Wally Cox
Acting
1924-12-06 · Detroit, Michigan, USA
Wally Cox was a beloved character actor who made his mark in television and ranks as one of the medium's most memorable performers. His ability to show his range likely was limited by his short stature, slight frame, and high-pitched voice, which along with his talent for being very funny, made him ideal for comedy parts such as his memorable turn as Professor P. Caspar Biddle in "The Bird-Watchers" episode of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) in 1966. His television persona was that of a shy, timid man in horn-rimed glasses who spoke in a tentative, though distinctly enunciated, voice. It was a persona that his long-time friend Marlon Brando said was completely at odds with the real man. Cox always will be remembered as the eponymous "Mr. Peepers" and the voice of "Underdog," but he was an actor of wider talents seldom used by the industry, as can be seen in his turns as the sonar operator in The Bedford Incident (1965) and as the potential suicide Wally Haverstraw in The Bill Cosby Show (1969) episode "Goodbye, Cruel World" in 1970. Dying unexpectedly on February 15, 1973, from what some newspapers described as an accidental overdose of sedatives but which Marlon Brando in his autobiography said was a heart attack, Wally Cox's cremated remains were kept hidden in a closet by his old friend for three decades. According to Brando's son Miko, both his father's and Cox's ashes were scattered at the same time in Death Valley, California, in a ceremony following Brando's death, thus reuniting the lifetime friends.
Filmography
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999 · Movie
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
1990 · Movie
Reel Horror
1985 · Movie
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976 · Movie
The Night Strangler
1973 · Movie
Once Upon a Mattress
1972 · Movie
Magic Carpet
1972 · Movie
Search
1972 · Series
McMillan & Wife
1971 · Series
The Barefoot Executive
1971 · Movie
Alias Smith and Jones
1971 · Series
Up Your Teddy Bear
1970 · Movie
Night Gallery
1970 · Series
The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City
1970 · Movie
The Odd Couple
1970 · Series
The Boatniks
1970 · Movie
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
1970 · Movie
The Young Country
1970 · Movie
Quarantined
1970 · Movie
Love, American Style
1969 · Series
The Bill Cosby Show
1969 · Series
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
1969 · Series
Here's Lucy
1968 · Series
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Series
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
1968 · Movie
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968 · Series
It Takes a Thief
1968 · Series
A Guide for the Married Man
1967 · Movie
Ironside
1967 · Movie
Murder at N.B.C.
1966 · Movie
Hollywood Squares
1966 · Series
Mission: Impossible
1966 · Series
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
1966 · Series
The Bedford Incident
1965 · Movie
Get Smart
1965 · Series
Mister Roberts
1965 · Series
Lost in Space
1965 · Series
I Spy
1965 · Series
Morituri
1965 · Movie
The Yellow Rolls-Royce
1964 · Movie
Fate Is the Hunter
1964 · Movie
Underdog
1964 · Series
Underdog
1964 · Series
The Hollywood Palace
1964 · Series
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963 · Series
Burke's Law
1963 · Series
Vacation Playhouse
1963 · Series
Spencer's Mountain
1963 · Movie
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Series
The Lucy Show
1962 · Series
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Series
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962 · Series
State Fair
1962 · Movie
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Series
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961 · Series
The Twilight Zone
1959 · Series
DuPont Show of the Month
1957 · Series
The Lux Show
1957 · Series
Wagon Train
1957 · Series
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957 · Series
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · Series
The Adventures of Hiram Holliday
1956 · Series
The Steve Allen Show
1956 · Series
Babes in Toyland
1955 · Movie
Matinee Theater
1955 · Series
Heidi
1955 · Movie
Babes in Toyland
1954 · Movie
Max Liebman Presents
1954 · Series
Letter to Loretta
1953 · Series
General Electric Theater
1953 · Series
Mister Peepers
1952 · Series
Danger
1950 · Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · Series
Your Show of Shows
1950 · Series
What's My Line?
1950 · Series
Suspense
1949 · Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Series