He attended a military academy and joined the United States Navy when he was sixteen. He was barely eighteen when his destroyer assisted in the Normandy Invasion on D-Day (June 6, 1944). After the war he attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he graduated with honors in English. He was also president of the student body, a member of the honor society, editor of the college literary magazine, a football player, and the backfield coach of the only undefeated team in the history of the university. He was a campus radio personality who married the queen of his fraternity's ball during his senior year. After graduation he became a radio sportscaster and DJ for several CBS and ABC affiliates while beginning a family that included three sons and one daughter but ultimately this marriage ended in divorce. Several years thereafter, he had a second daughter.
For six years, Slate had a promising career with W. R. Grace and Co. as a public relations executive and travel manager for company president J. Peter Grace. He then joined Grace Steamship Lines and moved with his family to Lima, Peru. There he joined a professional theatre group, became involved with a production of "The Rainmaker" and was awarded the Tiahuanacothe, the Peruvian equivalent of the Tony Award, for his portrayal of the character Starbuck. After a year of training, he left W. R. Grace to pursue a theatrical career.
Film and TV career
Slate co-starred with Ron Ely in the 1960–1961 Ivan TorsseriesThe Aquanauts,[1]: 53–54 which was renamed Malibu Run[1]: 647 halfway during its brief run on CBS. The series could not compete successfully in the same time slot as NBC's durable westernWagon Train.[citation needed] He guest-starred in nearly 100 television shows and appeared in twenty feature films. Among his many television appearances were two roles in the courtroom drama series Perry Mason, both times as Perry's client: In season 3, 1960, he played Bob Lansing in the episode, "The Case of the Ominous Outcast", and in season 5, 1962, he played Philip Andrews in "The Case of the Captain's Coins."
In 1963, Slate was cast as Mark Novak in the episode "The Loner" of the NBC modern western series, Empire, set on a ranch in New Mexico. In the storyline he became involved in a deadly boxing match with series character Tal Garrett (Ryan O'Neal). Also in 1963, he co-starred in an episode of the second season of Combat! called "Off Limits," produced and directed by Robert Altman. That same year, he played Elroy Daldran, a hired assassin out to kill Eliot Ness, in "A Taste for Pineapple", the final episode (series finale) of The Untouchables starring Robert Stack. Finally in 1963, he appeared in James Arness’s TV Western series Gunsmoke, as gunslinger Billy Hargis in “Carter Caper” (season 9, episode 8).
He played a troubled surfer in a 1962, season 3 episode of Route 66 called "Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?" In 1965 he starred as Wally in season 1, episode 21 of Bewitched, entitled "Ling Ling". He later guest-starred as a German infiltrator in a fourth-season episode of Combat! entitled ”The Mockingbird” (aired 1966).
Slate's acting career included major roles in four outlaw biker films in the late 1960s: The Born Losers (1967), The Mini-Skirt Mob (1968), Hell's Belles (1969) and Hell's Angels '69. As the leader of the Born Losers Motorcycle Club in The Born Losers, Slate played a ruthless yet likable character who took on Billy Jack. In Hell's Angels '69 (for which he wrote the screen story) Slate played a man who used the Hells Angels as unwitting dupes in a plan to rob a casino in Las Vegas; several real-life members of the Hell's Angels — including Angels president Ralph "Sonny" Barger, Terry the Tramp and Magoo — had significant speaking roles in the film. Slate broke his leg during filming and never rode a motorcycle again. He also played a notable role as a Deputy Sheriff in the western The Sons of Katie Elder starring John Wayne (1965).
Songwriting career
Slate was an accomplished country-and-western songwriter and BMI member. He wrote the lyrics to Tex Ritter's top ten song "Just Beyond the Moon" and co-wrote with Greg R. Connor the lyrics for "Every Time I Itch (I Wind Up Scratchin' You)" recorded by Glen Campbell on Capitol Records.[citation needed] Slate and Campbell had starred together in the 1969 movie, True Grit.
In the 1970s, Slate was involved with feminist archaeologist Sally Binford.[4] Their adventures in the sexual freedom movement were chronicled in Gay Talese's 1980 book Thy Neighbor's Wife.[5]
In 2000, he married Denise Mellinger Slate, a writer and film producer. He was stepfather to Joseph Tolen and Erin Tolen.[citation needed]
In 2004, he attended as a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with Stella Stevens, Andrew Prine and Sonny Shroyer.
His partner at the time of his death was Joan Benedict-Steiger. He had two living sons, and two daughters; one son had preceded him in death.[2]
^ abcTerrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 6. ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
^Barabas, SuzAnne and Gabor, Barabas (1990). Gunsmoke: A Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 1990; all of John Meston's radio and television episodes for this iconic Western, including Slate's performance in "The Gallows" (1962), are profiled in this comprehensive reference.
^Bright, Susie (2009). Mommy's Little Girl: Susie Bright on Sex, Motherhood, Porn and Cherry Pie. Susie\Bright. ISBN978-0970881571.
