Richard X. Slattery (June 26, 1925 – January 27, 1997) was a character actor in film, theater and television. Slattery starred in such films as Walking Tall, The No Mercy Man and Herbie Rides Again.
Richard Xavier Slattery was distinguished by a square-jawed look and a rough, gravelly voice that made him ideal as a "tough guy" character, usually as a cowboy or a cop or a drill sergeant type. He had been an NYPD police officer for twelve years (1948–1960) and started his acting career in police academy training films, and in community theater in the Bronx.
Slattery starred in a revival of the play The Time of Your Life, starting March 17, 1972, at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles.
During the 1970s he was featured in many TV commercials for Union 76, playing a grandfatherly service station owner named Murph (filmed at the 76 station adjacent to Dodger Stadium). He had featured roles in three series: The Gallant Men (as 1st Sgt. John McKenna), Mister Roberts (as Captain John Morton), and C.P.O. Sharkey (as Captain "Buck" Buckner).
His son, Kevin, is a television producer (Just Shoot Me).
Famous quotes containing the word richard:
“I’m beginning to believe that Killer Illiteracy ought to rank near heart disease and cancer as one of the leading causes of death among Americans. What you don’t know can indeed hurt you, and so those who can neither read nor write lead miserable lives, like Richard Wright’s character, Bigger Thomas, born dead with no past or future.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)