A TRIBUTE TO ACTOR RICHARD DEACON

Richard's Biography

Actor : Born May 14, 1922 - Philadelphia, PA

Very early in his stage career, Richard Deacon was advised by Helen Hayes to abandon all hopes of becoming a leading man: instead, she encouraged him to aggressively pursue a career as a character actor. Tall, bald, bespectacled and bass-voiced since high school, Deacon heeded Ms. Hayes' advice, and managed to survive in show business far longer than many of the "perfect" leading men who were his contemporaries. Usually cast as a glaring sourpuss or humorless bureaucrat, Deacon was a valuable and highly regarded supporting-cast commodity in such films as Desiree (1954), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Kiss Them For Me (1957), The Young Philadelphians (1959) and The King's Pirate (1967), among many others. Virtually every major star who worked with Deacon took time out to compliment him on his skills: among his biggest admirers were Lou Costello, Jack Benny and Cary Grant. Even busier on television than in films, Richard Deacon had the distinction of appearing regularly on two concurrently produced sitcoms of the early 1960s: he was pompous suburbanite Fred Rutherford on Leave It to Beaver, and the long-suffering Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Deacon also co-starred as Kaye Ballard's husband on the weekly TV comedy The Mothers-in-Law (1968), and enjoyed a rare leading role on the 1964 Twilight Zone installment "The Brain Center at Whipples." In his last decade, Richard Deacon hosted a TV program on microwave cookery, and published a companion book on the subject.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide (nytimes.com)

Deacon home in Beverly Hills, CA.
Nestled among the Santa Monica mountains, the incline of Dalegrove to Deacon's home is dramatic!

Richard Deacon Dead at 62; A Comic Film and TV Actor

Published: August 11, 1984

Richard Deacon, an actor whose comically pompous roles included Lumpy Rutherford's father in the television series ''Leave It to Beaver'' and the overbearing producer Mel Cooley in ''The Dick Van Dyke Show,'' died here Wednesday. He was 62 years old.

Paramedics were called to Mr. Deacon's home in West Los Angeles and took him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead Wednesday night. A coroner's spokesman said the death was from ''apparent natural causes.''

Mr. Deacon portrayed stuffy bureaucrats in more than 100 films and hundreds of television shows. He also wrote a microwave cookbook and had a syndicated television cooking show in Canada.

Mr. Deacon is survived by his father, Joseph Deacon of San Clemente, Calif., and a nephew and niece.

A few other facts I learned about Richard:

He considered the film The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) his favorite appearance. (tvland.com bio)
According to imdb.com, his nickname was "fly" and his height was 6'4".
He died of heart disease on August 8, 1984 and his cremation occurred on August 14 at Westwood Village Mortuary.
He lived at 9540 Dalegrove Drive in Beverly Hills.
He never married.
His death certificate lists his occupation as a "freelance" actor.
In private life, he was a bookish man and a renowned gourmet chef.