David William Huddleston is an American actor. He has appeared in films
including Blazing Saddles, Santa Claus: The Movie and The Big Lebowski.
Early life Huddleston was born in Vinton, Virginia,
the son of Ismay Hope and Lewis Melvin Huddleston. He was briefly an officer in
the United States Air Force before beginning his formal education in acting
at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Huddleston attended Fork
Union Military Academy for high school and is listed among the school's
prominent alumni. Career
Known mainly as a character actor, Huddleston starred in the title role of
1985's big-budget film Santa Claus: The Movie, which featured a top-billed
Dudley Moore as an elf. Huddleston's first major role came in
the 1968 drama A Lovely Way to Die. Shortly afterward the actor became a
frequent guest star on several of the leading television series of the 1960s
and 1970s, among them, Adam-12, Then Came Bronson, Gunsmoke, Bewitched,
Bonanza, Cannon, McMillan & Wife, The Waltons, The Rookies, Medical Center,
Kung Fu, Emergency!, Spencer's Pilots, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Police Woman,
Hawaii Five-O, Walker, Texas Ranger, Charlie's Angels, Sanford and Son, The
Practice, and The Rockford Files. He appeared in an unaired episode of the
short-lived 1974 series The New Land and in the episode "The Nomads" from the
1977 series Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected. He starred as J. T. Kallikak
in the short-lived NBC situation comedy The Kallikaks later in 1977, and in 1979
he played the title role in the short-lived situation comedy Hizzonner
as a small-town mayor. Among Huddleston's notable feature film
credits prior to Santa Claus: The Movie are his co-starring roles in Blazing
Saddles, McQ, The Klansman, Breakheart Pass and Smokey and the Bandit II.
Huddleston resumed his television career with roles in various television movies,
among them Heat Wave!; The Oregon Trail; Shark Kill; Kate Bliss and the Ticker
Tape Kid; Family Reunion; Computercide; and M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk
Drivers. For much of the 1980s, Huddleston also starred in a series of
television commercials for the Citrus Hill brand of orange juice. Huddleston's
post-Santa Claus career has found him making occasional co-starring roles, in
Spot Marks the X, Finnegan Begin Again, Frantic, Life with Mikey, The Big
Lebowski in which he played the title role, and G-Men from Hell. Later, he
also had a recurring role as Albert "Gramps" Arnold, the paternal
grandfather of the protagonist in The Wonder Years. Huddleston even appeared
on Star Trek: The Next Generation as the train conductor in the episode
"Emergence". He appeared twice on The West Wing as Max Lobell, a Republican
Senator who allies with Jed Bartlet on the issue of campaign finance reform.
His performance as Benjamin Franklin in a Boston stage production of 1776 is
referenced in the book Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, referring to
him as "the actor who played The Big Lebowski in The Big Lebowski." In 2009
he appeared in the thriller Locker 13. Huddleston was also featured in the 2010
special It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It's a Very Sunny
Christmas released directly to DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download.
Filmography Slaves - Holland
Norwood - Uncle Lonnie Rio Lobo - Dr. Jones
Fools' Parade - Homer Grindstaff Something Big - Malachi Morton
Brian's Song - Ed McCaskey Bad Company - Big Joe
McQ - Pinky Heatwave! - Arnold Brady
Blazing Saddles - Olson Johnson Billy Two Hats - Copeland
Nightmare Honeymoon - Pete Carroll The Klansman - Mayor Hardy Riddle
Breakheart Pass - Dr. Molyneux Sherlock Holmes in New York - Inspector
Lafferty Crime Busters - Captain McBride
The Greatest - Cruikshank Capricorn One - Congressman Hollis
Peaker The World's Greatest Lover - Bakery
Owner Zero to Sixty - Harold Finch
Gorp - Walrus Wallman Smokey and the Bandit II - John Conn
Go for It - Tiger Finnegan Begin Again - Jack Archer
Santa Claus: The Movie - Santa Claus Frantic - Peter
Life with Mikey - Mr. Corcoran The Big Lebowski - The Big Lebowski
G-Men from Hell - Dr. Boifford The Producers - Judge
Locker 13 - Floyd1971 the homecomming Television
Adam-12 - episode - Log 63: Baby - Station Attendant
Then Came Bronson - episode - Your Love Is Like a Demolition Derby in My Heart -
Bear Hudson Bewitched - episode - Samantha's Pet
Warlock - Dog Pound Attendant Bewitched - episode- Out of the Mouths
of Babes - Sean Flanagan Bonanza - episode - Bushwacked - Doc
Scully Cannon - episode - Country Blues - Jimmy
Winters Bewitched - episode - The Return of
Darrin the Bold - Dave McMillan & Wife - episode - Murder by
the Barrel - Pylant Gunsmoke - episode - Lavery - Arno
Ironside - episode - The Priest Killer - Harrison Davis
Bonanza - episode - The Hidden Enemy - Myles Johnson
The New Dick Van Dyke Show - episode - He Who Steals My Friends - Gordon
Tenafly - episode - The Cash and Carry Caper
Tenafly - episode - Pilot - Lieutenant Sam Church
The New Perry Mason - episode - The Case of the Deadly Deeds - Stephen Elder
Hawkins - episode - Hawkins on Murder - Joseph Harrelson
Kung Fu - episode - The Salamander - Nathaniel
Gunsmoke - episode - The Widowmaker - Dad Goodpastor
The Snoop Sisters - episode - A Black Day for Bluebeard - Arwin Shanks
Gunsmoke - episode - In Performance of Duty - Emmett
Gunsmoke - episode - The Disciple - Asa Ironside - episode - Come Eleven, Come
Twelve - Smithers Petrocelli - 9 episodes - Lt. Ponce
The Rockford Files - episode - The Reincarnation of Angie - Sherm
Police Woman - episode - The Purge - Milton Brooks
Emergency! - episode - 905-Wild - Barney 'Doc' Coolidge
Kung Fu - episode - One Step to Darkness - Shelby Cross
Barnaby Jones - episode - Jules Takes a Partner - Dr. Michael Harrigan
Once an Eagle - TV Mini-Series - Earl Preis
Spencer's Pilots - episode - The Explosives - Willie Hunt
Charlie's Angels - episode - Angels in Chains - Sheriff Clint
Hawaii Five-O - episode - Love Thy Neighbor, Take His Wife - Vincent Rhoads
Sanford and Son - episodes - The Hawaiian Connection: Parts 1 & 2 - First
Cop Barnaby Jones - episode - Copy-Cat
Killing - Sheriff Roland G. Bradden How the West Was Won - TV Mini-Series -
episodes - #1.1- #1.4 - Christy Judson Vega$ - episode - Mixed Blessings -
Diamond Jim Oneal Trapper John, M.D. - episode - Truth and
Consequences: Parts 1 & 2 - Wallace Surtees
Magnum, P.I. - episode - Going Home - Frank Peterson
J.J. Starbuck - episode - Pilot - Bullets
Columbo - episode - Columbo Cries Wolf - The Mayor
Murder, She Wrote - episode - Good-Bye Charlie - Sheriff Ed Ten Eyck
The Wonder Years - 4 episodes - Grandpa Arnold
Star Trek: The Next Generation - episode - Emergence - The Conductor
Walker, Texas Ranger - episode - The Road to Black Bayou - Ferris Clayton
The Great Christmas Movies - TV Movie documentary - Himself
The West Wing - episode - Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics - Sen. Max Lobell, R
The West Wing - episode - Posse Comitatus - Sen. Max Lobell, R
Best Ever Christmas Films - TV Movie documentary - Himself
Andy Barker, P.I. - episode - Dial M for Laptop - George Bender
Jericho - Mayor Eric Green References
External links David Huddleston at the Internet Movie
Database David Huddleston at the Internet
Broadway Database David Huddleston at the Internet
Off-Broadway Database