Ronald Bix Plumstead (March 14, 1930 – March 17, 1993) was an American film and television character actor. He was best known for playing "Wally Plumstead" in the American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

television series '' The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' from 1957 to 1966. Skip Young appeared as George Allison in Father Knows Best episode "Bud Lives it Up" in 1960.

Life and career

Young was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He began his career at the age of four, in which he appeared in the 1934 short film ''No More West'', having to appear with

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...

. Young later made his debut on television in 1952, after spending eight years acting on radio. In 1957, he won the role of Wally Plumstead, Rick's fraternity brother and best friend, on '' The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', and remained on the show through its final season in 1966. Ozzie Nelson hired Plumstead for the role of Wally after seeing him perform in "McDonald's Farm" at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

in Buena Vista, California. Ozzie and Harriet's "Wally" was "Chubby" until Plumstead, Young's original surname, was added to "Wally". After the series ended, Young guest-starred in television programs including '' Green Acres'', ''

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

'', '' Adam-12'', '' Starsky & Hutch'' and ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The show ran for seven seasons, consisting of 166 episodes. The series followed the misadventures of the ...

''. He also appeared and co-starred in films such as '' A Cold Wind in August'', '' WUSA'' and '' Lobster Man from Mars''. In 1973, Young moved to

Apple Valley, California Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California. It was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of the 22 incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in thei ...

, where he lived near his only daughter. He spent the rest of his life, as a radio personality on a radio

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

. He was also a judge of

beauty pageants A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

and cook-offs, participating in numerous community events.

Death

Young died in March 1993 of natural causes, in which he also had complications of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and a heart disease, at his home in

, at the age of 63. He was buried in

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administratio ...

References

External links

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Rotten Tomatoes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Skip 1930 births 1993 deaths People from San Francisco Male actors from San Francisco Deaths from diabetes American male film actors American male television actors American male radio actors 20th-century American male actors Burials at Riverside National Cemetery