A lanky American character player whose plummy voice, mobile features and accomplished timing made him a natural for nervous, befuddled, often clumsy comic roles, Richard Mulligan began in show business with ambitions to be a playwright but instead found work more readily as an actor. Keeping busy shuttling back and forth between the stage, screen ("The Group" 1966, "The Undefeated" 1969) and TV guest spots, he was briefly given a chance in the sitcom spotlight as "The Hero" (NBC, 1966-67), a klutzy actor portraying a TV lawman. It was not until the late 1970s, however, that his broadly-played
Served in the Navy as a crash rescue man in Pensacola, Florida
En route to Miami, stopped at a local theater hoping to sell a play; ended up auditioning and getting a role in production of Eugene O'Neill's "Beyond the Horizon"
1960
Made Broadway acting debut in "All the Way Home", as understudy to Arthur Hill and Tom Wheatley
Acted in such plays as "Nobody Loves an Albatross", "Never Too Late", "The Mating Game", and "Everybody Out, the Castle Is Sinking"
Appeared in guest roles during the 1960s in such TV series as "The Defenders", "Route 66", "The DuPont Show of the Month" and "Armstrong Circle Theater"
