Kent McCord

Kent McCord
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Portrays:	Troy
Date of Birth:	September 26, 1942
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Age:	83
Nationality:	USA
Related Media
		@ BW Media
Official Site
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Kent McCord (born Kent Franklin McWhirter on September 26, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) is an American film and television actor best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the long-running police drama Adam-12. He portrayed Captain Troy (the adult Boxey) in Galactica 1980.

Early Life and Education

Kent Franklin McWhirter was born on September 26, 1942 at French Hospital in downtown Los Angeles, California to Bert and Laura McWhirter. He grew up in the San Gabriel Valley town of Baldwin Park, California. A child of hard-working parents, Kent learned responsibility at an early age, handling his first horse, Toby, at age eight. At ten, he began working at his father's Richfield gas station near what is now the intersection of the 10 and 605 freeways.

In 1954, with the help of a family friend, McCord got a job at Brackett Field Airport in La Verne, California. Unable to be legally paid at twelve years old, he was instead given flying lessons in exchange for his work. For the next five years, McCord worked weekends and summers at the airport, eventually logging more than 100 hours of flying time.

McCord starred on the football team at Baldwin Park High School. After graduation, he attended Citrus Junior College and then accepted a football scholarship to the University of Utah in 1962, planning to become a physical education instructor and football coach.

Career

Early Acting Work

In February 1961, a friend invited McCord to participate in a touch football game. The two teams were captained by Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley. This informal match led to a friendship with Nelson that sparked his acting career. McCord quickly landed his first acting job on the immensely popular series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. At first a background player, McCord soon became a regular on the show, appearing as one of Ricky's fraternity brothers in 44 episodes over the next five years. McCord later recalled that his first two spoken words on the show changed his life.

On July 14, 1962, McCord married his high school sweetheart, Cynthia Lee Doty.

While working on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, McCord was asked to screen test at Universal Studios for a long-term contract. While waiting for the studio to sign him, he continued working on other shows and films. Between 1961 and 1965, besides appearing on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, he worked as an extra, bit player and stuntman. He landed small parts in five Elvis Presley films: Viva Las Vegas, Girl Happy, Kissin' Cousins, and Roustabout. He also portrayed a motorcycle courier in McHale's Navy in the episode "Monkey Business 007" under the name Kent McWhirter.

In November 1965, Universal put McCord under contract and immediately sent him to work, appearing in shows such as McHale's Navy and The Virginian. McCord also appeared in the first episode of Raymond Burr's Ironside series (September 14, 1967), titled "Message from Beyond", as motorcycle cop Kellogg.

Dragnet and Adam-12

McCord made several appearances on Jack Webb's Dragnet. In the first season of Dragnet 1967, he appeared three times, including an extra appearance as a patrol officer in the episode "The Big Explosion" (credited under his legal name). He also appeared in "The Interrogation" as a police officer accused of robbing a store while working an undercover narcotics detail fresh out of the police academy. McCord went on to appear five additional times in the second season, three times as unnamed officers and twice as his eventual Adam-12 character Jim Reed. He appeared once more on Dragnet as Reed before the character became exclusive to Adam-12.

It was his appearances on Dragnet that led Bob Cinader and Jack Webb to cast McCord as one of the stars in their brand new series Adam-12. McCord's big break came in 1968 when he was given a lead role next to Martin Milner as rookie LAPD police officer James A. "Jim" Reed. McCord recalls meeting Milner in the Universal parking lot as the pair waited for a ride to shoot the pilot on location. "Marty was yawning and told me how he couldn't sleep the night before beginning a new show," recalled McCord. "I'd had a restless evening too, so hearing that from a veteran actor was very reassuring. From that moment on our relationship was cemented."

With partner Martin Milner, McCord helped propel Adam-12 to the top of the ratings and into television history. A worldwide phenomenon, Adam-12 aired from 1968-1975, producing 174 episodes that continue to air in syndication. "The charm of 'Adam-12' was its simplicity," said McCord. "Just two cops in a black-and-white patrolling the streets of Los Angeles. The moral of the stories was simply – crime doesn't pay."

While his Adam-12 role brought recognition from audiences around the world, he and Milner also inspired young viewers as well as police organizations that used episodes as training videos. "To this day I get police officers telling me they became cops because of 'Adam-12,'" said McCord. "Others remember how kids approached them differently before and after the show aired. Its positive impact meant a lot to Marty and me."

Appearing on a top-rated television show offered McCord many opportunities, including being a guest at the Indianapolis 500. A lifelong racing fan, this led to his continued involvement in motorsports. He competed as a driver in automobile races such as the annual Toyota Pro Celebrity Challenge in Long Beach, California and Watkins Glen, New York. He also competed in several professional racing series in the Sports Car Club of America and IMSA, including the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Another memorable moment came when legendary film director John Ford, who was a big fan of the show, visited the Adam-12 set. Being able to sit with the great director and hear his wonderful stories was an incredible thrill for McCord, who grew up admiring Ford's films.

Galactica 1980

After Adam-12, McCord starred with Barry Van Dyke in the ABC series Galactica 1980 as Captain Troy, the adult Boxey. The series aired from January 27 to May 4, 1980, lasting for 10 episodes.

Speaking with Starlog magazine in May 1980, actress Robyn Douglass provided insights into the production schedule and the rushed casting of the series. Under a section titled "Tight Schedules," Douglass explained:

"The entire Galactica production company was faced with the problem of a locked-down air date, and therefore a shortage of time to do things over and get everything right." She continued, "I did the first scene with safety pins in my back, and the guys—Kent and Barry [Van Dyke]—their pants were ripping out at the seams. It's hard. Kent was cast Friday night and started shooting Saturday. We were all laughing and talking, but nobody could get into anybody else's character the first day. And I really feel bad because they scheduled the very last scene, the end of the show, in the first week of filming. On the third day we're all together, they're shooting the end, when we're all buddy-buddy and saying, 'Hey! What a great job we did.' And we didn't even know what we did yet! I mean, you could look at the script and know what happened, but there's all this emotion that we still haven't added. So they shot that in the first week. I would have loved to refilm it."

The series was poorly received during its run, and was cancelled after ten episodes. The program suffered low ratings in part due to its time slot, which was otherwise reserved for child-friendly-based, informational, educational, or news-related programming (Sunday, 7:00 PM/6:00 PM Central).

Later Career

Two years after Galactica 1980, Jack Webb tapped McCord and former co-star Martin Milner for a new Dragnet series he was preparing, with McCord and Milner to reprise their characters from Adam-12, now promoted to detectives. Webb died in December 1982, however, before any of the episodes he wrote could be produced.

In 1982, McCord played Mr. Unger on Airplane II: The Sequel, his only comedy role to date. In 1989, he co-starred on the NBC crime drama UNSUB.

McCord re-teamed with Martin Milner in the cable TV-movie Nashville Beat (1990), originally shown on The Nashville Network. The story was co-written by McCord, who played an LAPD detective who works with his former partner, played by Milner, in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1990, McCord appeared in the film Predator 2 as Captain Pilgrim. Three years later he played John Reynolds in Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993).

From 1994 to 1995, McCord played the recurring role of Scott Keller on seaQuest DSV. He appeared in three episodes of JAG, and teamed with Martin Milner again in the Diagnosis: Murder episode "Murder Blues."

More recently, McCord became a semi-regular guest star on Farscape, where he played two versions (one human and one alien appearing in the physical form of the human) of the same character, Jack Crichton from 1999 to 2003, appearing in all four seasons. McCord has also appeared in recurring roles in USA Network's Renegade, Silk Stalkings, and Pacific Blue.

In 2023, McCord provided voice work for the character of Jacob Coe, the father of Sam Coe, in the video game Starfield.

Screen Actors Guild Service

McCord was elected to the national board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild in 1972 and served on the board for 11 years. He was twice elected First National Vice President while on the National Board of Directors (first in 1979 and again in 1981). He also chaired the Children's Committee (which helped fashion protections for child performers throughout the world), the Guild's Publications Committee, and the Agents Relations Committee, and represented the American acting community to The Federation Internationale des Acteurs (FIA).

In October 2006, McCord was again elected as the union's 1st National Vice President. "From the time I was first elected to the national board in 1972, I have fought to keep our union open, inclusive and prepared for the future," McCord said at the time. "I am honored to once again serve as the 1st national vice president of the Screen Actors Guild."

In 2003, he ran for president of the Screen Actors Guild, but lost to Melissa Gilbert by 42%–50%.

In 1999, Kent received the prestigious Ralph Morgan Award, named after The Screen Actors Guild's first President, which is given by SAG members to honor another member's devotion to the cause of actors.

Personal Life and Philanthropy

Kent and Cynthia McCord are the proud parents of three children: daughters Kristen and Megan (an actress), and son Michael. Their daughter Kristen appeared on Adam-12, and Megan appeared in Pine Canyon Is Burning (1977).

For ten years, McCord was a member of the Celebrity All Stars Basketball team that played throughout Southern California to help raise money to support various charities. He supports a number of foundations and charities, including the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute in Duarte, California.

Kent and Martin Milner made numerous personal appearances together, including co-hosting the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for NBC. They also hosted numerous telethons across the country, including the Variety Club Telethon in Nashville, Tennessee, which featured legendary performers such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Roger Miller.

On October 14, 2000, McCord and Martin Milner received The Jack Webb Award given by the LA Police Historical Society for their support of the LAPD and the community it serves.

McCord enjoys going for bike rides with his wife Cynthia from their Los Angeles home to the Santa Monica Pier. He is a huge fan of motor racing and has participated in a number of races.

As of 2022, McCord continued engaging with fans through virtual meet-and-greet events. "I've done several of these online over the last two years and always enjoy talking with fans," said McCord from his Los Angeles home.

External Links

• Kent McCord Official Website