It’s a little disappointing that his big screen debut wasn’t Mitchell, because that would be funny. Also because I always have a hard time remembering that Mitchell was a theatrical release movie; it feels too much like a made-for-TV affair. He is also listed as having something in production—reprising a character he played on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but since he played Mark Twain on TNG, that’s not quite what’s happening there. It looks as though it’s one of those Fathom Events-released Christian movies, based on a true story about a nun. Is it, though, better than Mitchell? Um, it wouldn’t surprise me?
Still, Jerry Hardin’s been around forever. His actual screen debut was uncredited in the Robert Mitchum movie Thunder Road. He appears to have done theatre for years after that. He had a few TV credits in the ‘60s, but it wasn’t until the ‘70s that he settled into a steady career as a Hey It’s That Guy. There’s some movies in there you’ve heard of—he’s uncredited in Sleeper and Earthquake. Mostly, though, it’s TV appearance after TV appearance, with the odd movie you’ve never heard of. He seems to have been a popular voice for one-shot villains. There are almost no shows where he did more than one episode as the same character, leaving aside the deeply obscure Filthy Rich, in which he appeared on every episode.
And then, of course, there was The X-Files. He apparently thought that was going to be a one-shot character, too. It was only the second episode, admittedly, so after all it was anyone’s guess how long anyone was going to be on the show. But he was on the episode “Deep Throat,” named after his character. He repeated the character for a while, and then even when he died on the show, that wasn’t the end and there was no reason to assume it would be. This is The X-Files, after all. And that’s even leaving aside the flashback episode he’s in.
Honestly, though, while it is where I think of him first, I would like to remind you all of a few other roles he did over the years as well. I’m partial to the Rockford Files episode “The Mayor’s Committee From Deer Lick Falls.” His character is frankly adorable, being excited at the prospect of seeing the Chinese Theatre and believing he sees Ray Milland and Jane Fonda having lunch together at the Brown Derby. He’s on the Quantum Leap episode that’s Totally Not A Geraldo Rivera Parody. And, of course, he’s a fine Samuel Clemens on TNG.
He does seem to be retired, upcoming credit notwithstanding, but since he’s 94, he’s allowed. He’s a consistent enough actor that you’d figure people would be shocked that we haven’t gotten to him yet, but on the other hand, so much of his career is so minor that it’s not surprising that we haven’t gotten to him yet. If you watched TV anywhere between about 1973 and 2009, you probably saw him in things. Murder, She Wrote, of course. Ally McBeal. Even Bosom Buddies. And, of course, Mystery Science Theater 3000, but that wasn’t exactly his choice.