Richard Dysart

Richard Dysart


  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 30-03-1929
  • Gender: Male
  • Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  • Also Known As:

    Richard A. Dysart

  • Popularity: 3.84
  • Homepage: N/A


Was an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Leland McKenzie on the NBC legal drama L.A. Law. Dysart served for four years in the Air Force during the Korean War. In 1979, he was featured in the film Being There, portraying a good-hearted physician. In 1980, he portrayed Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in the TV movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd. He also lent his voice to the kindly miner Uncle Pom in the Disney English language version of Hayao Miyazaki's 1986 adventure classic, Castle in the Sky. He starred in movies such as The Last Days of Patton, Being There, The Day of the Locust, The Rumor Mill, Pale Rider, The Falcon and the Snowman, Prophecy, The Thing, Warning Sign, Hard Rain, Mask, An Enemy of the People, The Hospital, and The Hindenburg. The scene where his L.A. Law character, Leland, the patriarchal and stiff founder of a successful law practice, was revealed to be in bed with competitor Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) was ranked as the 38th greatest moment in television in an issue of EGG magazine. He earned one Emmy Award, and three more nominations, for his role as McKenzie on L.A. Law. Dysart was a founding member of the American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco. He attended Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. He received the Drama Desk Award in 1972 and an Emmy Award in 1992. He is a brother of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity based out of Emerson College in Boston. In 1990, Dysart was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law. He is also a certified open water diver. Dysart and his wife, artist Kathryn Jacobi, have been married since 1987. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Dysart, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.




Year Movie Character
1986 L.A. Law: Pilot as Leland McKenzie
1997 Todd McFarlane's Spawn as Cogliostro (voice)
1987 Six Against the Rock as Warden James Johnston
1976 Riding with Death as Leonard Driscoll
1986 The Last Days of Patton as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
1976 Gemini Man [Pilot] as Leonard Driscoll
1974 The Terminal Man as Dr. John Ellis
1995 Truman as Henry L. Stimson
1998 Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2 as Cogliostro
1974 The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as Master Bryant
2004 Proteus: A Nineteenth Century Vision as The Ancient Mariner (voice)
1985 Malice in Wonderland as Louis B. Mayer
1981 People vs. Jean Harris as Judge Russell R. Leggett
1980 The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd as Edwin Stanton
1980 Prophecy as Trevor Isley
1971 The Hospital as Dr. Welbeck
2002 L.A. Law: The Movie as Leland McKenzie
1978 First, You Cry as Dr. Brennerman
1999 Todd McFarlane's Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle as Cogliostro
1979 Being There as Dr. Robert Allenby
1985 Mask as Abe
1985 Pale Rider as Coy LaHood
1985 Warning Sign as Dr. Nielsen
1989 Day One as President Harry S. Truman
1971 The Sporting Club as Spengler
1979 Churchill and the Generals as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
1982 The Thing as Dr. Copper
1975 The Day of the Locust as Claude Estee
1978 An Enemy of the People as Aslaksen
1969 The Lost Man as Barnes
1974 The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder as Father
1982 Missing Children: A Mother's Story as Hunter Burgess
1985 The Falcon and the Snowman as Dr. Lee
1981 Bitter Harvest as Dr. Morton Freeman
2009 Everything Is Terrible! The Movie as Self (archive footage)
1977 The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer as President Ulysses S. Grant
1979 Meteor as Secretary of Defense
1993 Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair as J. Edgar Hoover
1998 Hard Rain as Henry Sears
1988 Your Alcohol I.Q. as Self
1987 Jay Leno's Family Comedy Hour as self
1990 Back to the Future Part III as Barbwire Salesman
1975 The Hindenburg as Lehman
1980 Bogie as Jack Warner
1968 Petulia as Motel Receptionist
1986 Blood & Orchids as Harvey Koster
1995 A Child Is Missing as Riley Hallihan
1977 It Happened One Christmas as Peter Bailey
1969 Shadow Game
1988 Moving Target as Arthur Cambridge
1995 Panther as J. Edgar Hoover
1963 Love with the Proper Stranger as Accountant (uncredited)
1988 Mickey's 60th Birthday as Leland McKenzie
1987 Wall Street as Cromwell

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