Paul Lambert (August 1, 1922 – April 27, 1997) was an American character actor who appeared in movies and on television.
Early life Lambert was born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. During World War II, he was a lieutenant in the Army Air Forces.
Career He trained at the Actors' Lab in Los Angeles and then moved to New York City, where he first worked Off Broadway, subsequently appearing with Rod Steiger on Broadway in a revival of Clifford Odets's Night Music (a credit that is often misrepresented as A Little Night Music because of the similarity of the titles and the fact that the Sondheim musical featured an actor named Mark Lambert).
Among his major films were Spartacus (his movie debut), Planet of the Apes (in a brief role as a simian minister), and All the President's Men, in which he played the national editor of The Washington Post.
It was on television that Lambert played his biggest roles. He acted on 300 shows and appeared fourteen times on CBS's Playhouse 90 anthology series, more than any other actor. He appeared twice in the role of Yates in the 1962 syndicated adventure series The Everglades with Ron Hayes. Lambert was a frequent guest star on 1960s television (including roles Gunsmoke, and in Gene Barry's TV Western Bat Masterson, in 1959 as unscrupulous financier Charles Hamilton in the episode "Flume to the Mother Load", and in 1960 as the crooked Augustus Ulbrecht in "The Rage of Princess Ann") and was able to maintain a successful career into the 1990s.
Lambert was often able to secure billing that eluded his contemporaries, such as the coveted title-sequence billing he received both times he appeared on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., in "The Bow-Wow Affair" (1965) and "The Take Me To Your Leader Affair". He played a doctor in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode "King Nine Will Not Return". He also appeared in three episodes of the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason, twice in 1961: as Ben Nicholson in "The Case of the Envious Editor", and as murdered news correspondent Lawrence Vander in "The Case of the Renegade Refugee". He also appeared as Del Compton in the 1965 episode, "The Case of the Mischievous Doll". He was recognized for playing the French-Canadian revolutionary Durain in The Wild Wild West episode "The Night of the Firebrand". He appeared in a 1973 Barnaby Jones episode titled, "Sing a Song of Murder".
Death Lambert died at the age of 74 at St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he resided.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1958 Girls on the Loose Joe 1960 Spartacus Gannicus 1962 House of Women Richard Dunn 1966 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Minor Role Uncredited1966 Hogan's Heroes Major Hegel, Gestapo Diamond in the Rough (episode 2.3) 30 September 1967 The Big Mouth Moxie 1968 Planet of the Apes Minister 1969 All the Loving Couples Irv 1969 Pate Katelin en Buenos Aires 1969 Cry for Poor Wally Wally's Father 1970 Bande de cons! 1971 The Windsplitter Reverend 1971 A Gunfight Ed Fleury 1972 The Godfather Mobster at Funeral with Barzini Uncredited1972 Where Does It Hurt? Dr. Pinikhes 1972 Play It as It Lays Larry Kulik 1973 American Graffiti Sleeping Police Officer Uncredited1974 Mama's Dirty Girls Harold 1974 The Missiles of October John A. Scali 1976 All the President's Men National Editor 1976 Sparkle Moe 1979 Apocalypse Now Messenger for Willard Uncredited1979 Scavenger Hunt Uncredited1982 Death Wish II New York Police Commander 1982 Wrong Is Right Defense Secretary 1983 Blue Thunder Holmes 1983 Cracking Up Joe - Carpet Installer 1985 Avenging Angel Arthur Gerrard 1986 Soldier's Revenge General Burns 1986 The Perils of P.K. 1992 Rain Without Thunder Swedish Doctor
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