Bio
Richard Dysart is an American actor best known for his role as Leland McKenzie, the stiff patriarch of the law firm in the television series L.A. Law, appearing in 171 episodes from 1986-1994.
He reprised the role in two made-for-TV movie spin-offs of the series: L.A. Law (1986) and L.A. Law: The Movie (2002), which was the last time he was seen on screen.
Dysart served for four years in the Air Force during the Korean War. He's a founding member of the American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco.
He has played President Harry S. Truman twice - in the 1988 mini-series War And Remembrance, and in the TV movie Day One, the following year.
Other television series he has appeared in include East Side/West Side, All In The Family, Maude, Smurfs (various voices), Batman and Spawn.
Aside from L.A. Law, Dysart has spent the bulk of his career playing characters in made-for-TV movies. They are:
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1975)
Riding with Death (1976)
Gemini Man (1976)
The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer (1977)
It Happened One Christmas (1977)
Columbo: Murder Under Glass (1978)
First, You Cry (1978)
Churchill and the Generals (1979)
Bogie (1980)
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd (1980)
The Seal (1981)
Bitter Harvest (1981)
The People vs. Jean Harris (1981)
Missing Children: A Mother's Story (1982)
Concealed Enemies (1984)
Malice in Wonderland (1985)
Blood & Orchids (1986)
The Last Days of Patton (1986)
L.A. Law (1986)
Six Against the Rock (1987)
Moving Target (1988)
Mickey's 60th Birthday (1988)
Day One (1989)
Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair (1993)
Truman (1995)
A Child Is Missing (1995)
L.A. Law: The Movie (2002)
Dysart has also appeared in a number of feature films, including The Lost Man (1969), The Hospital (1971), The Day of the Locust (1975), The Hindenburg (1975), An Enemy of the People (1978), The Thing (1982), Mask (1985), Wall Street (1987), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Panther (1995), and Hard Rain (1998).
In addition, he lent his voice to the direct-to-video release of Spawn 3: Ultimate Battle in 1999.
He received the Drama Desk Award in 1972 and a Emmy Award in 1992.