Walter Brooke; Actor of Stage, TV, Movies

Walter Brooke, a seasoned actor whose credits ranged from the infancy of television to the latter-day spectaculars of film, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a long bout with emphysema. He was 71.

Born in New York City, Brooke established his first credits there on the Broadway stage in the Laurence Olivier-Vivien Leigh “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Second Man” and “The Eagle Has Two Heads.”

He moved to early television as Bill Herbert on “One Man’s Family” in 1950-52 and then as Dist. Atty. F. P. Scanlon on “The Green Hornet” in 1966-67.

He also had regular roles on “The Waltons,” “Paradise Bay” and “Hotel Cosmopolitan,” while his hundreds of guest appearances involved such current favorites as “Cagney and Lacey,” “Paper Chase,” “Simon and Simon” and “Knott’s Landing.”

Among Brooke’s 45 films were “North Dallas Forty,” “Executive Suite,” “The Lawman,” “Omen II” and “The Graduate.”

He was a local and national director for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and an officer of Actor’s Equity.

AFTRA has scheduled a memorial service for Brooke on Sept. 5 at the Writers Guild Auditorium in Beverly Hills. He is survived by his wife, Yvonne, a son and daughter, who suggest donations in lieu of flowers to the Actor’s Fund of America.