Walker Edmiston

Walker Edmiston
Born(1926-02-06)February 6, 1926
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedFebruary 15, 2007(2007-02-15) (aged 81)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesWalter Edmiston
Occupations
  • Actor
  • puppeteer
Years active1947–2006
Spouse
Evelyn Edmiston
​
​
(m. 1950; died 1998)​
Children2

Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1926[citation needed] – February 15, 2007) was an American actor and puppeteer.[1]

Early years

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edmiston participated in local theater productions during his high school years.[2] He later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse.[3]

Career

In the 1950s, Edmiston worked on puppet shows on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles.[4] His voice was heard on the puppet programs The Buffalo Billy Show[5] and Time for Beany[5]: 1085  and on Dumbo's Circus, which included live action and animation.[5]: 292  He was also a member of the cast of Lidsville[5]: 599  and voiced characters on Pandamonium.[5]: 807-808  He appeared in character roles on several TV programs during the 1950s through the '70s, including the Star Trek episode The Corbomite Maneuver as the voice of Balok. He also appeared in Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, Adam-12, The Bob Newhart Show and The Dukes of Hazzard.[2] He also played a character based on "Chester" in "Gun-Shy," the Maverick parody of Gunsmoke starring James Garner.[6] In 1966, Edmiston had a recurring role as Regan in the short-lived ABC comedy western series The Rounders with co-stars Ron Hayes, Patrick Wayne, and Chill Wills.

Edmiston also did many television commercials and cartoon character voices, such as Ernie the elf in hundreds of commercials for the cookie products of the Keebler Company, and voices for characters on H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos from the studios of Sid and Marty Krofft,[1] as well as a recurring role as Enik the Altrusian in Land of the Lost.[5]: 579-580  He also did many character voices on the Focus on the Family radio program, Adventures in Odyssey, in which he played Tom Riley, Bart Rathbone, and numerous other one-shot characters for more than twenty years. Following Edmiston's death, both characters were retired from the show.

Some of his voice credits were under the stage name Walter Edmiston. In 1985, he also voiced the Autobot Inferno in The Transformers.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, he hosted The Walker Edmiston Show, a children's television program in Los Angeles, California. The program featured puppets of his own creation including Kingsley the Lion, Ravenswood the Buzzard,[2] and Webster Webfoot.

In 1962, Edmiston and his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he began a daily puppet show on KOOL-TV.[3] He was also a stage director at Children's Theater in Phoenix.[7]

Personal life and death

Edmiston married Evelyn in 1950, and together they had two children, daughters Andria and Erin.[2] Evelyn died in 1998.[2]

Edmiston died from cancer in Woodland Hills, California on February 15, 2007.[1]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1962 The Flintstones J. Montague Gypsum (voice) Episode: "This Is Your Lifesaver"
1966–1968 Star Trek: The Original Series Balok, SS Deirdre, Provider (voice) 3 episodes
1967 The Monkees Newspaper Publisher Episode: "Monkee Mayor"
1967 The Wild Wild West Preacher Episode: "The Night of the Turncoat"
1969–1970 H.R. Pufnstuf Various voices 17 episodes
1970–1971 The Bugaloos Various voices 17 episodes
1971 Bonanza Auctioneer Episode: "Cassie"
1971–1973 Lidsville Various voices 17 episodes
1972 Mission: Impossible Peter Wiley Episode: "Casino"
1973–1975 Sigmund and the Sea Monsters Sigmund (voice) Main cast
1974–1976 Land of the Lost Enik, Jefferson Collie 16 episodes
1975 Trilogy of Terror Zuni Warrior Doll (voice) Television film; uncredited[8]
1977–1982 Little House on the Prairie Mr. Deerling, Dr. Moore, Mr. Stohler, Dr. Vanderan 4 episodes
1977 The Bob Newhart Show Sergeant Webber Episode: "Desperate Sessions"
1977 The Waltons Franklin D. Roosevelt, Edward Murrow Episode: "The Hiding Place"
1981–1984 The Dukes of Hazzard Professor Crandall 2 episodes
1981 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Koldar (voice) Episode: "The Dorian Secret"
1981 Spider-Man Magneto (voice) Episode: "When Magneto Speaks... People Listen"
1981 Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Kingpin, Frankenstein's Monster (voice) 2 episodes
1982 Pandamonium Algeron (voice) 13 episodes
1985–1986 Dumbo's Circus Sebastian (voice) 82 episodes
1985–1986 The Transformers Inferno (voice) 17 episodes
1987–2006 Adventures in Odyssey Bart Rathbone, Tom Riley (voice) 27 episodes
1988 ABC Weekend Special Catso (voice) Episode: "Runaway Ralph"[8]
1989–1991 Adventures of the Gummi Bears Sir Thornberry (voice) 6 episodes
1997 Spider-Man Robert Frank / Whizzer (voice) 3 episodes[8]
2006 Avatar: The Last Airbender Fire Lord Azulon (voice) Episode: "Zuko Alone"[8]
2006 Ben 10 Marty, Ice Cream Employee (voice) Episode: "Permanent Retirement"[8]

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1947 Smoked Hams Wally Walrus (voice) Uncredited[9]
1954 By Word of Mouse Lecturer (voice) Uncredited
1961 Everything's Ducky Scuttlebutt (voice)
1962 Hitler S.S. Man Uncredited
1965 The Beach Girls and the Monster Mark
1966 Stagecoach Cheyenne Wells Fargo Agent Uncredited
1968 The Green Berets Lt. Moore Uncredited
1970 Pufnstuf Various voices
1971 Escape from the Planet of the Apes Gorilla, Milo (voice) [8]
1971 One More Train to Rob Engineer Uncredited
1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Mr. Slugworth, Mr. Wilkinson (voice) Uncredited
1974 Down and Dirty Duck Old Prospector (voice) [8]
1980 Wholly Moses! God (voice)
1981 Scared to Death Dennis Warren
1984 The Bear Dr. Rose
1986 The Transformers: The Movie Inferno (voice) Scenes deleted
1986 The Great Mouse Detective Thug (voice) [8]
1990 Dick Tracy Radio Announcer (voice)
1995 Whisper of the Heart Kita (voice) English dub

References

  1. ^ a b c "Walker Edmiston". Indiana Gazette. February 28, 2007. p. 4. Retrieved May 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e McLellan, Dennis (February 27, 2007). "Walker Edmiston, 81; voice artist, puppeteer was host of early L.A. children's TV show". The Los Angeles Times. p. 54. Retrieved July 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Thomas, Margaret (September 30, 1962). "TV 'Voice' On The Go Here". Arizona Republic. Arizona, Phoenix. p. 40. Retrieved July 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2015). Sid and Marty Krofft: A Critical Study of Saturday Morning Children's Television, 1969-1993. McFarland. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4766-0784-9. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  6. ^ Garner, James; Winokur, Jon (2012). The Garner Files: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4516-4261-2. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "Vet Coaches Youngsters". Arizona Republic. Arizona, Phoenix. January 4, 1963. p. 27. Retrieved July 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h "Walker Edmiston (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 8, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  9. ^ Scott, Keith (October 3, 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media. p. 431.