Cast & creator
Wally Cox
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The Merv Griffin Show
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.
Also known as: Wallace Maynard Cox
26
film credits
56
television credits
82
1948–1999 · acting roles
6.7
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (82)
Showing 82 of 82 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
What's My Line?
Self
1950
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Wagon Train
Vincent Eaglewood
1957
Love, American Style
Peter
1969
Mission: Impossible
Terry Targo
1966
Get Smart
TV Repairman (uncredited)
1965
Matinee Theater
1955Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
The Twilight Zone
James Elwood
1959
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self
1957
The Beverly Hillbillies
Professor P. Caspar Biddle
1962
The Lucy Show
Harold Tuttle
1962
Burke's Law
Count Carlo Szipesti
1963Burke's Law
Dr. Heresford Handy
1963
The Bob Hope Show
Self
1950
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
The Steve Allen Show
Self
1956
Here's Lucy
Rock Barnett
1968Here's Lucy
Wally Manley
1968Here's Lucy
Gustav Vandemeer
1968Here's Lucy
Tommy Tucker
1968
The Odd Couple
Mr. Fegivney
1970
Night Gallery
1970
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self (uncredited)
1968
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
Lost in Space
Tiabo
1965
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
Suspense
1949Suspense
Ace McCoy
1949
I Spy
Herbie
1965
Your Show of Shows
1950
McMillan & Wife
1971Danger
1950
Hollywood Squares
Self
1966
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Self
1969
It Takes a Thief
Tourist
1968
The Bill Cosby Show
Wally Haverstraw
1969
The Hollywood Palace
Self
1964
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
Little John Doe
1966
DuPont Show of the Month
Messenger 7013
1957Vacation Playhouse
Alfred
1963
Letter to Loretta
Leslie Nettleton
1953
Mister Roberts
1965The Lux Show
Self
1957
Underdog
1964
Mister Peepers
Robinson Peepers
1952
General Electric Theater
Monroe Winkler
1953
Search
1972
Underdog
Underdog (Voice)
1964
The Adventures of Hiram Holliday
Hiram Holliday
1956
The Yellow Rolls-Royce
Ferguson
1964
A Guide for the Married Man
Technical Adviser
1967Max Liebman Presents
1954
Fate Is the Hunter
Ralph Bundy
1964
The Bedford Incident
Seaman Merlin Queffle
1965Television: The First Fifty Years
Robinson J. Peepers (archive footage)
1999
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
Mr. Wampler
1968
Spencer's Mountain
Preacher Goodman
1963
The Barefoot Executive
Mertons
1971
Morituri
Dr. Ambach
1965
The Night Strangler
Mr. Berry
1973
Ironside
Scoutmaster
1967
The Boatniks
Jason
1970
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County
Mr. Bester
1970
State Fair
Hipplewaite
1962
The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City
Becker
1970Murder at N.B.C.
1966
Reel Horror
Clyde (archive footage)
1985
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
Self (archive footage)
1990
Once Upon a Mattress
The Jester
1972
Quarantined
Wilbur Mott
1970
Babes in Toyland
Grumio, the Toymaker
1954
Up Your Teddy Bear
Clyde King
1970
The Young Country
Aaron Grimes / Ira Greebe
1970
Babes in Toyland
Grumio, the Toymaker
1955
Magic Carpet
Harold Kane
1972
Heidi
Peter
1955