Ray Walston
A black-and-white photo of Walston as a Martian, with a shiny suit and antenna on his head
Walston in My Favorite Martian, 1963
Born
Herman Ray Walston

(1914-11-02)November 2, 1914
Laurel, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1, 2001(2001-01-01) (aged 86)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Other names
  • Herman Ray Walston
  • Raymond Walston
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1940s–2000
Spouse
Ruth Calvert Walston
​
​
(m. 1943)​
Children1

Herman Ray Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian. Walston started his career on Broadway earning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees (1956).

He's appeared in the films South Pacific (1958), Damn Yankees (1958), The Apartment (1960), Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), Paint Your Wagon (1969), The Sting (1973), Popeye (1980), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and Of Mice and Men (1992). Walston also starred as the title character on My Favorite Martian and as Glen Bateman in the miniseries The Stand (1994). For his role as Judge Henry Bone in Picket Fences he earned two Primetime Emmy Awards.[1]

Early life and education

Walston was born on November 2, 1914, in Laurel, Mississippi, the second son and youngest of three children born to lumberjack Harry Norman Walston and Camilla "Mittie" (née Kimbrell) Walston.[2][3] He had an older sister, Carrie, and an older brother, Earl. His family moved from Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana, around 1925.

He started acting at an early age, beginning his tenure as a spear carrier rounding out productions at many New Orleans theaters. He mostly played small roles with stock companies, where he not only starred in traveling shows, but also worked at a movie theater, selling tickets and cleaning the stage floors. His family moved to Dallas, Texas, where he joined a repertory theater company under Margo Jones in 1938.[4] He stayed at the Houston Civic Theater six years, "averaging 12 roles a year."[5]

Career

1945–1957

Walston was popular with Margo Jones' team of actors before he traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent three years with the Cleveland Play House. He then traveled to New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in a 1945 production of Maurice Evans's The G.I. Hamlet. Three years later, Walston became one of the first members admitted to the newly formed Actors Studio.[6]

In 1949, he appeared in the short-lived play Mrs. Gibbons' Boys, directed by George Abbott, who later cast him as Satan (who bore the name "Mr. Applegate") in the 1955 musical Damn Yankees opposite Gwen Verdon as his sexy aide Lola. The chemistry between the two was such that they both garnered critical success and won awards for their roles. After a decade in New York theater, he won a Tony Award.

He starred as Luther Billis in the 1951 London production of South Pacific. He reprised that role in the 1958 film adaptation. He and Juanita Hall (as Bloody Mary) were the only cast members to appear in both the stage and movie versions. Additional Broadway credits included The Front Page, Summer and Smoke, Richard III, Wish You Were Here, and House of Flowers. In 1957, actress and producer Katharine Cornell placed him in a role on Broadway in Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize winning play about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, There Shall Be No Night. The play was adapted for television for a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. He had a prominent role in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Me and Juliet, portraying the stage manager of the musical-within-the-musical, but his character did not participate in any of the musical numbers.[7]

1958–1979

Walston reprised his role in the 1958 film version of Damn Yankees.[1] His other films included Kiss Them for Me; South Pacific; Say One for Me; Tall Story; Portrait in Black; The Apartment; Convicts 4; Wives and Lovers; Who's Minding the Store?; Kiss Me, Stupid; Caprice; Paint Your Wagon; The Sting; Silver Streak; and Get a Clue. Walston landed one of the three leading roles in Billy Wilder's comic farce Kiss Me, Stupid opposite Dean Martin and Kim Novak because, after six weeks of filming, Peter Sellers had to withdraw from the cast due to a heart attack.

He narrated many United States Department of Defense and Atomic Energy Commission (now United States Department of Energy) films about nuclear experiments, including the Operation Hardtack I nuclear test film series of 1958.[8] He guest starred on numerous television programs, including The Shirley Temple Show, The Americans, and a television version of Going My Way.

Walston as Uncle Martin in the My Favorite Martian episode "There Is No Cure for the Common Martian" (1963, S1E3)

Walston achieved his greatest success as the title character (Uncle Martin) on My Favorite Martian from 1963 to 1966, alongside co-star Bill Bixby. The two immediately became close friends.[9] The show was a top ten hit in its first season,still in the top 30 in its second, dropping to 45th in its third and final season.[10] The success of My Favorite Martian typecast Walston and he had difficulty finding serious roles after the show's cancellation. He returned to character actor status in the 1970s and 1980s, and guest starred in such series as Custer, The Wild Wild West, Love, American Style, The Rookies, Mission: Impossible, Ellery Queen, The Six Million Dollar Man, Little House on the Prairie, and The Incredible Hulk, again with Bixby, in which Walston played Jasper the Magician in an episode called "My Favorite Magician".

1980–1992

From 1980 to 1992, Walston starred in 14 films, including Galaxy of Terror and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (as well as the 1986 television adaptation) as Mr. Hand. In a 1999 interview, Walston said that he was happy and relieved that when he walked down the street, young fans shouted at him "Mr. Hand" because he had finally torn away from his Martian role. In 1984, Walston played a judge on an episode of Night Court. Six years later, he made a guest appearance on an episode of L.A. Law. He later was hired for the role of Judge Henry Bone on Picket Fences; the character was originally a recurring role, but Walston proved to be so popular the character was later upgraded to a starring role.[11] In the first season episode, "Remembering Rosemary," Judge Bone wears a Martian costume with antennae to a Halloween party as a nod to Walston's infamous role as Uncle Martin.

In 1985, Walston made a brief appearance in the opening credits of Steven Spielberg's series Amazing Stories, as a caveman acting out a story for his tribe. He appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Boothby, head groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, and reprised the role twice on Star Trek: Voyager. In 1988, he guest starred in an episode of the popular horror-fantasy show Friday the 13th: The Series, as a bitter, elderly comic-book artist who uses a demonically cursed comic book to transform himself into a killer robot and murder his erstwhile enemies. In 1992, Walston played the role of Candy in the big-screen remake of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich.

1993–2000

Walston reunited with Sinise in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.[12] He appeared in an AT&T long distance TV commercial in 1995, in which his dialogue implied he was Uncle Martin from Mars, looking for good rates to talk to fellow Martians living in the United States.[13]

Walston received three Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Picket Fences, winning twice, in 1995 and 1996. CBS cancelled the show after four seasons in 1996. Walston made a guest appearance in an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman entitled "Remember Me", in which he portrayed the father of Jake Slicker, who was stricken with Alzheimer's disease. Walston played Grandfather Walter Addams in Addams Family Reunion (1998). The next year, he appeared in the film remake of his hit series, My Favorite Martian (1999) in the role of Armitan. He appeared in the Touched by an Angel episode, "The Face on the Barroom Floor",[14] which aired on October 15, 2000.[15]

Walston made a cameo in the 7th Heaven episode, "One Hundred",[16] which aired on January 29, 2001, four weeks after his death. His final film role was in the independent film Early Bird Special, which was released later that year.

Personal life and death

Walston married Ruth Calvert on November 3, 1943.[17][18] The couple had one daughter, Katharine Ann.[4]

In 1994, Walston was diagnosed with lupus and as a result, his career began winding down.[19] Walston died on New Years’ Day 2001 at age 86 at his home in Beverly Hills, California[1]

Filmography

Film

Television

1982 "The Littlest Hobo" S3 E16 as elderly man

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1956Tony AwardBest Actor in a MusicalDamn YankeesWon
1994Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama SeriesPicket FencesNominated
1995Won
1996Won
1995Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Ensemble in a Drama SeriesNominated
1996Nominated
1995Star on the Hollywood Walk of FameReceived

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gussow, Mel (January 3, 2001). "Ray Walston, Broadway Star And TV Martian, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved 2013-03-20. Ray Walston, who won a Tony Award for playing the Devil opposite Gwen Verdon in the Broadway musical Damn Yankees repeated his role in the film version and went on to a long career playing eccentric, oddly endearing characters in movies and on television, died on Monday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 86
  2. ↑ "Birth certificate for Herman Ray Walston". State of Mississippi. August 9, 1951.
  3. ↑ The New York Times obituary states "Mr. Walston was born in New Orleans", which is contradicted by his Mississippi birth certificate and the 1920 United States Census. The certificate was issued in 1951 and was based on the presentation of his school records from 1925 showing his date of birth as "November 2, 1914" and place of birth as "Mississippi". An identification card was also used as evidence, which also used "Mississippi" as his place of birth. The Social Security Death Index, and his Social Security application filed in November of 1936, both cite "November 2, 1914" as his date of birth. Some sources cited "December 2, 1914", incorrectly.
  4. 1 2 "Ray Walston Biography". Biography. A&E. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Theater Notes." Chicago Tribune, 4 April 1954.
  6. ↑ Dick Kleiner: "The Actors Studio: Making Stars Out of the Unknown", The Sarasota Journal (December 21, 1956), p. 26. "That first year, they interviewed about seven hundred actors and picked fifty. In that first group were people like Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Tom Ewell, John Forsythe, Julie Harris, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, E. G. Marshall, Margaret Phillips, Maureen Stapleton, Kim Stanley, Jo Van Fleet, Eli Wallach, Ray Walston and David Wayne."
  7. ↑ "Me And Juliet". Me And Juliet - Broadway Musical. Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "Operation HARDTACK Military Effects Studies: Underwater Tests: United States Department of Defense: Free Download & Streaming". Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  9. ↑ "A 1964 Interview with Ray Walston and Bill Bixby". Members.tripod.com.
  10. ↑ "Retro : TV's Favorite Martian Returns : TNT STAYS UP ALL NIGHT FOR 10 EPISODES OF '60S SERIES". Los Angeles Times. 1993-07-25. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  11. ↑ "Judge Gives Walston a Measure of Justice". Los Angeles Times Collections. 21 September 1995. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "Ray Walston List of Movies and TV Shows". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  13. ↑ 1995 AT&T commercial featuring Ray Walston on YouTube
  14. ↑ The Face on the Barroom Floor: Walston appears around 6:15 on YouTube
  15. ↑ "Ray Walston – MovieActors.com". Movieactors.com.
  16. ↑ 7th Heaven: "One Hundred", in which Walston makes a cameo on YouTube
  17. ↑ Palmer, Ann (Jun 20, 2014). Letters to the Dead: Things I Wish I'd Said. CCB Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 9781771431262.
  18. ↑ Who's who in Entertainment, Volume 1. Marquis Who's Who, Inc. 1989. p. 668.
  19. ↑ "Ray Walston". Masterworksbroadway.com.
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