Walker Edmiston
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Walker Edmiston | |
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Born | |
Died | February 15, 2007 | (aged 81)
Other names | Walter Edmiston |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1949-2006 |
Spouse(s) | Evelyn Edmiston
(m. 1950; died 1998) |
Children | 2 |
Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American radio, television and voice actor.[1]
Early years[]
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edmiston participated in local theater productions during his high school years.[2] He later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse.[3]
Career[]
Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s–1970s.
Before working on network programs, Edmiston had puppet shows on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles.[4] His voice was heard on the puppet programs The Buffalo Billy Show[5] and Time for Beany[5]:1085 and on Dumbo's Circus, which included live action and animation.[5]:292 He was also a member of the cast of Lidsville[5]:599 and voiced characters on Pandemonium.[5]:807-808
He also appeared on Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, Adam-12, and The Dukes of Hazzard.[citation needed] He also played a character based on "Chester" in "Gun-Shy," the Maverick parody of Gunsmoke starring James Garner.[6] In 1966, Edmiston had a recurring role as Regan in the short-lived ABC comedy western series The Rounders with co-stars Ron Hayes, Patrick Wayne, and Chill Wills.
Edmiston also did many television commercials and cartoon character voices, such as "Ernie the Keebler Elf" in hundreds of commercials for the cookie products of the Keebler Company, and voices for characters on H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos from the studios of Sid and Marty Krofft,[1] as well as a recurring role as Enik the Altrusian on that studio's Land of the Lost.[5]:579-580 He also did many character voices on the Focus on the Family radio program, Adventures in Odyssey, in which he played the beloved Tom Riley and the infamous Bart Rathbone (and numerous other one-shot characters), for more than twenty years. At times the two characters would argue; however, Edmiston would require little redubbing or editing. He simply switched between the two characters without pause. After his death in 2007, the character of Riley was retired from the show, while Rathbone would make one more appearance (voiced by Robert Easton) before subsequently being written out as well.
Some of his voice credits were under the stage name Walter Edmiston. In 1985, he also voiced the Autobot Inferno in The Transformers.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, he hosted The Walker Edmiston Show, a children's television program in Los Angeles, California. The program featured puppets of his own creation including Kingsley the Lion, Ravenswood the Buzzard,[2] and Webster Webfoot. Edmiston also appeared in Barnaby Jones; episode titled, "Doomed Alibi"(03/11/1975).
In 1962, Edmiston and his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he began a daily puppet show on KOOL-TV.[3] He also was a stage director at Children's Theater in Phoenix.[7]
Death[]
Edmiston died from cancer in Woodland Hills, California on February 15, 2007. He had two daughters, Andria Edmiston (1956-1987) and Erin Edmiston.[1]
He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
Filmography[]
- Beany and Cecil (1949, TV Series) — Dishonest John (voice)
- Everything's Ducky (1961) — Scuttlebutt - The Duck (voice)
- The Flintstones (1962, TV Series) — J. Montague Gypsum (voice)
- Hitler (1962) — S.S. Man (uncredited)
- The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) — Mark / Kingsley the Lion
- Stagecoach (1966) — Cheyenne Wells Fargo Agent (uncredited)
- Star Trek (1966)— episode "The Corbomite Maneuver" -- Balok (voice)
- The Monkees (1967, TV Series) — Newspaper Publisher ("Monkee Mayor")
- Star Trek (1968, TV Series) — episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion -- Provider 2 (voice)
- The Green Berets (1968) — Lt. Moore (uncredited)
- Bullitt (1968) — (voice, uncredited)
- Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) — (voice, uncredited)
- Pufnstuf (1970) — Dr. Blinky / Ludicrous Lion / Seymore Spider / Candle / Hippie Tree (voice)
- The Andromeda Strain (1971) — (voice, uncredited)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) — Talking Baby Chimp (voice, uncredited)
- One More Train to Rob (1971) — Engineer (uncredited)
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) — Mr. Slugworth/Mr. Wilkinson (voice, uncredited)
- Yogi's Ark Lark (1972, TV Series) — Squiddly Diddly / Yakky Doodle (voice)
- Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973, TV Series) — Sigmund (voice)
- The All-American Boy (1973) — Minor Role (uncredited)
- Down and Dirty Duck (1974) — Bus Driver / Jail Orator / Small Fag / Prospector / Mexican Official / President / Man in Elevator (voice)
- Land of the Lost (1974–1976, TV Series) — Enik / Jefferson Davis Collie III
- Trilogy of Terror (1975, TV Movie) — Zuni Fetish Doll (voice, uncredited)
- The Bob Newhart Show (1977) "Desperate Sessions" Sergeant Webber
- The Waltons (1977) Episode: "The Hiding Place" - Franklin D Roosevelt and Edward R Murrow (voices)
- Loose Shoes (1978) — Pa
- Wholly Moses! (1980) — God (voice)
- Scared to Death (1981) — Police Chief Dennis Warren
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1981, TV Series) — Koldar ("The Dorian Secret")
- Spider-Man (1981, TV Series) — Magneto ("When Magneto Speaks... People Listen")
- Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981, TV Series) — Kingpin ("Pawns of the Kingpin"), Frankenstein's Monster ("The Transylvanian Connection")
- The Smurfs (1981) — Walden Edmiston (voice)
- (1982) — Andrew Carnegie / Man in Rocking Chair (voice)
- Pandamonium (TV series) (1982) — Algeron (voice)
- The Bear (1984) — Dr. Rose
- The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985, TV Series) — Professor Crandall
- Dumbo's Circus (1985, TV Series) — Sebastian (voice)
- The Transformers (1985–1986, TV Series) — Inferno (voice)
- The Great Mouse Detective (1986) — Citizen / Thug Guard #1 (voice)
- The Transformers: The Movie (1986) — Inferno (voice, scenes deleted)
- Adventures in Odyssey (1987-2008, audio drama series) — Bart Rathbone / Tom Riley (voice)
- Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) (voice)
- Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1989–1991, TV Series) — Sir Thornberry
- Dick Tracy (1990) — Radio Announcer #4 (voice)
- Spider-Man (1997, TV Series) — Whizzer/Robert Frank
- Whisper of the Heart (1995) — Kita (English version, voice)
- Ben 10 (2006, TV Series) — Marty / Ice Cream Employee ("Permanent Retirement")
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006, TV Series) — Fire Lord Azulon
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Walker Edmiston". Indiana Gazette. February 28, 2007. p. 4. Retrieved May 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b McLellan, Dennis (February 27, 2007). "Walker Edmiston, 81; voice artist, puppeteer was host of early L.A. children's TV show". The Los Angeles Times. p. 54. Retrieved July 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Thomas, Margaret (September 30, 1962). "TV 'Voice' On The Go Here". Arizona Republic. Arizona, Phoenix. p. 40. Retrieved July 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2015). Sid and Marty Krofft: A Critical Study of Saturday Morning Children's Television, 1969-1993. McFarland. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4766-0784-9. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
- ^ Garner, James; Winokur, Jon (2012). The Garner Files: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4516-4261-2. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "Vet Coaches Youngsters". Arizona Republic. Arizona, Phoenix. January 4, 1963. p. 27. Retrieved July 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
External links[]
- 1926 births
- 2007 deaths
- American male radio actors
- American male television actors
- American male voice actors
- Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
- Deaths from cancer in California
- Male actors from Los Angeles
- Male actors from St. Louis
- 20th-century American male actors