Dick Gautier
Richard Gautier (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and caricaturist. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series Get Smart, and Robin Hood in the TV comedy series When Things Were Rotten,[1] as well as for originating the role of Conrad Birdie in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie.
Dick Gautier | |
|---|---|
 Gautier as Robin Hood in When Things Were Rotten (1975) | |
| Born | Richard Gilbert Gautier October 30, 1931 Culver City, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 13, 2017 (aged 85) Arcadia, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1959–1993 |
| Spouses |
Tess Hightower (m. 2003) |
| Children | 3 |
Career
.jpg.webp)
Gautier started his career as a singer and a nightclub comic at the hungry i in San Francisco.[2] He joined ASCAP in 1959 after serving in the United States Navy.[2] In 1960, he portrayed fictional rock 'n roll star Conrad Birdie in the original Broadway theatre production of Bye Bye Birdie, receiving a Tony Award nomination for his performance.[3] He would later appear with two of his Birdie stars in two films: with Kay Medford in Ensign Pulver in 1964, and with Dick Van Dyke in Divorce American Style in 1967.[2]
Game show panelist
During the 1970s and 1980s, Gautier was a frequent game show panelist.[2] He appeared on Match Game; Family Feud;[4] Tattletales; Showoffs; You Don't Say!; Liar's Club; Password Plus; Body Language; Super Password; Win, Lose or Draw; and the TV version of Can You Top This?
Batman
In 1973, when Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig reprised their Batman roles (as Robin and Batgirl, respectively) for a TV public service announcement about equal pay for women, Adam West, who was trying to distance himself from the Batman role at the time, declined to participate. Gautier filled in for West as Batman on this occasion.[5]
Voice-over roles
Gautier performed several voice-over roles in animation, including Rodimus Prime in the third season of The Transformers animated series from 1986 to 1987, as well as Serpentor in the G.I. Joe series, Louis from the 1986 cartoon Foofur, Spike the Dog in Tom & Jerry Kids, some additional voices in Hanna-Barbera's The New Yogi Bear Show, Wooly Smurf in The Smurfs, and several voices for Inhumanoids, including Crygen and Pyre and their combined form, Magnakor.[6]
Celebrity caricatures
Gautier was known for his caricatures of celebrities and wrote several instructional books on caricature, drawing, and cartooning.[7]
Personal life
Richard Gilbert Gautier was born in Culver City, California, on October 30, 1931.[2] His father was a grip and his mother was a costume seamstress.[2]
Gautier was first married to Beverly J. Gerber; the marriage ended in divorce after they had three children together. His second wife was actress Barbara Stuart,[8] and his final marriage was to Tess Hightower, a psychologist.[3]
His son Randy, nicknamed Rand, had both a brief stint in pornography under the name Austin Moore, and would in 1995 steal a videotape from the home of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson, containing footage they had filmed of themselves having sex while on vacation. Rand, along with a distributor, released it on the Internet, and it became one of the first widespread celebrity sex tapes.[9][10]
Gautier died from pneumonia on January 13, 2017, at an assisted living facility in Arcadia, California, following a long illness.[2][3]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Ensign Pulver | Stefanowski | |
| 1965 | Gidget | Mark Hillman | |
| 1965–1970 | Get Smart | Hymie the Robot | 6 episodes |
| 1966 | Bewitched | Monsieur Ober | S2 E24 “Samantha the Dressmaker” |
| 1967 | Mr. Terrific | Hal Walters | |
| 1967 | Divorce American Style | Larry Strickland | |
| 1968 | Maryjane | Bearded prisoner | Uncredited/Writer |
| 1972 | Wild in the Sky | Diver | Writer and producer |
| 1973 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Ed Cavanaugh | Episode: "Hi There, Sports Fans"; Season 4, Episode 5 |
| 1974 | Hawkins | Episode: "Murder in the Slave Trade"; Season 1, Episode 5 | |
| 1974 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Carl Kolchak's swinging roommate on the cruise | Episode: "The Werewolf"; Season 1, Episode 5 |
| 1974 | The Rockford Files | Carl | Episode: "The Countess"; Season 1, Episode 3 |
| 1975 | The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery | Oscar Cornell | |
| 1975 | When Things Were Rotten | Robin Hood | 13 episodes |
| 1976 | Charlie's Angels | Barry Kingsbrook | Episode: "Homes, $weet Homes"; Season 4, Episode 18 |
| 1977 | Fun with Dick and Jane | Dr. Will | |
| 1977 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | Tail Gunner | Episode: "The Mystery of the Flying Courier; Season 1, Episode 9 |
| 1977 | Billy Jack Goes to Washington | Governor Hubert Hopper | |
| 1978 | Wonder Woman (TV series) | Count Cagliostro | Episode: "Diana's Disappearing Act"; Season 2, Episode 15 |
| 1978 | The Eddie Capra Mysteries | Lee Harriman | Episode: "The Intimate Friends of Janet Wilde"; Season 1, Episode 7 |
| 1979 | $weepstake$ | Victor | Season 1, Episode 7 |
| 1980 | Marathon | Bud | TV movie |
| 1981 | Happy Days | Dr. Ludlow | Episode: "Welcome to My Nightmare"; Season 8, Episode 11 |
| 1985–1989 | The Smurfs | Wooly Smurf | Voice |
| 1985–1986 | Inhumanoids | Crygen, Magnakor, Pyre | Voice |
| 1986 | Foofur | Louis | Voice |
| 1986–1987 | The Transformers | Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime | Voice |
| 1986 | G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero | Serpentor | Voice |
| 1986 | GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords | Brimstone / Bugsie / Klaws / Narlihog | Voice |
| 1987 | G.I. Joe: The Movie | Serpentor | Voice |
| 1987 | DuckTales | Shifty's Pal / Mr. Wolf | 2 episodes; Voice |
| 1987 | Matlock | Bobby Freemont | Episode: "The Gambler"; Season 2, Episode 7 |
| 1988 | Glitch! | Julius Lazar | |
| 1988 | The New Yogi Bear Show | Additional Voices | |
| 1989 | Get Smart Again | Hymie the Robot | (Returning from 1960s series) |
| 1990-1993 | Tom & Jerry Kids | Spike Bulldog | Voice |
| 1992 | Batman: The Animated Series | Teddy | Guest star/Voice |
| 1992 | The Naked Truth | The Bartender | |
| 1992 | Garfield and Friends | Skip Yenta | Guest star/Voice |
Bibliography
- Gautier, Dick (1989). The Creative Cartoonist. Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51434-1.
- Gautier, Dick (1993). Child's Garden of Weirdness. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-0804818254.
- Gautier, Dick (1994). Drawing and Cartooning 1,001 Figures in Action. Perigee Books. ISBN 978-0399518591.
- Gautier, Dick (1995). Drawing and Cartooning 1,001 Caricatures. Perigee Books. ISBN 978-0399519116.
- Gautier, Dick (1997). Creating Comic Characters. Perigee Books. ISBN 978-0399523519.
References
- Blake, Meredith (January 14, 2017). "Dick Gautier, best known as 'Get Smart's' Hymie the robot, dies at 85". Los Angeles Times.
- Keepnews, Peter (January 17, 2017). "Dick Gautier, 85, of 'Bye Bye Birdie'". The New York Times. p. A16. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
- Barnes, Mike (January 14, 2017). "Dick Gautier, Hymie the Robot on Get Smart, Dies at 85". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- "Family Feud (1989): Funny Men vs Funny Women" on YouTube
- Lamar, Cyriaque (June 19, 2011). "In this bizarre PSA, Batgirl almost kills Batman over unequal pay". io9. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
In this 1971 PSA ...″ ″[2024 ed.note: copyright date is clearly 1973]
- "Dick Gautier Biography". Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- "Dick Gautier Chats with the Café". Classic Film and TV Café. April 2013. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- Grimes, William (May 19, 2011). "Barbara Stuart, TV Actress, Is Dead at 81". The New York Times.
- "Where Is Rand Gauthier From 'Pam & Tommy' Today?". Bustle. January 27, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- Clair, Josh St (February 2, 2022). "The True Story of Rand Gauthier, Who Stole the Pamela Anderson Sex Tape". Men's Health. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
External links
- Dick Gautier at IMDb
- Dick Gautier at the TCM Movie Database
- Dick Gautier at the Internet Broadway Database