Ed Flanders facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ed Flanders
Flanders in The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Born	Edward Paul Flanders (1934-12-29)December 29, 1934 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	February 22, 1995(1995-02-22) (aged 60) Denny, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–1995
Spouse(s)	Bennye Kelly ​ ​ (m. 1954; div. 1959)​ Ellen Geer ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1968)​ Cody Lambert ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 1992)​
Children	3 sons and 1 daughter

Edward Paul Flanders (born December 29, 1934 – died February 22, 1995) was an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Donald Westphall in the TV show St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988.

Ed Flanders was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, which are big awards for TV shows. He won three times: in 1976, 1977, and 1983. He also won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his acting in a play called A Moon for the Misbegotten in 1973.

Early Life

Ed Flanders was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His parents were Bernice and Francis Michael Grey Flanders. Sadly, his mother passed away when he was 14 years old.

After finishing Patrick Henry High School in 1952, where he played hockey, he joined the United States Army. In the Army, he worked as an X-ray technician.

Starting His Acting Career

After his time in the Army, Ed Flanders started acting on Broadway, which is famous for its plays in New York City. Later, he began appearing in many TV shows.

From 1967 to 1975, Flanders was in more than a dozen American TV series. He appeared six times on Hawaii Five-O, playing five different characters! During this time, he also acted in many TV movies. He married actress Ellen Geer and they had a son named Ian. They later divorced.

In the late 1970s, Flanders started getting bigger roles in TV shows and movies, while still acting on stage. In 1974, he won a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the play A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill. He also won an Emmy Award in 1976 for the TV movie version of the same play.

Starring in St. Elsewhere

In 1982, Ed Flanders began his most famous role as Dr. Donald Westphall in the TV series St. Elsewhere. This role earned him five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a TV Series. He won this award in 1983.

He left the show in 1987 but came back for two more episodes in 1988, including the very last episode of the series. His exit from St. Elsewhere as a regular actor was even named Moon for the Misbegotten, after the play that won him a Tony Award.

Famous Roles

Besides his six years as Dr. Donald Westphall, Ed Flanders is known for playing President Harry S. Truman more than any other actor. He played Truman during World War II and the Korean War in movies like Truman at Potsdam, Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking, and MacArthur. In MacArthur, he was the second main actor after Gregory Peck.

Flanders also had important roles in two movies based on books by William Peter Blatty. In The Ninth Configuration (1980), he played Colonel Richard Fell, a doctor at a secret Army psychiatric hospital. In 1990, he played Father Dyer in The Exorcist III.

One of his memorable TV guest roles was in the first season of M*A*S*H. In the episode "Yankee Doodle Doctor", he played a film director making a documentary about the M*A*S*H unit.

Flanders also played the famous journalist William Allen White in the 1977 TV movie Mary White. This movie was based on a touching tribute White wrote about his daughter after she passed away. He also appeared in the 1979 TV horror mini-series Salem's Lot as Dr. Bill Norton. In 1983, he played news anchor John Woodley in the TV drama Special Bulletin.

Filmography

Television

• 1967: Cimarron Strip (episode: "The Roarer") as Arliss Blynn
• 1969: Daniel Boone (episode: "The Traitor") as Lackland
• 1971: The Name of the Game (episode: "Beware of the Watchdog") as Lazlo Subich
• 1971: Travis Logan D.A. as Psychiatrist
• 1971: Bearcats! (episode: "The Hostage") as Ben Tillman
• 1971: Goodbye, Raggedy Ann (TV movie) as David Bevin
• 1971: McMillan & Wife (episode: "Husbands, Wives and Killers") as Tom Benton
• 1971: Mission Impossible (episode: "Blues") as Joe Belker
• 1972: Mannix (episode: "A Walk in the Shadows") as Tom Farnom
• 1972: Nichols (episode: "Fight of the Century")
• 1972: Cade's County (episode: "The Fake") as Ben Crawford
• 1972: Ironside (episode: "Five days in the Death of Sgt. Brown: Part 1") as Phil McIver
• 1972: The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (episode: "Five Days in the Death of Sgt Brown: Part II") as Phil McIver
• 1972: M*A*S*H (episode: "Yankee Doodle Doctor") as Lt Dwayne Bricker
• 1972: Banyon (episode: "Just Once") as Sergeant Randall
• 1973: Kung Fu (episode: "The Salamander") as Alonzo Davis
• 1973: Marcus Welby, M.D. (episode: "The Comeback") as Magruder
• 1974: Barnaby Jones (episode: "Death on Deposit") as "Doc" Fred Tucker
• 1969–1975: Hawaii Five-O (6 episodes):
  • 1969 "Up Tight" as David Stone
  • 1970 "Three Dead Cows at Makapuu" (2-part episode) as Dr Alexander Kline
  • 1970 "The Guarnerius Caper" as Dmitri Rostov
  • 1972 "While You're at It, Bring in the Moon" as Byers
  • 1974 "One Born Every Minute" as Joe Connors
  • 1975 "And the Horse Jumped Over the Moon" as Bernie Ross
• 1975: The Mary Tyler Moore Show (episode: "Mary's Father") as Father Terrance Brian
• 1975: The Legend of Lizzie Borden as Hosea Knowlton
• 1975: Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan as Justice Department attorney Ralph Paine
• 1976: Hallmark Hall of Fame (episode: "Truman at Potsdam") as President Harry S. Truman
• 1979: Backstairs at the White House (episodes 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4) as President Calvin Coolidge
• 1979: Blind Ambition (TV mini-series) as Charles Shaffer
• 1979: Salem's Lot as Dr Bill Norton
• 1982–1988: St. Elsewhere - 120 episodes as Dr. Donald Westphall
• 1993: Jack's Place (episode: "Who Knew?") as Marcus Toback
• 1994: The Road Home (pilot episode) as William Babineaux

Films

• 1970: The Grasshopper as Jack Benton
• 1972: The Trial of the Catonsville Nine as Father Daniel Berrigan
• 1972: The Snoop Sisters (TV Movie) as Milo Perkins
• 1973: Hunter (TV Movie) as Dr Miles
• 1974: Indict and Convict (TV Movie) as Timothy Fitzgerald
• 1974: Things in Their Season (TV Movie) as Carl Gerlach
• 1975: The Legend of Lizzie Borden (TV Movie) as Hosea Knowlton
• 1975: Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (TV Movie) as Ralph Paine
• 1975: A Moon for the Misbegotten (TV Movie) as Phil Hogan
• 1976: Eleanor and Franklin (TV Movie) as Louis Howe
• 1976: The Sad and Lonely Sundays (TV Movie) as Dr Frankman
• 1976: Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking (TV Movie) as President Harry S. Truman
• 1977: The Amazing Howard Hughes (TV Movie) as Noah Dietrich
• 1977: MacArthur as President Harry S. Truman
• 1977: Mary White (TV Movie) as William Allen White
• 1979: Salem's Lot as Dr. Bill Norton
• 1980: The Ninth Configuration as Col. Richard Fell
• 1981: Inchon as President Harry S. Truman (voice, uncredited)
• 1981: True Confessions as Dan T. Campion
• 1981: The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper as Brigadier
• 1981: Skokie (TV Movie) as Mayor Albert J. Smith
• 1982: Tomorrow's Child (TV Movie) as Anders Stenslund
• 1983: Special Bulletin (TV Movie) as John Woodley
• 1989: The Final Days (TV Movie) as Leonard Garment
• 1990: The Exorcist III as Father Joseph Dyer
• 1991: The Perfect Tribute (TV Movie) as Warren
• 1992: Citizen Cohn (TV Movie) as Joseph N. Welch
• 1993: Message from Nam as Ed Wilson
• 1995: Bye Bye Love as Walter Sims (final film role)

Awards and Honors

Emmy Nominations

• 1979 – Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special, for: Backstairs at the White House
• 1984 – Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: St. Elsewhere
• 1985 – Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: St. Elsewhere
• 1986 – Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: St. Elsewhere
• 1987 – Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: St. Elsewhere

Emmy Awards (Won)

• 1976 – Won Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Special, for: A Moon for the Misbegotten
• 1977 – Won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special, for: Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking
• 1983 – Won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for: St. Elsewhere

Theater Awards

Ed Flanders won the 1974 Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a play for his role in A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill. He also received the 1974 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance for the same play.