8.0
8.0
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
1968
as Narrator
Richard Basehart
Also known as: John Richard Basehart
Acting
Born:August 13, 1914
Died:September 17, 1984(aged 70)
Birthplace:Zanesville, Ohio, USA
Nationality:United States
Height:5'9" (175 cm)
Education:Bishop Rosecrans High School
N/A
CommunityBiography
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 many television and movie projects ranging from features to documentaries. In 1980, Basehart narrated the mini-series written by Peter Arnett called Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War that covered Vietnam and its battles from the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945 to the final American embassy evacuation on April 30, 1975. He appeared in the pilot episode of the television series Knight Rider as billionaire Wilton Knight. He is the narrator at the beginning of the show's credits. In 1971, Basehart played "Captain Sligo", a comical Irishman with a pet buffalo who negotiates a flawed but legal cattle purchase and unconventionally courts a widow with two children, played by Salome Jens, in CBS's western series, Gunsmoke, with James Arness. Basehart appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, and as Hannibal Applewood, an abusive schoolteacher in Little House on the Prairie in 1976. In 1972, he appeared in the Columbo episode Dagger of the Mind in which he and Honor Blackman played a husband-and-wife theatrical team who were loose parodies of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. In the feature realm, he played a supporting role as a doctor in Rage (1972), a theatrical feature starring and directed by George C. Scott. He made a few TV movies including Sole Survivor (1970) and The Birdmen (1971). Both were based on true stories during World War II. He died at age 70 following a series of strokes. One month before his death, Basehart was an announcer for the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Filmography (80 movies)
7.9
7.9
La Strada
1954
as Il 'Matto'
7.6
7.6
Los Angeles Plays Itself
2004
as Roy Morgan/Roy Martin in He Walked By Night (archive footage)
7.6
7.6
Being There
1979
as Vladimir Skrapinov
7.5
7.5
The Birdmen
1973
as Schiller
7.3
7.3
The Swindle
1955
as Carlo
7.2
7.2
Fourteen Hours
1951
as Robert Cosick
7.1
7.1
Time Limit
1957
as Maj. Harry Cargill
7.1
7.1
Moby Dick
1956
as Ishmael
7.0
7.0
Trial at Nuremberg
1964
as Narrator
6.9
6.9
Reign of Terror
1949
as Maximilian Robespierre
6.8
6.8
Miracles of Thursday
1957
as Martino
6.8
6.8
The Stranger's Hand
1954
as Joe Hamstringer
6.8
6.8
Marilyn: The Untold Story
1980
as Johnny Hyde
6.8
6.8
Tension
1949
as Warren Quimby
6.7
6.7
The Death of Me Yet
1971
as Robert Barnes
6.7
6.7
Decision Before Dawn
1951
as Lt. Dick Rennick
6.7
6.7
The Andersonville Trial
1970
as Henry Wirz
6.7
6.7
He Walked by Night
1949
as Roy Martin / Roy Morgan
6.6
6.6
The Extra Day
1956
as Joe Blake
6.6
6.6
Titanic
1953
as George S. Headley
6.5
6.5
Chato's Land
1972
as Nye Buell
6.5
6.5
Fixed Bayonets!
1951
as Cpl. Denno
6.5
6.5
Rage
1972
as Dr. Roy Caldwell
6.5
6.5
The Ambitious One
1959
as George Rancourt
6.5
6.5
Hans Brinker
1969
as Dr. Boeker
6.5
6.5
The Brothers Karamazov
1958
as Ivan Karamazov
6.4
6.4
Sole Survivor
1970
as Brig. Gen. Russell Hamner
6.4
6.4
The House on Telegraph Hill
1951
as Alan Spender
6.3
6.3
Love Is a Funny Thing
1969
as Acteur
6.3
6.3
Egypt: Quest for Eternity
1982
as Narrator (Self)
6.3
6.3
The Good Die Young
1954
as Joe Halsey
6.2
6.2
Time Travelers
1976
as Dr. Joshua Henderson (1871)
6.1
6.1
Mansion of the Doomed
1976
as Dr. Leonard Chaney
6.1
6.1
21 Hours at Munich
1976
as Willy Brandt
6.1
6.1
Kings of the Sun
1963
as Ah Min
6.1
6.1
The Satan Bug
1965
as Dr. Gregor Hoffman
6.0
6.0
Four Days In November
1964
as Narrator (voice)
6.0
6.0
Repeat Performance
1947
as William Williams
6.0
6.0
Canyon Crossroads
1955
as Larry Kendall
6.0
6.0
Five Branded Women
1960
as Eric Reinhardt
5.9
5.9
Cry Wolf
1947
as James Caldwell Demarest
5.9
5.9
Love and Troubles
1958
as Paolo Martelli
5.8
5.8
The Intimate Stranger
1956
as Reginald 'Reggie' Wilson
5.8
5.8
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
as Cpl. Denno (archive footage) (uncredited)
5.8
5.8
Outside the Wall
1950
as Larry Nelson
5.7
5.7
Hitler
1962
as Adolf Hitler
5.6
5.6
The Island of Dr. Moreau
1977
as Sayer of the Law
5.6
5.6
Roseanna McCoy
1949
as Mounts Hatfield
5.5
5.5
Portrait in Black
1960
as Howard Mason
5.5
5.5
The Bounty Man
1972
as Angus Keough
5.5
5.5
The Golden Vein
1955
as Ing. Stefano Manfredi
5.5
5.5
Knight Rider: Knight of the Phoenix
1982
as Wilton Knight
5.0
5.0
For the Love of Mike
1960
as Father Phelan
5.0
5.0
Cartouche
1955
as Il conte Jacques de Maudy
4.9
4.9
Flood!
1977
as John Cutler
4.7
4.7
Visa to Canton
1960
as Don Benton
4.4
4.4
The Great Bank Hoax
1978
as Manny Benchly
4.1
4.1
City Beneath the Sea
1971
as The President
4.0
4.0
Jailbirds
1954
as Doctor Stefano Luprandi
4.0
4.0
...And Millions Die!
1973
as Dr Douglas Pruitt
3.5
3.5
Judgment: The Court Martial of Lt. William Calley
1975
as George Latimer
3.3
3.3
The Savage Guns
1961
as Steve Fallon
Assignment: Munich
1972
as Maj. Barney Caldwell
The Yanks Are Coming
1963
as Narrator (voice)
The Rebels
1979
as Duke of Kentland
Jons und Erdme
1959
as Wittkuhn
They've Killed President Lincoln!
1971
as Host / Narrator
Valley Forge
1975
Planet Mars
1979
as Narrator
Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model?
1977
as Elliott Osborn
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967
Land of Celtic Ghosts
1979
as Himself
The First Woman President
1974
as Woodrow Wilson
So Soon to Die
1957
as Lionel Amblin
The Hiding Place
1960
as Martin Lambert
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
1978
as King Arthur
Maneater
1973
as Carl Brenner
Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet
1982
as Self
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
1965
as Narrator (voice)
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