Richard Bakalyan
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Richard Bakalyan (January 29, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor who started his career playing juvenile delinquents in his first several films.


Early life

Richard Bakalyan was born on January 29, 1931, in
Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...
, the son of
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
n-born William Nishan Bakalyan and Elsie Florence (née Fancy) Bakalyan, a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
from
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
. He had two brothers. His father died in 1939, when Richard was 8. Growing up in a tough neighborhood, Bakalyan learned
boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
to defend himself in street fights. He served a year's probation at age 15 for unknown crimes. Bakalyan served in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. After four years of service, he was honorably discharged with the rank of
staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...
.


Career


Film

Early in his career he was cast as thugs, outlaws, and in military action films, like '' The Delinquents'' (1957), '' The Bonnie Parker Story'' (1958), '' Up Periscope'' (1959), and '' Panic in Year Zero!''. During the filming of 1958's juvenile-gang drama '' The Cool and the Crazy'', he and fellow actor Dick Jones were arrested for vagrancy for real on-location in Kansas City. They were standing on the corner between takes in "JD" outfits and the police thought that they were actual gang members. It took several hours for the film crew to explain to the police what was going on and get them released from jail. By the mid-1960s, as he grew out of these roles, he became something of a comic heavy, often cast in family Disney films though still known in dramas. Some of his Disney projects included '' Never a Dull Moment'' (1968), '' The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes'' (1969), '' The Strongest Man in the World'' (1975), ''
Return from Witch Mountain ''Return from Witch Mountain'' is a 1978 American science fiction–adventure film and a sequel to '' Escape to Witch Mountain'' (1975) and the second film in the ''Witch Mountain'' franchise. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was ...
'' (1978), and voice-efforts in ''
The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a r ...
'' (1981), as 'Dinky' the finch bird. Bakalyan had an uncredited role in '' The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965) as the good thief on the cross. He appeared in several of
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
's movies during the 1960s, such as '' Robin and the 7 Hoods'' (1964), '' None but the Brave'' (1965), and '' Von Ryan's Express'' (1965), becoming lifelong friends with the Sinatra family. While filming '' Pressure Point'' in 1962, he met co-star
Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...
, who later became one of Bakalyan's closest friends. It's reported Bakalyan was one of the last friends to see Darin, before his premature death from heart disease, in December, 1973. Bakalyan played Detective Loach in
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
's 1974 film ''
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
'' opposite
Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...
and
Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...
.


Television

Bakalyan has also appeared on numerous television shows from the 1950s through the 2000s. Early small screen performances came in '' Panic!'', '' The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'', '' The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'', '' Hawaiian Eye'' and '' The Untouchables''. In 1962, he played Sgt. Wolfson on the World War II drama '' Combat!'' in the 1st season, episode 12 "The Prisoner", returning in 1966 to play Sgt. Piper in the 4th season, episode 27 "Gitty". Later he appeared in a variety of shows, including ''
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'', ''
Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1928 by the American detective fiction writers Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) and Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971). It is also the name of their main fictional detective, a mystery writer in New York City ...
'', ''
Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...
'', '' Love, American Style'', ''
Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...
'', ''
The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction film, science fiction Action-adventure fiction, action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson (producer), Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel Cyborg (novel), ''Cyborg'' by ...
'', '' Charlie's Angels'', '' Hill Street Blues'', '' Emergency!'', where he starred as Charley, a cantankerous fire department mechanic, and the NBC comedy series ''
My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...
'', which was his last screen effort in October 2008. In 1968, Bakalyan was featured in "Way Down Cellar," a two-part story on '' Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color''. He was a regular on ''Dean Martin Presents: The Bobby Darin Amusement Company'' (1972) and ''The Bobby Darin Show'' (1973).


Personal life

Bakalyan was married to Elizabeth Baumann from 1952 until her death in 1967. A prolific character actor, Bakalyan was profiled in the book ''Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget'' by Justin Humphreys.


Death

Bakalyan died suddenly of a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
on February 27, 2015, at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center, in
Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...
, aged 84.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakalyan, Richard 1931 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American male actors People from Watertown, Massachusetts American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American people of Armenian descent American people of Canadian descent United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Male actors from Boston United States Air Force airmen 20th-century American comedians