Richard Herd obit

Richard Herd, Mr. Wilhelm on 'Seinfeld,' Dies at 87

He was not on the list.

He also appeared on 'T.J. Hooker' and three 'Star Trek' shows and on the big screen in 'All the President's Men' and 'The China Syndrome.'

Richard Herd, the venerable character actor who played Mr. Wilhelm on Seinfeld and appeared in such notable films as All the President's Men and The China Syndrome, died Tuesday. He was 87.

Herd died of cancer-related causes at his home in Los Angeles, his wife of 40 years, actress Patricia Crowder Herd, told The Hollywood Reporter.

With his commanding features, Herd often portrayed men of authority during his five-decade career, and in his first recurring role in a TV series, he played Captain Sheridan, William Shatner's boss, on the ABC action cop drama T.J. Hooker.

The Boston native also made a name for himself in the world of science fiction by portraying Supreme Commander John in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and its sequel a year later; the Klingon L'Kor on Star Trek: The Next Generation; Admiral William Noyce on seaQuest 2032; and Admiral Owen Paris on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Renegades.

Herd played the ex-CIA agent who led the team that broke into the Watergate Hotel in All the President's Men (1976), and when a shift supervisor (Jack Lemmon) takes control of a nuclear plant in The China Syndrome (1979), he was the plant's scheming chairman trying to cover up its problems.

Herd also portrayed Gen. Omar Bradley in the lauded 1979 ABC miniseries Ike: The War Years and military men in Private Benjamin (1980) and Sgt. Bilko (1996).

One of those journeymen actors known more by his face (some say he resembled Karl Malden) than by name, Herd appeared 11 times over three Seinfeld seasons as Wilhelm, the clueless New York Yankees exec who supervised George Costanza (Jason Alexander) after he landed a job with George Steinbrenner's team as an assistant to the traveling secretary.

In the 1996 episode "The Bottle Deposit," Wilhelm goes into great detail about a secret project he wants George to do, not realizing that George has missed most of what he was saying. The more George tries to uncover the details, the more cryptic they become.

George is saved when Wilhelm goes off his meds, completes the project himself and gives George the credit.

In "The Checks" from 1996, George discovers that the company that cleans the Yankee Stadium office carpets is a front for a religious cult and gets upset when the group shows no interest in recruiting him. When the crew arrives for a cleaning, its newest recruit is Wilhelm, now calling himself "Tania" (the pseudonym Patty Hearst adopted during her kidnapping). Flabbergasted, George asks the crew head, "Him, you brainwashed? What's he got that I don't have?"

"He was always doing things that never got done and always going over to Mr. Steinbrenner and apologizing to him," Herd said of Wilhelm in a 2016 interview. "Some days, he had clear days, other days he didn't. He was very vulnerable. He had an odd sense of humor. … He was way out there on occasion. I've taken a few trips out there, so I know all about it."

Wilhelm ultimately got the last laugh on George. In 1997's "The Millennium," George is offered a job as a scout with the New York Mets — but only if the Yankees fire him. Try as he might, he can't get this to happen — that is, until he ties the team's championship trophy to the bumper of his car and drags it around the stadium parking lot while shouting derogatory slurs about the ball club.

Steinbrenner (voiced by Larry David) is all set to fire George, but Wilhelm comes in and takes the fall, telling the owner that it was all his idea. The Boss fires Wilhelm instead, but he doesn't care. He has a new job … as a scout for the Mets.

Herd said he was surprised to be cast because of something he mentioned during his 1995 audition. "It was easy. It was fun. It was very inviting," he recalled. "And as I left, I turned around and said, 'Look, I have to tell you this. I hope it doesn't make a difference, but I'm a Red Sox fan.' And they all threw their scripts at me. The next day they said, 'Come on out and play with us.'"

Richard Thomas Herd Jr. was born on Sept. 26, 1932, in Boston. His father, a train engineer, died at an early age. His mother, Katherine, remarried, and the family relocated to Brockton, Massachusetts, where his stepfather worked in an auto shop. His mom instilled in him a love of music and the arts, he noted.

Herd survived a serious illness as a child and said the experience helped shape his career.

"I had osteomyelitis, a serious bone infection, and almost didn't survive," he told The Patriot Ledger in a 2015 interview. "I became ill in second grade and went to the Cotting School, as it's now known, in Lexington, for young people with various ailments. I was in and out of Boston Children's Hospital. Lying there, month after month, you become very stoic. It really stimulated my imagination, and I think actually helped me later as an actor."

Herd was saved when he became one of the first patients to receive the recently introduced drug penicillin.

He had a two-year apprenticeship at the Boston Summer Theatre and got the opportunity to learn from the legendary actor Claude Rains.

"One evening, he heard a group of us rehearsing Shakespeare and offered to come in early each night to work with us," Herd said. "He taught me you shouldn't just get involved with the language, but look ahead for the intent and direction of the character you are portraying."

After a brief stint in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Herd headed to New York, studied acting and art and built a career on the stage. He made his film debut (as did Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the 1970 cult classic Hercules in New York.

When Richard Long died in 1974 before filming on Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men began, Herd took his place.

Herd later appeared on the big screen in F.I.S.T. (1979), The Onion Field (1979), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997).

Herd continued to act into his 80s, appearing in A Christmas in New York (2016), Get Out (2017) and The Silent Natural (2020) and on such series as Rizzoli & Isles, Shameless and Hawaii Five-O. He also was a member of the ensemble on the 2012 prank show Betty White's Off Their Rockers.

Herd was a painter and a founding member of The Enterprise Blues Band, made up of castmembers from various Star Trek series. The group released the albums Enterprise Blues and Intergalactic Roots Music in 2004 and '05.

Survivors also include his daughter Erica, son Rick and stepdaughter Alicia.

Filmography

Film Year             Title       Role       Notes

1970      Hercules in New York      Television Presenter      

1976      All The President's Men                 James W. McCord, Jr.    

1977      I Never Promised You a Rose Garden       Dr. Halle              

1978      F.I.S.T    Mike Monahan

1979      The China Syndrome      Evan McCormack             

The Onion Field                 Beat Cop             

1980      Wolf Lake            George

Schizoid                Donahue             

Private Benjamin              General Foley   

1981      Lovely But Deadly            'Honest Charley' Gilmarten         

1983      Deal of the Century         Lyle       

1985      Trancers               Chairman Spencer          

Summer Rental Angus MacLachlan          

1987      Planes, Trains and Automobiles Walt     

1989      Gleaming the Cube          Ed Lawndale      

1990      Corporate Affairs              Cyrus Kinkaid    

The Judas Project             Arthur Cunningham        

1993      Skeeter                                (uncredited)

1996      Sgt. Bilko              Gen. Tennyson

1997      Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil                Henry Skerridge               

1998      The Survivor       Bradford             

2000      Joseph: King of Dreams Jacob (Voice)    

2003      Roddenberry on Patrol   Captain Kirkus   (Video short)

2005      The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari            Commissioner Hans Raab             

Confessions of a Pit Fighter          Father Mark      

Checkers              Phillip   

2006      Vic          Richard Hanson                 Short

2007      TV Virus                Professor Black

Anna Nicole        J. Howard Marshall         

Dog Days of Summer      Frank Cooper    

InAlienable         Professor Randolph Barnett        

2015      Zeide     Benjamin Weinstein        Short

Thom & Gerry    Gerry Klein          Short

2016      A New York Christmas    Bob Burgess      

2017      Get Out                Armitage             

2018      The Oath              Old Man              

The Mule             Tim Kennedy    

2019      The Silent Natural            Mr. Beagle          Final role

Television Year Title       Role       Notes

1973      Pueblo Lt. Cmdr. C. Clark              TV movie

1975      Kojak     Bob        Episode: "A Question of Answers"

The Rockford Files            Sheriff Cliff Gladish          Episode: "Pastoria Prime Pick"

1976      Hazard's People                Howard Frederickson     TV movie

Captains and the Kings   Talmadge            Episode: "Chapter IV" (as Richard T. Herd)

1977      The Streets of San Francisco        Greene Episode: "The Cannibals"

The Feather and Father Gang      Applegate           Episode: "The Golden Fleece"

Rafferty                                Episode: "Rafferty"

The Hunted Lady              Capt. Wilson       TV movie

1978      Dr. Scorpion       Bill Worthington               TV movie

Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid             Donovan              TV movie

Terror Out of the Sky      Col. Mangus       TV movie

Dr. Scorpion       The Dane             TV movie

1979      Eight Is Enough George McArthur             Episode: "The Better Part of Valor"

Starsky & Hutch                FBI Agent Smithers          Episodes: "Targets Without a Badge: Part 2 and 3"

Ike: The War Years           Gen. Omar Bradley          Parts I, II, and III (miniseries)

The Lazarus Syndrome   Morton                 Episode: "Malpractice"

Marciano             John Furst           TV movie

1979–81               Hart to Hart        Waldo Sommerton / Lieutenant Fredricks              2 episodes

1980      M*A*S*H            Capt. Bill Snyder               Episode: "Back Pay"

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb         General Groves TV movie

Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story       Chuck Noll           TV movie

1980–81               Dallas    John Mackey      3 episodes

1981      The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo           Dr. Smith             Episode: "The Girls with the Stolen Bodies"

Elvis and the Beauty Queen         Thompson           TV movie

The Greatest American Hero       Adam Taft           Episode: "The Greatest American Hero"

Walking Tall        Philip Ballard      Episode: "Deadly Impact"

Strike Force                        Episode: "Kidnap"

1982      Farrell for the People      Randolph Gardner (as Richard T. Herd)   TV movie

The Devlin Connection   Lt. Harvey Bukowski        Episode: "Jennifer"

1982–84               T. J. Hooker         Capt. Dennis Sheridan    36 episodes

1982–88               Simon & Simon Police Officer Harry Flank / Consul Dearborn / Kyle Edmunds        4 episodes

1983      The Powers of Matthew Star       Dave Wellman   Episode: "Dead Man's Hand"

V             John       TV miniseries

1984      Falcon Crest        Calvin Kleeger    2 episodes

V: The Final Battle            John       TV miniseries

1984–85               Hardcastle and McCormick           Colonel Joe Bartz / Arthur Huntley / Lonnie Vanatta          2 episodes

1985      Matt Houston    Patrick Moffett Episode: "The Beach Club Murders"

The A-Team        Jonathan Durcell               Episode: "Waste 'Em!"

Knight Rider       Lyle Jastrow        Episode: "Knight Strike"

1986      Dynasty                Jim Ellison           Episode: "The Cry"

Scarecrow and Mrs. King               Jake Williamson                Episode: "Photo Finish"

1986–93               Murder, She Wrote         Arnett Cobb / Harvey McKittrick                2 episodes

1987      Hill Street Blues                Mike      Episode: "Norman Conquest"

Rags to Riches                   Episode: "Foley vs. Foley"

Ohara    Stillwell                Episode: "Brian"

The Law and Harry McGraw         General Buckram              Episode: "Yankee Boodle Dandy"

Beauty and the Beast      Richard Barnes Episode: "A Children's Story"

1988      Favorite Son                       Part One

My First Love     Chet Townsend                 TV movie

1989      Matlock                Police Capt. Edward Hanna / The Mad Hatter       Episode: "The Captain"

The Golden Girls               Ernie      Episode: "The Impotence of Being Ernest"

Nashville Beat    Chief Kincaid      TV movie

Mancuso, FBI     Red Burrows      Episode: "Little Saigon"

1990      Knots Landing    Dr. Aaron Stahl 2 episodes

China Beach       Bartender            Episode: "The Thanks of a Grateful Nation"

Midnight Caller Medina                 Episode: "Protection"

Fall from Grace Richard Dortch TV movie

Jake and the Fatman       Frank Bronski     Episode: "God Bless the Child"

Camp Cucamonga            Thornton Bradley             TV movie

The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake Ray Goodrich     TV movie

1991      Quantum Leap Moe Stein            Episode: "Future Boy - October 6, 1957"

Tales from the Crypt       Phil Stone            Episode: "Deadline"

1992      FBI: The Untold Stories Robert Mackle   Episode: "Buried Alive"

Seduction: Three Tales from the 'Inner Sanctum'                Charles Hackley                 TV movie

Renegade            Sheriff Frank Brown        Episode: "Mother Courage"

Majority Rule                     TV movie

1993      Star Trek: The Next Generation L'Kor      Episodes: "Birthright, Part I"

"Birthright, Part II"

Quantum Leap Ziggy Ziganovich / Moe Stein       Episode: "Mirror Image - August 8, 1953"

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman       Dr. John Hansen                Episodes: "Where the Heart Is: Parts 1 and 2

1993–94               SeaQuest DSV    Admiral Noyce / Secretary General Noyce             12 episodes

1994      Winnetka Road Mike      3 episodes

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.        President Cleveland        2 episodes

Robin's Hoods    Colonel Beckett                 Episode: "To Heir Is Human"

The Gift of Love                                TV movie

Cosmic Slop        Cardinal (segment "The First Commandment")   TV movie

1995      The Secretary    Chuck Bosnell    TV movie

ER           Dr. Murphy         Episode: "Men Plan, God Laughs"

1995–98               Seinfeld                Wilhelm               11 episodes

1996      A Case for Life    Bud Cromwell    TV movie

Yesterday's Target           Aaron Winfield TV movie

Shattered Mind                 Chester                TV movie

Walker, Texas Ranger     General Garrity Episode: "Codename: Dragonfly"

Grace Under Fire              Police captain    Episode: "Road to Nowhere"

1997      Bruno the Kid     voice     Episode: "The Spy Just Like Me"

Journey of the Heart       Principal Martin                TV movie

1997–98               Pacific Blue         Ethan Callaway 2 episodes

1998      Buffy the Vampire Slayer              Dr. Backer           Episode: ""Killed By Death"

I Married a Monster        Dr. Paul Drummond, Kelly's Uncle             TV movie

Diagnosis: Murder           Archie Mullen    Episode: "Write, She Murdered"

Caroline in the City          Barney Baxter    Episode: "Caroline and the Big Night"

1999      A Fare to Remember      Mr. Jennings     

1999–2001          Star Trek: Voyager           Adm. Owen Paris              4 episodes

2000      JAG        Charlie Hoskins Episode: "The Bridge at Kang So Ri"

2001      The Fugitive        Jack        Episode: "Jenny"

The Song of the Lark       Reverend Larsen              TV movie

2002      Family Law          Judge Neil Walker            Episode: "Big Brother"

The District         Sam SheridanAndi           Episode: "Faith"

2003–04               Everwood            Herb Roberts     2 episodes

2004      The O.C.               Bill Shaughnessy / Uncle Shaun Episode: "The Telenovela"

NYPD Blue           Jimmy McGowan             2 episodes

2005      Ghost Whisperer              Stephen Devine                Episode: "Hope and Mercy"

2007      Desperate Housewives Harry Gaunt        Episode: "Not While I'm Around"

Love's Unfolding Dream                Windsor              

2008      Cold Case             Gene Karnow '08              Episode: "Shore Leave"

2010      Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress       Sparks (voice)    TV movie

2012      CSI: Miami           Judge Paul Landsman     Episode: "Rest in Pieces"

Betty White's Off Their Rockers Various                 6 episodes

Odessa Ben       

2013      Rizzoli & Isles     Patrick Doyle, Sr.              Episode: "Partners in Crime"

2015      Star Trek: Renegades     Owen Paris        

2018      Shameless           Gerald   Episode: "Church of Gay Jesus"

Hawaii Five-0     Old Milton           Episode: "Pua a'e la ka uwahi o ka moe"

Video Game Year              Title       Role       Notes

2006      Blue Dragon       Nene (Old) (English version, voice)            Video Game

2010      Fallout: New Vegas          Father Elijah - Dead Money DLC (voice) Video Game

2013      BioShock Infinite              Preacher Whitting (voice)             Video Game