Barney Phillips was a renowned American actor of German descent, born in 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri, under the name "Bernard Philip Ofner". His father, Harry Nathan Ofner, was a salesman employed in the leather industry, while his mother, Leona "Lonnie" Frank, was a German emigrant who later became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In 1935, Phillips relocated to Los Angeles, California, seeking opportunities in the film industry. His film debut was in the Western film "Black Aces" (1937),a B-movie produced by Universal Pictures. Although he didn't have any credited roles in films for several years, he accumulated several theatrical credits.
During World War II, Phillips enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the signal corps. After the war, he returned to the film industry, primarily working as an extra.
Phillips' breakthrough role was the recurring character Sergeant Ed Jacob in the police procedural television series "Dragnet" (1951-1959). He also voiced the recurring character of police sergeant Hamilton J. Finger in the radio series "Rocky Fortune" (1953-1954),featuring Frank Sinatra as the main character.
Phillips went on to become a prolific character actor in films and television, often typecast as a police officer. In the early 1960s, he appeared in several episodes of the anthology television series "The Twilight Zone", including "The Purple Testament" (1960),"A Thing about Machines" (1960),"Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" (1961),and "Miniature" (1963).
One of his most memorable roles was in the "Real Martian" episode, where he played the cook Haley, who helps thwart an invasion of Earth from Martians. However, it's revealed that Haley is actually an agent from planet Venus, preparing the Earth for colonization by his own planet.
Phillips was cast in the war-themed series "Twelve O'Clock High" (1964-1967) as one of the main characters, Doc Kaiser, which featured the missions of the fictional 918th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Phillips worked as a voice actor for animated series, voicing the powerful genie Shazzan in "Shazzan" (1967-1969),the strongman Porthos in "The Three Musketeers" (1968-1969),and providing additional voices in "The Funky Phantom" (1971-1972).
In the late 1970s, Phillips was part of the main cast in the short-lived sitcom "The Betty White Show" (1978-1979),playing the character Fletcher Huff, a struggling actor co-starring in a police-procedural show-within-a-show. He also played the recurring character of Judge Buford Potts in the action comedy "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979-1985).
Phillips passed away in 1982 due to cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A few years after his death, he received his final film credit, as the character Dr. Batt in the psychological drama "Beyond Reason", which had been produced in 1977 but wasn't released until 1985. The film was notable as a rare directing credit for actor Telly Savalas.
