Gregory Walcott obit

Gregory Walcott, Reluctant Star of 'Plan 9 From Outer Space,' Dies at 87

He was not on the list.

He had scores of credits during his long career, also appearing in 'Mister Roberts,' 'Prime Cut,' 'Norma Rae' and in four Clint Eastwood films.

Gregory Walcott, an admired actor who appeared in such memorable films as Mister Roberts, The Eiger Sanction, Norma Rae and Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space, has died. He was 87.

Walcott, who starred as pilot Jeff Trent in Plan 9, considered one of the worst films ever made, died Friday of natural causes at his longtime Canoga Park home in Los Angeles, his son, Men in Black puppeteer Todd Mattox, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

In a 1998 interview with Filmax magazine’s Dwayne Epstein, Walcott recalled being asked by a friend, fledgling producer J. Edwards Reynolds, about starring in a sci-fi film opposite Bela Lugosi. “But Ed, Bela Lugosi is dead,” he noted.

Indeed, the horror legend had died in 1956, but footage of him shot by writer-director Wood would be used in the 1959 ultra-low-budget movie.

“I refused at first,” Walcott said in the interview. “I read the script, and it was gibberish. It made no sense, but I saw Ed Reynolds as a naive, sweet man. I had done some pretty good things prior to that, so I thought I had a little credibility in Hollywood. I thought maybe my name would give the show some credibility. … The film was made surreptitiously. My agent didn’t even know I did it.”

Plan 9 has become a cult classic, but Walcott for years wanted nothing to do with it. “I had done so many great films and worked with so many great directors that I didn’t want to be identified with such a piece of trash,” he said.

In his final onscreen role, however, Walcott appeared in a cameo as a potential film backer (much like Reynolds) in Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic Ed Wood.

The burly 6-foot-4 Walcott also played a shore patrolman in Mister Roberts (1955), romanced Claudette Colbert in Texas Lady (1955), portrayed merciless drill instructors in Battle Cry (1955) and Delbert Mann’s The Outsider (1960) and was Gene Hackman’s psychopathic brother in Prime Cut (1972).

In Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae (1978), he played the police chief who hauls away Sally Field’s character during the film’s famous protest scene.

Walcott also was a favorite of Clint Eastwood who worked with the actor-director on CBS’ Rawhide and in the features Joe Kidd (1971), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1973), The Eiger Sanction (1975) and Every Which Way But Loose (1978).

He also starred as Det. Roger Havilland on the 1961-62 NBC series 87th Precinct, based on the books by Ed McBain, and stood out as seven different characters on seven episodes of Bonanza — just one of the dozens of TV Westerns in which he appeared (Bat Masterson, Maverick, Laramie, Cheyenne, etc.).

Born Bernard Mattox, Walcott was raised in Wilson, N.C., where his father sold furniture. He served in the U.S. Army, attended Furman University on a football scholarship and in 1949 hitchhiked with just $100 in his pocket all the way to Los Angeles, where he studied acting with Ben Bard.

Filmography

List of acting performances in film Year Title       Role       Notes

1952      Red Skies of Montana     Randy O'Neill     Uncredited

Fearless Fagan   MP at Gate         Uncredited

Battle Zone         Rifleman              Uncredited

Above and Beyond          Burns    Uncredited

1955      Battle Cry            Sgt. Jim Beller   

Strange Lady in Town     Scanlon               

Mister Roberts Shore Patrolman             

The McConnell Story       Military Policeman          

Texas Lady          Deputy Jess Folley           

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell            Howard Millikan               Uncredited

1956      The Lieutenant Wore Skirts          Lt. Sweeney      

The Steel Jungle                Guard Weaver  

Thunder Over Arizona    Mark Warren    

1957      The Persuader   Jim Cleery           

1958      Jet Attack            Lt. Bill Clairbone               

Badman's Country           Bat Masterson  

1959      Plan 9 from Outer Space               Jeff Trent            

1960      Simon Lash: The Black Book         Lt. Wile                 TV movie

1961      On the Double   Colonel Rock Houston   

The Outsider      Sgt. Kiley             

1963      Captain Newman, M.D. Capt. Howard    

1967      Bill Wallace of China       Bill Wallace        

1969      Changes               Businessman / Job Interviewer Uncredited

1972      Prime Cut            Weenie               

Joe Kidd               Sheriff Mitchell

Man of the East                Bull Schmidt      

1973      The Last American Hero                Cleve Morley     

1974      The Sugarland Express   Mashburn          

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot           Used Car Salesman         

Chi ha rubato il tesoro dello scia?                             

1975      The Eiger Sanction           Pope     

1976      The Quest           Blacksmith          Episode: "Pilot"

Midway                Captain Elliott Buckmaster          

1978      Donner Pass: The Road to Survival            Will McKutcheon             TV Movie

Every Which Way but Loose        Putnam               

1979      Norma Rae          Lamar Miller      

Tilt          Mr. Davenport

1980      To Race the Wind             Don Summerfun              

1987      House II: The Second Story           Sheriff  

1994      Ed Wood              Potential Backer               (final film role)

List of acting performances in television Year       Title       Role       Notes

1958      Sugarfoot            Duke McKlintock              Episode: "Bullet Proof"

1958–1959          The Rifleman      Sid Halpern/Blade Kelby                2 episodes

1959      Perry Mason       Bill Johnson        Episode: "The Case of the Howling Dog."

1960      The Magical World of Disney       Henderson          2 episodes

1961–1962          87th Precinct     Detective Roger Havilland            30 episodes

1963      The Dakotas       Tom Davis          

1975–1977          The Eiger Sanction           Ralph Olson        Unknown episodes

1979      CHiPs     Derk       Episode: "The Matchmakers"

1984      Alice      Big Jake Hunnicutt           Episode: "House Full of Hunnicutts"