Richard Dysart

Richard Dysart

Birth : 1929-03-30, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Death : 2015-04-05

History

Was an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Leland McKenzie on the NBC legal drama L.A. Law. Dysart served for four years in the Air Force during the Korean War. In 1979, he was featured in the film Being There, portraying a good-hearted physician. In 1980, he portrayed Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in the TV movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd. He also lent his voice to the kindly miner Uncle Pom in the Disney English language version of Hayao Miyazaki's 1986 adventure classic, Castle in the Sky. He starred in movies such as The Last Days of Patton, Being There, The Day of the Locust, The Rumor Mill, Pale Rider, The Falcon and the Snowman, Prophecy, The Thing, Warning Sign, Hard Rain, Mask, An Enemy of the People, The Hospital, and The Hindenburg. The scene where his L.A. Law character, Leland, the patriarchal and stiff founder of a successful law practice, was revealed to be in bed with competitor Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) was ranked as the 38th greatest moment in television in an issue of EGG magazine. He earned one Emmy Award, and three more nominations, for his role as McKenzie on L.A. Law. Dysart was a founding member of the American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco. He attended Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. He received the Drama Desk Award in 1972 and an Emmy Award in 1992. He is a brother of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity based out of Emerson College in Boston. In 1990, Dysart was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law. He is also a certified open water diver. Dysart and his wife, artist Kathryn Jacobi, have been married since 1987. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Dysart, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Richard Dysart
Richard Dysart

Movies

Everything Is Terrible! The Movie
Self (archive footage)
The fine folks at EIT have spent years digging thought thrift establishments, video caverns, and haunted houses throughtout the country in order to create the most mind-melting VHS mash-up imaginable. Literally thousands of hours of video gold have been chopped up into millions of pieces and gluded back together into an ever-multiplying bizarre path to allegorical self-enlightenment and surreal resurrection. Obviously!
Proteus: A Nineteenth Century Vision
The Ancient Mariner (voice)
The animated documentary Proteus explores the nineteenth century's engagement with the undersea world through science, technology, painting, poetry and myth. The central figure of the film is biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel, who found in the depths of the sea an ecstatic and visionary fusion of science and art.
L.A. Law: The Movie
Leland McKenzie
Todd McFarlane's Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle
Cogliostro
Spawn is still on his quest to return to his love, Wanda, but is still in trouble. He is guided though by Cogliostro, who is the only one who can give him his humanity back.
Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2
Cogliostro
Upon his return to "life", Spawn seeks out Wanda, who had apparently got over the grief of having lost Al and married another man, Al's best friend Terry Fitzgerald with whom she seemingly had a daughter, Cyan. Terry, a respectable man, works for a man named Jason Wynn. Wynn is a black-market arms dealer, amongst other things (such as the head of certain government organizations, one of which dispatched Al and his team to Vietnam), and is revealed to be the man responsible for the death of Al Simmons due to a disagreement the two had between each other. Jason's actions would also prove dangerous to the lives of Terry, Wanda and their daughter as well. Realizing that he is no longer the man in Wanda's life, Al swears to protect her and her new family.
Hard Rain
Henry Sears
An armored car driver tries to elude a gang of thieves while a flood ravages the countryside.
Todd McFarlane's Spawn
Cogliostro (voice)
Todd McFarlane's Spawn is an animated television series which aired on HBO from 1997 through 1999. It is also released on DVD as a film series. It is based on the Spawn comic series from Image Comics, and was nominated for and won an Emmy in 1999 for Outstanding Animation Program (longer than one hour)
A Child Is Missing
Riley Hallihan
A hermit living in the Washington Mountains stumbles upon a boy who has been kidnapped. He does everything in his power to save the boy but he becomes a suspect.
Truman
Henry L. Stimson
Biographical account of America's President for the latter part of WWII. Shows Truman's rise from small-town nobody to leader of the USA, his decision to use the Atomic Bomb against Japan, and subsequent election as the US' post-war President.
Panther
J. Edgar Hoover
Panther is a semi-historic film about the origins of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The movie spans about 3 years (1966-68) of the Black Panther's history in Oakland. Panther also uses historical footage (B/W) to emphasize some points.
Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair
J. Edgar Hoover
The 1960s. Bobby Kennedy is in power in Washington. Marilyn Monroe is a legendary film star. For years there has been widespread speculation and rumors of a secret romance between Marilyn and Bobby. Now that story is told for the first time in this account of two very public figures whose brief romance fired the imaginations of millions and fueled debate over their mysterious and untimely deaths.
Back to the Future Part III
Barbwire Salesman
The final installment of the Back to the Future trilogy finds Marty digging the trusty DeLorean out of a mineshaft and looking for Doc in the Wild West of 1885. But when their time machine breaks down, the travelers are stranded in a land of spurs. More problems arise when Doc falls for pretty schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and Marty tangles with Buford Tannen.
Day One
President Harry S. Truman
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard leaves Europe, eventually arriving in the United States. With the help of Einstein, he persuades the government to build an atomic bomb. The project is given to no-nonsense Gen. Leslie Groves who selects physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to head the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the bomb is built. As World War II draws to a close, Szilard has second thoughts about atomic weapons, and policy makers debate how and when to use the bomb.
Mickey's 60th Birthday
Leland McKenzie
This film combines live action/original animation and library animation. Mickey steals a magic hat from a Sorcerer and is put under a spell by the angry magi so that no one will recognize him until he finds his own magic within. While Mickey is on his quest, network news teams around the country desperately try to find the famous, beloved mouse who has mysteriously disappeared. On his quest, Mickey goes into the "Cheers" bar, meets up with the characters from "Family Ties", and winds up on Disneyland's Main Street the night before his Birthday celebration is to take place. It is there that he finds he has all the magic inside him that he will ever need. The spell is broken and the Birthday bash commences as the whole World celebrates the beloved Mickey Mouse.
Moving Target
Arthur Cambridge
A teenage musician goes on the run from killers and the police when he returns home to find his home empty and his family gone.
Your Alcohol I.Q.
Self
Just how much do you know about alcohol consumption? Take this video quiz to find out!
Wall Street
Cromwell
A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider whom takes the youth under his wing.
Jay Leno's Family Comedy Hour
self
Jay Leno hosts "Jay Leno's Family Comedy Hour," a one hour special featuring a humorous look at the American family.
Six Against the Rock
Warden James Johnston
In May of 1946, Alcatraz inmate Bernie Coy initiates a carefully thought out plan to escape the island prison. His plan, carried out with five accomplices, falls apart when they can't obtain a key to unlock a door leading to the yard.
The Last Days of Patton
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
As a result of General George S. Patton's (George C. Scott) decision to use former Nazis to help reconstruct post-World War II Germany (and publicly defending the practice), General Dwight Eisenhower (Richard Dysart) removes him from that task and reassigns him to supervise "an army of clerks" whose task is to write the official history of the U.S. military involvement in World War II. Shortly thereafter, on December 9, 1945 (a day before he was to transfer back to the United States), Patton is involved in an automobile accident that seriously injures his spinal column, paralyzing him. As he lies in his hospital bed, he flashes back to earlier pivotal moments in his life, including stories his father told him of his grandfather's service during the American Civil War which inspired him to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, his marriage to his wife Beatrice (Eva Marie Saint), and his championing of the use of tanks in the United States Army.
L.A. Law: Pilot
Leland McKenzie
Pilot episode for the TV series introduces the lawyers and employees of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak, a Los Angeles law firm, in dealing with their courtroom cases and personal matters out of the courthouse. While the entire office deals with the unexpected death of one of the founding senior partners, Norman Chaney, junior partner Michael Kuzak reluctantly takes on the defense of a wealthy and spoiled young man, accused with two friends, of raping a woman dying from leukemia. While intern Abby Perkins deals with her abusive alcoholic husband, divorce lawyer Arnie Becker takes advantage of his latest client caught up in her divorce. Public defender Victor Sifuentes is also offered to join the firm, while the ruthless managing partner, Douglas Brackman, deals with a surprising revelation from his new secretary.
Blood & Orchids
Harvey Koster
Hester Murdoch is found naked and nearly beaten to death by four young Hawaiian men on the beach and taken to the hospital. Some of the men didn't want to get involved, fearing they might be blamed, because she was white, but do so anyway. Almost immediately everyone suspects they are to blame. When Hester's politically influential mother Doris finds out what really happened, she fearing a scandal, forces her daughter to blame the men who rescued her, of raping and beating her. It's up to detective Curt Maddox, to find out what really happened, and their Hawaiian lawyer to do the impossible. Convince a white court of law, that they are innocent.
Warning Sign
Dr. Nielsen
An accident occurs in an ultra-secret government biological weapons laboratory spreading a sinister bacteria.
Pale Rider
Coy LaHood
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Mask
Abe
A boy with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempts to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
The Falcon and the Snowman
Dr. Lee
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
Malice in Wonderland
Louis B. Mayer
Struggling actress Hedda Hopper can't get a break in Hollywood, even though an acquaintence of hers is the extremely powerful gossip monger Louella Parsons - maker and breaker of careers (and lives) through her daily syndicated newspaper column. The big movie moguls, fed up with Parson's power over their stars, decide to de-claw her by setting up gossip Hopper as a competitor in the rumour industry. What they couldn't forsee was that Hopper would become as big as Parsons -- and every bit as much of a pain. Based on the true life stories of two of the most powerful (and arguably dangerous) women of Hollywood's hay-day.
Missing Children: A Mother's Story
Hunter Burgess
A young mother hands her children into what she thinks is a childcare center while she finds a new home, but returns to find that they have been adopted out without her knowledge.
The Thing
Dr. Copper
A team of American scientists investigate the empty, destroyed base of their Norwegian counterparts in Antarctica, only to discover a terrifying life force that can take the form of its prey.
Bitter Harvest
Dr. Morton Freeman
A farmer's herd sickens and dies, then his family and neighbors fall ill, so he bucks the state agricultural establishment as he pursues the politically-explosive investigation of how his farm, family, and friends came to be poisoned.
People vs. Jean Harris
Judge Russell R. Leggett
This dramatic re-enactment premiered a mere nine weeks after the actual headline-making trial of the refined private school headmistress who was convicted of the murder of her unfaithful lover, Dr. Herman Tarnower, the famed "Scarsdale Diet" author.
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd
Edwin Stanton
This is the story of the doctor whose farm John Wilkes Booth went to after assassinating Abraham Lincoln
Bogie
Jack Warner
This TV movie focuses on the life of actor Humphrey Bogart.
Prophecy
Trevor Isley
When a dispute occurs between a logging operation and a nearby Native American tribe, Dr. Robert Verne and his wife, Maggie, are sent in to mediate. Chief John Hawks insists the loggers are poisoning the water supply, and, though company man Isley denies it, the Vernes can't ignore the strangely mutated wildlife roaming the woods. Robert captures a bear cub for testing and soon finds himself the target of an angry mutant grizzly.
Being There
Dr. Robert Allenby
A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.
Meteor
Secretary of Defense
After a collision with a comet, a nearly 8km wide piece of the asteroid "Orpheus" is heading towards Earth. If it will hit it will cause a incredible catastrophe which will probably extinguish mankind. To stop the meteor NASA wants to use the illegal nuclear weapon satellite "Hercules" but discovers soon that it doesn't have enough fire power. Their only chance to save the world is to join forces with the USSR who have also launched such an illegal satellite. But will both governments agree?
Churchill and the Generals
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
The complicated relationship between Winston Churchill and the leaders of the British army during World War II.
First, You Cry
Dr. Brennerman
The story of television news correspondent Betty Rollin and her battle with breast cancer, and how her subsequent mastectomy changed her marriage, her philosophy and her entire life.
An Enemy of the People
Aslaksen
A small forest town is trying to promote itself as a place for tourists to come enjoy the therapeutic hot springs and unspoiled nature. Dr. Stockmann, however, makes the inconvenient discovery that the nature around the village is not so unspoiled. In fact, the runoff from the local tanning mill has contaminated the water to a dangerous degree. The town fathers argue that cleaning up the mess would be far too expensive and the publicity would destroy the town's reputation, so therefore news of the pollution should be suppressed. Dr. Stockmann decides to fight to get the word out to the people, but receives as very mixed reaction.
It Happened One Christmas
Peter Bailey
It's Christmas Eve 1944 in the small town of Bedford Falls, New York. A despondent and suicidal Mary Bailey Hatch is praying for guidance on what to do about an incident no fault of her own which threatens her name and the community standing of her longtime family business, the Bailey Building and Loan, which she took over after the passing of her father. What Mary does not know is that most in town, including her husband George Hatch and their children, are also praying for her. All the prayers are heard by Joseph, God's gatekeeper of prayers. As there are no other angels available on such a busy day, Joseph assigns Clara Oddbody, angel second class (i.e. she has yet to receive her wings), to Mary's case, which he reluctantly does as Clara has never been assigned a case on her own in the two hundred years she's been in heaven for good reason.
The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer
President Ulysses S. Grant
General Custer is on trial for the deaths of his men at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Gemini Man [Pilot]
Leonard Driscoll
A government agent is caught in the explosion of a government underwater salvage operation. He finds himself capable of turning himself invisible, and sets out to use his new powers to prove that the explosion was sabotage.
Riding with Death
Dimwitted, meaty guy foils criminals by turning invisible.
The Hindenburg
Lehman
In this highly speculative historical thriller, Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott), a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.
The Day of the Locust
Claude Estee
Hollywood, 1930s. Tod Hackett, a young painter who tries to make his way as an art director in the lurid world of film industry, gets infatuated with his neighbor Faye Greener, an aspiring actress who prefers the life that Homer Simpson, a lone accountant, can offer her.
The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder
Father
After returning home from the war, Vietnam veteran Julius Vrooder resides in a veteran's hospital, where he has been vaguely diagnosed as "psychiatrically impaired." Taking the news with an air of initially lighthearted defiance, Vrooder escapes and sets up camp under a highway, where he builds a paranoia-driven booby-trapped bunker for himself. Falling in love with not-so-bright nurse Zanni, Vrooder soon plans to elope with her to a remote Canadian outpost.
The Terminal Man
Dr. John Ellis
As the result of a head injury, brilliant computer scientist Harry Benson begins to experience violent seizures. In an attempt to control the seizures, Benson undergoes a new surgical procedure in which a microcomputer is inserted into his brain. The procedure is not entirely successful.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Master Bryant
In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized.
The Hospital
Dr. Welbeck
Dr. Bock, the chief of medicine at a Manhattan hospital, is suicidal after the collapse of his personal life. When an intern is found dead in a hospital bed, it appears to Bock to be a case of unforgivable malpractice. Hours later, another doctor, who happens to be responsible for another case of malpractice, is found dead. Despondent, Bock finds himself drawn to Barbara, the daughter of a comatose missionary.
The Sporting Club
Spengler
The wealthy members of an exclusive backwoods retreat face an existential threat from both a disgruntled former manager as well as a subversive, anarchistic current member.
The Lost Man
Barnes
A gang of black militants plots to rob a factory to finance their "revolutionary struggle."
CBS Playhouse: Shadow Game
Workers in a high-powered New York business office are stranded on the 50th floor when the power fails during the East Coast blackout of 1965.
Petulia
Motel Receptionist
An unhappily married socialite finds solace in the company of a recently divorced doctor.
Love with the Proper Stranger
Accountant (uncredited)
Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion.