Richard Basehart was a renowned actor who never achieved the stardom he deserved despite delivering numerous powerful performances throughout his career. He is perhaps best known for his role as Admiral Harriman Nelson, commander of the nuclear submarine 'S.S.R.N Seaview', in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which aired on ABC from 1964 to 1968.
Born on August 14, 1914, in Zanesville, Ohio, Basehart was one of four siblings born to a struggling editor of a local newspaper who soon became widowed. After leaving college, he worked briefly as a radio announcer and then attempted to follow in his father's footsteps as a reporter. However, controversy over one of his stories led to his departure from the paper, clearing the path for him to pursue acting as a career.
Basehart made his theatrical debut with the Wright Players Stock Company in his hometown and subsequently spent five years playing varied roles at the Hedgerow Theatre in Philadelphia. He began working in New York on and off-Broadway in 1938 and received the New York Drama Critics Circle Best Newcomer Award for "The Hasty Heart" in 1945.
In 1945, Basehart received his first film offers and made his debut on the big screen with Repeat Performance (1947). He went on to appear in films such as Cry Wolf (1947),He Walked by Night (1948),and Fourteen Hours (1951),showcasing his talent for playing tormented or introverted characters.
Basehart's gallery of characters included the notorious Robespierre, chief architect of the Reign of Terror (1949),and the ill-fated clown Il Matto in Federico Fellini's classic La Strada (1954). He also appeared in films such as Cartouche (1955),The Swindle (1955),Moby Dick (1956),and The Brothers Karamazov (1958).
In the 1960s, Basehart found success on the small screen with numerous series guest appearances and his lengthy stint in the popular Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He also received critical praise for his role as Henry Wirtz, commandant of the Confederacy's most infamous prison camp, in the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television drama The Andersonville Trial (1970).
Basehart was an active human rights campaigner and strongly opposed the experimental use of animals. With his third wife Diana Lotery, he set up the animal welfare charity, Actors and Others for Animals, in 1971. He died after suffering a series of strokes in Los Angeles on September 17, 1984, at the age of 70.
