Wally Cox began his career as a standup comedian and then became the title character of the popular early US television series Mister Peepers from 1952 to 1955.
19 Facts About Wally Cox
2.
Wally Cox appeared as a character actor in over 20 films and dozens of television episodes.
3.
Wally Cox was the voice of the animated canine superhero Underdog of the TV show of the same name.
4.
Wally Cox was born on December 6,1924, in Detroit, Michigan.
5.
Wally Cox's family moved several times, including a move to New York City, and Cox graduated from Denby High School after they returned to Detroit.
6.
Wally Cox next spent four months in the United States Army, and on his discharge attended New York University.
7.
Wally Cox supported his invalid mother and sister by making and selling jewelry in a small shop, and entertaining at parties doing comedy monologues.
8.
Wally Cox became the roommate of Brando, who encouraged him to study acting with Stella Adler.
9.
In 1949, Wally Cox appeared on the CBS network-radio show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, to the great amusement of host Godfrey.
10.
Wally Cox appeared in Broadway musical reviews, night clubs, and early television comedy-variety programs between 1949 and 1951, including the short-lived DuMont series The School House and CBS Television's Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town.
11.
Wally Cox appeared on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1951, starring in the comedy episode "The Copper" as the titular policeman.
12.
In 1959, Wally Cox was featured in the guest-starring title role in The Vincent Eaglewood Story on NBC's Western series Wagon Train.
13.
Wally Cox played a prominent supporting role as Preacher Goodman in Spencer's Mountain, a Navy sonar man in The Bedford Incident, and a drug-addicted doctor opposite Marlon Brando in the World War II suspense film Morituri.
14.
Wally Cox was a regular occupant of the upper left square on the television game show Hollywood Squares, and voiced the animated cartoon character Underdog.
15.
Wally Cox made several appearances on Here's Lucy, as well as The Beverly Hillbillies, Lost in Space, I Spy, and evening talk shows.
16.
Wally Cox played character roles in more than 20 motion pictures and worked frequently in guest-star roles in television drama, comedy, and variety series in the 1960s and early 1970s.
17.
Wally Cox was cast in a role as a down-on-his-luck prospector seeking a better life for his family in an episode of Alias Smith and Jones, a Western comedy; and in Up Your Teddy Bear, he starred with Julie Newmar.
18.
Wally Cox wrote a number of books, including Mister Peepers: A Sort of Novel, co-written with William Redfield, which was created by adapting several scripts from the television series; My Life as a Small Boy, an idealized depiction of his childhood; a parody and update of Horatio Alger in Ralph Makes Good, which was probably originally a screen treatment for an unmade film intended to star Wally Cox; and a children's book, The Tenth Life of Osiris Oakes.
19.
Wally Cox was found dead on February 15,1973, in his home in Hollywood, California, at age 48.