His name doesn’t ring many bells but if you were kid like me growing up in the Seventies, he was the indispensable Oscar Goldman, Jamie Summers and Steve Austin’s boss at the OSI on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. I even had his action figure because that exploding briefcase rocked!
The obscurity of this action figure (or doll) was a minor plot point in The Forty-Year Old Virgin too.
I remember Richard doing a long commercial for all the Kenner toys pertaining to Six and when it came to his action figure, he sheepishly mentioned his bias toward it being his favorite. As a kid I found it funny and charming.
Due to Oscar, Steve and Maskatron’s heights (13″), they were often robots, cyborgs or unusual aliens (like Zentradi) in my numerous space operas since GI Joe was 10 3/4″, my concept of what 6′ 1″ was.
Richard has a very long list of credits before and after Six. Perry Mason and The Fugitive gave him recurring spots. I was surprised to discover he was a crew member in Forbidden Planet! Given his height (6′ 3″) and appearance, he often played heavies, cops and military officers.
Thanks Richard for all the appearances and being a vital supporting character to a pair of TV heroes I watches whenever I could.