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Johnny Shiloh
1963-01-20
Johnny Shiloh
Overview: Johnny Shiloh is a 1963 made for TV film that originally aired in two parts on the Wonderful World of Disney in Color. It was released in other countries theatrically as one film and is on DVD as one film. Johnny Shiloh is the true story about Johnny Clem, the ten year old drummer boy who became a union officer in the Civil War.
Genres: Drama War TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-01-20
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The Gift of Love
1958-02-11
The Gift of Love
Overview: Fearing she will die, a physicist's wife hopes her husband will be consoled by the orphan she adopts.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-02-11
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Sincerely Yours
1955-11-05
Sincerely Yours
Overview: He dazzled America for decades with his musical artistry. Now fans as well as those curious about this exciting entertainer’s unique appeal can relive the Liberace magic in his only starring film, Sincerely Yours. In a poignant story scripted by Irving Wallace, Liberace plays a concert pianist threatened by deafness. Plunged into despair, he finds escape from personal sorrow by secretly involving himself in the problems of strangers. Liberace touches the heart and delights the ear with sparkling renditions of 31 selections from Chopin to Chopsticks. Along the way he romances Joanne Dru and Dorothy Malone, trades barbs with old pro William Demarest and in a warmly humorous nightclub scene, pokes fun at his own image as the 1950s matinee idol of the little-old-lady set. From beginning to end, Sincerely Yours perfectly captures the charisma and sheer musicality of the legendary Mr. Showmanship.
Genres: Music Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-11-05
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The Fiercest Heart
1961-04-30
The Fiercest Heart
Overview: Two British soldiers in 1830s South Africa flee military discipline and join a group of Boers heading north on "the Great Trek." In between fighting off Zulu attacks, one of these soldiers falls in love with the trek-leader's granddaughter who has been promised to another man.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-04-30
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The Proud Ones
1956-05-15
The Proud Ones
Overview: Robert Ryan plays an aging sheriff responsible for law and order in a frontier cattle town. Virginia Mayo plays his fiancee. As if handling wild cattle drovers isn't enough, a crooked casino operator from Ryan's past comes to town. An early scuffle in the casino leaves Ryan with vision problems that interfere with his duties. Jeffrey Hunter who came to town with a cattle drive encounters Ryan, who killed Hunter's father when Hunter was young. Feelings of animosity soon change as Hunter begins to sense Ryan is telling the truth about his father. What follows is a plot that continues to thicken to the inevitable showdown.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-05-15
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