Cast & creator
Richard Erdman
Best known for Perry Mason, Perry Mason, Perry Mason
Richard Erdman (June 1, 1925 - March 16, 2019) was an American film and television actor and director. In a career that has spanned seven decades, his best known roles are that of the barracks chief Hoffy in Stalag 17, and McNulty in the classic Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch". In Tora Tora Tora he played Colonel Edward F. French, the officer who responded to the failure to transmit the warning to Pearl Harbor using Army radio to instead use commercial telegraph rather than using the Navy or FBI radio systems. Erdman appeared as the blackmailer, Arthur Binney, in the Perry Mason first season TV episode "The Case Of The Gilded Lily" aired May 24, 1958. In 1960, he co-starred with Tab Hunter in the short-lived The Tab Hunter Show on NBC, which aired opposite The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS and Lawman with John Russell on ABC. He was very funny when he appeared as a Broadway wardrobe man named Buck Brown on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". In 1962, Erdman had a recurring role as Klugie, the photographer, in the short-lived Nick Adams-John Larkin NBC series Saints and Sinners.
Also known as: John Richard Erdmann , Dick Erdman
72
film credits
61
television credits
128
1944–2021 · acting roles
6.8
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (133)
Showing 133 of 133 credits
Perry Mason
Arthur Binney
1957Perry Mason
Jim West
1957Perry Mason
Charles (Monty) Montrose
1957Perry Mason
Harry Niles
1957Perry Mason
Ben Lucas
1957Perry Mason
Jud Bennett
1957
Beverly Hills, 90210
Mr. Perl
1990
Cheers
Duncan Fitzgerald
1982
Murder, She Wrote
Jonathan
1984Murder, She Wrote
Eggman
1984
Judging Amy
Mr. Callahan
1999
Quincy, M.E.
1976
Community
Leonard
2009
Batman: The Animated Series
Elliot (voice)
1992
Matinee Theater
1955
Wings
Howard Banks
1990
The Six Million Dollar Man
Slayton
1974The Six Million Dollar Man
Vernon
1974
The Twilight Zone
Patrick McNulty
1959
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Buck Brown
1961
Hogan's Heroes
Walter Hobson
1965
Petticoat Junction
Colonel Millbank
1963
The Bernie Mac Show
Frank
2001
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
I Dream of Jeannie
Store Manager
1965
The Wild Wild West
Mordecai Krone
1965
Remington Steele
Bert the Coroner
1982
DuckTales
King Arty (voice)
1987DuckTales
Mayor Rufus B. Pinfeathers (voice)
1987
Lou Grant
1977
Here's Lucy
Clerk
1968
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964
Green Acres
1965
Felicity
Howie
1998
That Girl
1966
Joan of Arcadia
Mr. Hanson
2003
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
P.T. Barkley
1964
The Bionic Woman
1976
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Charlie Brown
1955
Police Story
1973
Mister Ed
1961
December Bride
1954
Dr. Ken
Richard Erdman
2015
Navy Log
1955
Mayberry R.F.D.
Frank Wylie
1968
Cavalcade of America
Harry Jordan
1952
Boomtown
Kevin's Dad
2002
She's the Sheriff
Frank Rubin
1987
Space Stars
Additional Voices (voice)
1981
Cassie & Co.
George Davenport
1982
Panic!
1957
Mr. Terrific
Manny
1967
The Amazing Spider-Man
Mr. Zeider
1978
Science Fiction Theatre
1955Not for Hire
1959
West Point
1956
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Colonel Edward F. French
1970
The Pagemaster
Pirate (voice)
1994
Saints and Sinners
Klugie
1962
Weird Loners
Carl's Grandfather
2015
The Tab Hunter Show
Richard Fairfield III
1960
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Eddie McGuire
1951
Where's Raymond?
Pete Morrisey
1953
Mr. Majestyk
Dick Richard (uncredited)
1974Mr. Majestyk
Dick Richard
1974
Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge
Mr. Zeider
1980
Trancers
Drunken Wise Man
1984
Mr. Skeffington
Western Union Boy (uncredited)
1944
The Blue Gardenia
Al
1953
Stalag 17
Hoffy Hoffman
1953
Saddle the Wind
Dallas Hanson
1958
Stewardess School
Attorney
1986
The Men
Leo
1950
Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
Sid Buckman / Car Wash Manager (voice)
1988
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Stalag 17' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
Objective, Burma!
Pvt. Nebraska Hooper
1945
Namu, the Killer Whale
Deke
1966
Teenage Tease
Director
1971
Jumping Jacks
Dogface Dolan
1952
Tomboy
Chester
1985
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
Self
2021
Hollywood Canteen
Soldier on Deck (uncredited)
1944
The San Francisco Story
Shorty
1952
Mooch Goes to Hollywood
Director
1971
Valet Girls
Waiter
1987
You're in the Navy Now
Ens. Chuck Dorrance
1951
The Very Thought of You
Soda Jerk
1944
Shadow of a Woman
Joe, Counterman at Owl Lunch
1946
Francis in the Navy
Murph
1955
Easy Living
Buddy Morgan
1949
Cry Danger
Delong
1951
Heidi's Song
Herr Sessman (voice)
1982
The Stooge
Ben Bailey
1951
Star in the Night
Middle Cowboy
1945
Too Young to Know
Tommy
1945
The Admiral Was a Lady
Oliver 'Ollie' Bonelli
1950
The Happy Time
Alfred Grattin
1952
The Secret World of Og
Pirate #1
1983
Timeless Tales: The Emperor's New Clothes
1990
Deception
Terry Spencer (uncredited)
1946
Nobody Lives Forever
Bellboy, The Marwood Arms
1946
The Power and the Prize
Lester Everett
1956
The Great Man's Whiskers
Joseph Somerby
1972So You Want to Play the Horses
Eddie (uncredited)
1946
The Brass Bottle
Seymour Jenks
1964
The Rawhide Trail
Rupe Pardee
1958
Anything Goes
Ed Brent
1956
The Dark Wind
Co-Producer
1992
That Way with Women
Eddie (as Dick Erdman)
1947
The Wild Blue Yonder
Cpl. Frenchy
1951
Aladdin and His Lamp
Mirza
1952
The Time of Your Life
Willie
1948
Visions...
Ellis
1972Empire State Building Murders
Eddie Walker
2008
The Steel Lady
Jim Evans
1953
Brothers O'Toole
Judge Quincey P. Trumbell
1973Brothers O'Toole
Director
1973
Danger Signal
Bunkie Taylor (as Dick Erdman)
1945
Rascal
Walt Dabbett
1969
Janie Gets Married
Lt. 'Scooper' Nolan (as Dick Erdman)
1946
Musical Movieland
Sailor with Tour (uncredited)
1944
Mission Over Korea
Pvt. Swenson
1953
Janie
Scooper Nolan (as Dick Erdman)
1944
Wild Harvest
Mark Lewis
1947
My Town
Fletcher Mays
1986
Kate McShane
Frederick de Fernando
1975
Bengazi
Selby
1955
The Small World: The Gypsy Children of Granada
Host and narrator
1963The Small World: The Gypsy Children of Granada
Producer
1963
Jesse
Dr. Adams
1988
Face of Fire
Al Williams
1959
Swiss Tour
Eddy
1949
The Bag
John Harper