Pat Corley
Encyclopedia
Pat Corley was an American actor. He was known for his role as bar owner Phil on the CBS
sitcom
Murphy Brown
from 1988–1996. He also had a recurring role as Chief Coroner Wally Nydorf on the television drama Hill Street Blues
(1981–1987). Additionally, he had supporting roles in a number of films
, including Night Shift
(1982), Against All Odds (1984), and Mr. Destiny
(1990).
, the son of Ada Lee (née
Martin) and R.L. Corley. He got his start in the entertainment business as a teenage ballet dancer for the Stockton Ballet where he performed for three seasons. While serving in the U.S. Army
during the Korean War
, Corley helped put on entertainment shows for the brass while stationed in France. After his honorable discharge, he entered Stockton College on the G.I. Bill where he met his future 2nd wife, Iris Carter, a younger student, champion debater and a locally acclaimed actress.
he worked as a waiter, attended the esteemed American Theatre Wing
, studied under Uta Hagen
and auditioned for plays. Corley and his wife toured in summer stock
in Indiana and New Jersey with his young daughter Troy in tow. His first Broadway
appearance was in James Baldwin's
Blues for Mr. Charlie, a production by the Actor's Studio, where Corley had been accepted as a member. Early in his career he shared the stage with future stars Al Pacino
and James Earl Jones
in the Off-Broadway
play The Peace Creeps. In the 1970s Corley appeared in several Broadway productions including Of Mice and Men
with James Earl Jones
and Sweet Bird of Youth
with Christopher Walken
.
Corley's Hollywood
career began in 1969 in TV with a small role in N.Y.P.D. and a few television commercials. His first feature film roles were in Gordon Parks
' The Super Cops
and the comedy Law and Disorder
with Carroll O'Connor
and Ernest Borgnine
. He also appeared in Coming Home and in Oliver Stone
's first feature, The Hand
, with Michael Caine
.
Corley appeared on dozens of TV shows, among the earliest of which were:"The Wackiest Ship in the Army
", Get Christie Love and Kojak
. Other series on which Corley has guest-starred include Starsky and Hutch
, Barnaby Jones
, Hill Street Blues
, Hart to Hart
, St. Elsewhere
, Simon & Simon
, Murder, She Wrote
, Magnum, P.I.
, Cagney & Lacey
, Night Court
, Moonlighting
, L.A. Law
, and Hey Arnold!
. Corley also had roles in two mini-series, Roots
and "Fresno
". He provided the voice of Sheriff McGee in Tom Sawyer
(2000).
. He is survived by daughters Troy Corley and Christina Pratt and sons Kevin and Jerry from his marriage to Iris Carter, and daughter Vicki Restani from his first marriage to Rose Valentine. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren from his five children with wife Iris: Tristan and Emelia Cassel; Keith, Kris, Kaitlyn Corley and Natalie Corley; Sean and Shelby Corley; Jackie and Collin Pratt; and Mark Mundy; three grandchildren by daughter Vicki: Nick, Dominic and Gina; a sister, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. His wife, Iris, died in 2005. His youngest daughter, Michelle, died in 1996.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
from 1988–1996. He also had a recurring role as Chief Coroner Wally Nydorf on the television drama Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
(1981–1987). Additionally, he had supporting roles in a number of films
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
, including Night Shift
Night Shift (film)
Night Shift is a 1982 comedy film, one of Ron Howard's earliest directorial efforts. It stars Howard's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler along with Michael Keaton, in his first starring role, and Shelley Long, who later in the year would star as Diane Chambers in the popular sitcom Cheers. Also...
(1982), Against All Odds (1984), and Mr. Destiny
Mr. Destiny
Mr. Destiny is a 1990 comedy film starring James Belushi. Other actors in this film included Linda Hamilton, Jon Lovitz, Michael Caine, Courteney Cox, and Rene Russo.-Plot:...
(1990).
Early life
Corley was born Cleo Pat Corley in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, the son of Ada Lee (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Martin) and R.L. Corley. He got his start in the entertainment business as a teenage ballet dancer for the Stockton Ballet where he performed for three seasons. While serving in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Corley helped put on entertainment shows for the brass while stationed in France. After his honorable discharge, he entered Stockton College on the G.I. Bill where he met his future 2nd wife, Iris Carter, a younger student, champion debater and a locally acclaimed actress.
Career
After moving to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
he worked as a waiter, attended the esteemed American Theatre Wing
American Theatre Wing
The American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
, studied under Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
and auditioned for plays. Corley and his wife toured in summer stock
Summer stock theatre
Summer stock theatre is any theatre that presents stage productions only in the summer within the United States. The name combines both the seasonal time of year with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes...
in Indiana and New Jersey with his young daughter Troy in tow. His first Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
appearance was in James Baldwin's
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
Blues for Mr. Charlie, a production by the Actor's Studio, where Corley had been accepted as a member. Early in his career he shared the stage with future stars Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
in the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
play The Peace Creeps. In the 1970s Corley appeared in several Broadway productions including Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
with James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
and Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth
Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...
with Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
.
Corley's Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
career began in 1969 in TV with a small role in N.Y.P.D. and a few television commercials. His first feature film roles were in Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director...
' The Super Cops
The Super Cops
The Super Cops is a 1974 film starring Ron Leibman and David Selby, directed by Gordon Parks. The film is based on the book The Super Cops: The True Story Of The Cops Called Batman and Robin by L.H. Whittemore...
and the comedy Law and Disorder
Law and Disorder (1974 film)
Law and Disorder is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Ivan Passer, starring Carroll O'Connor, Ernest Borgnine, Ann Wedgeworth and Karen Black....
with Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
and Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
. He also appeared in Coming Home and in Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's first feature, The Hand
The Hand (film)
The Hand is a 1981 psychological horror film written and directed by Oliver Stone, based on the novel The Lizard's Tail by Marc Brandell and a remake of the 1946 film The Beast with Five Fingers. The film stars Michael Caine and Andrea Marcovicci. Caine plays Jon Lansdale, a comic book artist who...
, with Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
.
Corley appeared on dozens of TV shows, among the earliest of which were:"The Wackiest Ship in the Army
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (TV series)
The Wackiest Ship in the Army is an American comedy series that aired for one season on NBC between September 19, 1965, and April 17, 1966. Produced by Harry Ackerman and Herbert Hirschman, the series is loosely based on the 1960 film starring Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson.-Synopsis:The series is...
", Get Christie Love and Kojak
Kojak
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...
. Other series on which Corley has guest-starred include Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart is an American television series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also moonlighted as amateur detectives. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg...
, St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
, Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker.-History:The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
, Cagney & Lacey
Cagney & Lacey
Cagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...
, Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
, Moonlighting
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...
, L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, and Hey Arnold!
Hey Arnold!
Hey Arnold! is an American animated television series created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. The show's premise focuses on a fourth grader named Arnold who lives with his grandparents. Episodes center on his experiences navigating big city life while dealing with the problems he and his friends...
. Corley also had roles in two mini-series, Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
and "Fresno
Fresno (TV miniseries)
Fresno is a 1986 television comedy miniseries that parodied popular prime time soap operas of the day such as Falcon Crest, Dallas, and Dynasty...
". He provided the voice of Sheriff McGee in Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer (2000 film)
Tom Sawyer is a 2000 direct-to-video animated film from MGM. It is an adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, with a cast of anthropomorphic animals instead of humans...
(2000).
Death
Corley died of congestive heart failure at age 76 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. He is survived by daughters Troy Corley and Christina Pratt and sons Kevin and Jerry from his marriage to Iris Carter, and daughter Vicki Restani from his first marriage to Rose Valentine. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren from his five children with wife Iris: Tristan and Emelia Cassel; Keith, Kris, Kaitlyn Corley and Natalie Corley; Sean and Shelby Corley; Jackie and Collin Pratt; and Mark Mundy; three grandchildren by daughter Vicki: Nick, Dominic and Gina; a sister, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. His wife, Iris, died in 2005. His youngest daughter, Michelle, died in 1996.
Filmography
- The Super CopsThe Super CopsThe Super Cops is a 1974 film starring Ron Leibman and David Selby, directed by Gordon Parks. The film is based on the book The Super Cops: The True Story Of The Cops Called Batman and Robin by L.H. Whittemore...
(1974) as Captain Bush - Law and DisorderLaw and Disorder (1974 film)Law and Disorder is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Ivan Passer, starring Carroll O'Connor, Ernest Borgnine, Ann Wedgeworth and Karen Black....
(1974) as Ken - Audrey RoseAudrey Rose (film)Audrey Rose is a 1977 horror film, with metaphysical content, directed by Robert Wise, starring Marsha Mason and Anthony Hopkins. It was based on the novel of the same title by Frank De Felitta. The original music score was composed by Michael Small.-Plot:...
(1977) as Dr. Webster - The Bad News Bears in Breaking TrainingThe Bad News Bears in Breaking TrainingThe Bad News Bears in Breaking Training is the 1977 sequel to the feature film The Bad News Bears.This film picks up the Bears' career a year after their infamous second-place finish in the North Valley League. However, after winning this year, they are left reeling by the departure of Buttermaker...
(1977) as Morrie Slaytor - Coming Home (1978) as Harris
- The Onion FieldThe Onion Field (film)The Onion Field is a 1979 American drama film directed by Harold Becker. The screenplay by Joseph Wambaugh is based on his 1973 true crime novel of the same title...
(1979) as Jimmy's Lawyer #2 - The RoseThe Rose (film)The Rose is a 1979 American musical drama film which tells the story of a self-destructive 1960s rock star who struggles to cope with the constant pressures of her career and the demands of her ruthless business manager...
(1979) as Police Chief Morrison - The Black MarbleThe Black Marble-Plot:Pragmatic Sgt. Natalie Zimmermann of the LAPD is paired with Sgt. Valnikov, a romantic detective of Russian origin who is going through a midlife crisis. They fall in love while solving the case of the kidnapping of a socialite's valuable pet dog...
(1980) as Itchy Mitch - The HandThe Hand (film)The Hand is a 1981 psychological horror film written and directed by Oliver Stone, based on the novel The Lizard's Tail by Marc Brandell and a remake of the 1946 film The Beast with Five Fingers. The film stars Michael Caine and Andrea Marcovicci. Caine plays Jon Lansdale, a comic book artist who...
(1981) as Sheriff - True ConfessionsTrue Confessions (film)True Confessions is a 1981 film directed by Ulu Grosbard, loosely based on the Black Dahlia murder case of 1947. The film stars Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, was produced by Chartoff-Winkler Productions and is adapted from the novel of the same name by John Gregory Dunne.-Plot summary:In the...
(1981) as Sonny McDonough - Hanky PankyHanky Panky (film)Hanky Panky is a 1982 comedy film that stars Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner. The film is directed by Sidney Poitier. Wilder first met Radner during filming of this movie; the two later married.-Plot:...
(1982) as Pilot - Night ShiftNight Shift (film)Night Shift is a 1982 comedy film, one of Ron Howard's earliest directorial efforts. It stars Howard's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler along with Michael Keaton, in his first starring role, and Shelley Long, who later in the year would star as Diane Chambers in the popular sitcom Cheers. Also...
(1982) as Edward Koogle - Curse of the Pink PantherCurse of the Pink PantherCurse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film, the eighth installment of the The Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s....
(1983) as Lt. Palmyra - Against All Odds (1984) as Ed Phillips
- Mr. DestinyMr. DestinyMr. Destiny is a 1990 comedy film starring James Belushi. Other actors in this film included Linda Hamilton, Jon Lovitz, Michael Caine, Courteney Cox, and Rene Russo.-Plot:...
(1990) as Harry Burrows - Tom SawyerTom Sawyer (2000 film)Tom Sawyer is a 2000 direct-to-video animated film from MGM. It is an adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, with a cast of anthropomorphic animals instead of humans...
(2000) as Sheriff McGee (voice)