Walker Edmiston

Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1925 – February 15, 2007) was an American character actor and voice-over artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Edmiston appeared on various television programs in character roles during the 1950s – 1970s, such as Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Knots Landing, and The Dukes of Hazzard, all on CBS. 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 Keebler Elf" in hundreds of commercials for the cookie products of Kellogg Company, and voices for characters on H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos from the studios of Sid and Marty Krofft, as well as a recurring role as Enik the Altrusian on that studio's Land of the Lost. He also did many character voices on the Focus on the Family radio program, Adventures in Odyssey, in which he played the beloved Tom Riley and the infamous Bart Rathbone (and numerous other one-shot characters), for more than twenty years. At times the two characters would argue; however, Edmiston would require little redubbing or editing. He simply switched between the two characters without pause. Some of his voice credits were under the stage name Walter Edmiston.

In the 1950s and 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" and "Ravenswood the Buzzard".

Walker Edmiston died of cancer in Woodland Hills, California on February 15, 2007, just nine days after his 82nd birthday.

Filmography

 * Beany and Cecil (1949) &mdash; Dishonest John
 * The Flintstones (1962) &mdash; J. Montague Gypsum
 * The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) &mdash; Mark and Kingsley the Lion
 * H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1970) &mdash; Boris Karloff Tree, Dr. Blinky, Dr. Blinky's Candle, East Wind, Grandfather Clock, Ludicrous Lion, North Wind, Redwood, Seymour Spider
 * Land of the Lost (1974-1976) &mdash; Enik, Jefferson Davis Collie II
 * Trilogy of Terror (1975) &mdash; voice of Zuni fetish doll
 * Wholly Moses! (1980) &mdash; God
 * Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1981) &mdash; Koldar ("The Dorian Secret")
 * The Smurfs (1981) &mdash; Walden Edmiston
 * Transformers (1985-1986) &mdash; Inferno
 * The Great Mouse Detective (1986) &mdash; Citizen/Thug Guard
 * Adventures in Odyssey (1988) &mdash; Bart Rathbone and Tom Riley
 * Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1991) &mdash; Sir Thornberry
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006) &mdash; Fire Lord Azulon
 * Ben 10 (2006) &mdash; Marty/Ice Cream Employee ("Permanent Retirement")