Biography

He was also a talented artist, and wrote and illustrated several books about drawing and how to become a cartoonist.

He served in the U.S. Navy. When he got out of the service, he decided to try stand-up comedy. He and the legendary Mort Sahl were among the first comics to be booked at the Hungry i Club in San Francisco, which went on to become a renowned launching ground for stand-ups. He played clubs all over the country, and for a time toured with the folk act The Kingston Trio.

Wrote books on acting and drawing.

Became a regular on the series Get Smart (1965) as Hymie the robot.

Voiced the unstable villain "Serpentor" on G.I. Joe (1985) and the reluctant second leader of the Autobots, "Rodimus Prime", on The Transformers (1984).

[on his iconic role as Hymie the Robot in Get Smart (1965)] Hymie never stifled my career. He only enhanced it. I know kids who were named Hymie because they looked like me.

[on Irwin Corey] The Professor Irwin Corey is incredibly brilliant and I knew him pretty well, but he is a terrible human being. Honestly. He's the lowest kind of prick you would ever want to meet. God, is he awful. I was working there [in Las Vegas] and he came in. All he did was say bad things about me, my act and my talent. Just dreadful. But I found out that it was kind of a Napoleonic thing. He was very small and I was probably a foot taller than him.

[on Irwin Corey] Enrico Banducci [owner of the Hungry I nightclub in San Francisco] called me and my collaborator Larry Tucker. He said, "Hey guys, I'm here in New York and I'm looking for some new acts. Would you guys come over and tell me what you think about the new crop?" So we said sure and we're sitting at a big table. Irwin Corey walks in with his manager. His first words were, "What the fuck are these guys doing here! Goddamn leeches who come in here and eat your fucking food! What the fuck!". I mean, that's how we were greeted. I tell you, I had had it. I used to be very strong in those days. I grabbed him by the lapel and I picked him up off the floor. I said, "You are such a cocksucker, Irwin. Keep this up and I will throw you out the window--and I can do it." There was an open window and I carried him over to it. From then on he'd say, "Hi Dick, how are you?" It's funny how you have to push some people, but that's what a bastard he was.

[on Jack Carter] Yeah, I've worked with Jack a lot. He played my father in a television show. The first 15 minutes of every day we'd sit and wait for him to finish complaining. "God, Jesus Christ, my coffee was cold, for fuck's sake. I had to send it back and the cream was sour." All he did was complain for 15 minutes and then he would finally settle down and we would get to work. Jack is kind of manic. I love him, but I hate him. He's really hard to take and it's too bad, but I have known him forever.

[on Ronnie Schell] Ronnie Schell is one of the cheapest men in the world. [Stand-up comic] Thom Sharp's line: "Ronnie Schell is so cheap that when he eats alone he asks for separate checks."