Richard Basehart Biography

Fast Facts

• Founded the organization Actors and Others for Animals with Diana Lotery in 1971
• Father of actor Jackie Basehart and make-up artist Gayla Basehart
• Made his first on-screen appearance in the 1947 film "Repeat Performance․"
• Quote: "I couldn't be a straight leading man․ You've got to be bigger and prettier than I am․"
• Quote: "Nothing irritates me more than actors who take all the money and then complain about how terribly limited TV is․ That kind of talk only reflects on them․"
• Best known for portraying Harriman Nelson in the 1960s science fiction series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea․"
• Referenced in the Frank Zappa song "The Radio is Broken" from the 1983 album "The Man from Utopia․"