Robert Easton (actor)

Robert Easton (November 23, 1930 – December 16, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spans more than 60 years. His mastery of English dialect earned him the epithet "The Man of a Thousand Voices". For decades he was a leading Hollywood dialogue or accent coach.

Easton was born Robert Easton Burke in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Easton (née Kloes) and John Edward Burke.

Radio
Beginning in 1945, he was heard on radio's Quiz Kids. He portrayed Magnus Proudfoot on radio's Gunsmoke and also appeared in other radio programs, including Fibber McGee and Molly, The Fred Allen Show, The Halls of Ivy, Our Miss Brooks, Suspense (radio program), William Shakespeare—A Portrait in Sound and The Zero Hour (Rod Serling series).

Films
On film, one of his earliest appearances was in The Red Badge of Courage. He appeared in the feature film, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea as Sparks (a variation on Stingray ' s "Phones"). One of his more unusual voices was that of a Klingon judge for the movie, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. He appeared in Gods and Generals (2003) as John Janney, and he recently starred in Spiritual Warriors (2007). He appeared in the 1987 baseball film Long Gone as Cletis Ramey.

Television
On television, he made many guest appearances and also provided the voices of "Phones" and "X-2-0" in Gerry Anderson's Stingray (TV series).

During the late 1940s through the 1960s, he was mostly known for his portrayal of a slow-talking, blankfaced hicks (as in The Munsters episode, "All-Star Munster" as Moose Mallory).