Wally Cox

Born Wallace Maynard Cox on December 6, 1924, in Detroit, Michigan, his family moved to Evanston, Illinois, when he was a child, and he became friends with the young Brando. The child Marlon once tied Wally to a fence as a prank and left him in bondage overnight. After World War II, Cox moved to New York City and studied metal-working, becoming a master craftsman. In New York, he met up again with Brando, and the two rekindled their friendship and became roommates, with Cox eventually moving out as he reportedly could not abide Russell, Marlon's pet raccoon. Brando interested Cox in acting, and he studied with Brando's mentor Stella Adler. Cox and Brando both shared a delight in book-reading and learning, though Cox was the more accomplished intellectual.

After appearing in many TV productions in the 1940s and early '50s, Cox achieved fame as the mild-mannered teacher on the live television sitcom Mister Peepers (1952) (1952-55), a summer replacement show that was inserted into the regular line-up after receiving good reviews and strong ratings.

Graduated from Denby High School in Detroit, Michigan, 1942.

Although the role made him a star and won him two Emmy nominations, one as Best Comedian of 1953 and one as Best Male Star of a Regular Series in 1954, Wally Cox hated Robinson Peepers. He always referred to the character as "Mr. Goodboy" and insisted he was nothing like him, that in fact, he was a "terrible person.

Another memorable record of his was "There Is a Tavern in the Town" in 1953, sang in a unique style featuring "tremulous yodeling" that was truly one of a kind.

The episode in which Peepers married his girlfriend, the school nurse Nancy, was one of the highest rated TV shows of 1954.

After the show's cancellation due to declining ratings, Cox appeared as the lead in the TV series The Adventures of Hiram Holliday (1956) for the 1956-57 season. Although he never again headlined a live-action series, he played character roles in a score of theatrical and TV movies and frequently guest-starred on series television.

Once appeared in a TV commercial for men's underwear in the 1960s, but Standards and Practices, at the time, banned the commercial from broadcast. The offending material was Wally opening his dress shirt to reveal a small segment of his undershirt. This was considered "exposing underwear on a live model" and the commercial never aired.

He was also a singer, cutting albums and singles for the Arvee, George, and Wand record labels, including the 45-RPM singles "Love Me With Soul" backed with "Some Wonderful Day" for George and "This Man" backed by "I've Had Enough" for Wand in 1961, the latter platter sang in a style noted as "classic Northern soul floor shaker" by an appreciative fan.

Wally Cox was a beloved character actor who made his mark in television and ranks as one of the medium's most memorable performers. His ability to show his range likely was limited by his short stature, slight frame, and high-pitched voice, which along with his talent for being very funny, made him ideal for comedy parts such as his memorable turn as Professor P. Caspar Biddle in "The Bird-Watchers" episode of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) in 1966. His television persona was that of a shy, timid man in horn-rimed glasses who spoke in a tentative, though distinctly enunciated, voice. It was a persona that his long-time friend Marlon Brando said was completely at odds with the real man.

He was introduced to a generation of children as the voice of the animated cartoon character Underdog on Underdog (1964) (1964-1973).

" His persona on the The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965), a quiet man with a thinly veiled layer of sarcasm, probably was more like the real Cox. Outside of performing, Cox liked to ride motorcycles and take long nature walks.

He also remained prominent in the public eye as a regular panelist on the television game show The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965), appearing in the upper left-hand cubicle from the series' debut in 1966 until his death in 1973. While many of the stars' responses were actually scripted, Wally Cox apparently wasn't one of them, more often using sarcasm and responding with an ironic attitude as with a witty one-liner.

Peepers" and the voice of "Underdog," but he was an actor of wider talents seldom used by the industry, as can be seen in his turns as the sonar operator in The Bedford Incident (1965) and as the potential suicide Wally Haverstraw in The Bill Cosby Show (1969) episode "Goodbye, Cruel World" in 1970.

For over six years (1966-1973), he was the upper left square on The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965) game show.

Was the television spokesman for Canada Dry's Sport Cola circa 1970.

Wally also made a memorable appearance on the syndicated show Tom Smothers' Organic Prime Time Space Ride (1971) as a singer/yodeler, singing the cowboy song "That's How the Yodel Was Born. "Cox always will be remembered as the eponymous "Mr.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 122-123. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Marlon Brando took possession of Cox's ashes from his widow in order to scatter them at sea but actually kept them hidden in a closet at his house and frequently talked to them. The Los Angeles Times on September 22, 2004, quoted Brando's son, Miko, to the effect that both his father's and Cox's ashes were scattered at the same time in Death Valley, California, following Brando's death.