Richard Gautier (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and caricaturist. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series Get Smart, and Robin Hood in the TV comedy series When Things Were Rotten.

Gautier also played Hal, the partner of Stanley Beamish, in the short-lived sitcom series Mister Terrific (1967); and had various voice roles in the 1984 animated Transformers series (including the voice of Rodimus Prime).

Career

Early career

Gautier started his career as a nightclub comic and a singer; he joined ASCAP in 1959 after serving in the United States Navy. In 1960, he portrayed fictional rock ‘n roll star Conrad Birdie in the original Broadway theatre production of Bye Bye Birdie, receiving a Tony Award nomination for his performance. He would later appear with two of his “Birdie” stars in two films – with Kay Medford in Ensign Pulver in 1964, and with Dick Van Dyke in Divorce American Style in 1967.

He appeared in an episode of The Patty Duke Show, “Anywhere I Hang My Horn Is Home”. He portrayed the clumsy robot “Hymie” on TV’s Get Smart. He portrayed a dance instructor in the original TV series Gidget and a French dress designer in the episode “Samantha, the Dressmaker” from the second season of the TV situation comedy Bewitched. He portrayed Jerry Standish in the ‘divorce comedy’ Here We Go Again, a short-lived (13 episodes; January 1973 to April 1973) sitcom on ABC. In 1974, he played sportscaster Ed Cavanaugh on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the season four episode, “Hi There, Sports Fans”, and a murdered blackmailer in the season one The Rockford Files episode “The Countess”. In 1978, he appeared as Harriman in the episode “The Intimate Friends of Janet Wilde” in the NBC crime drama series The Eddie Capra Mysteries. He also portrayed a magician, Cagliostro, in the Wonder Woman TV series episode “Diana’s Disappearing Act” starring Lynda Carter. He also appeared on Charlie’s Angels in season 4 in the episode “Million Dollar Homes”

As a game show panelist

During the 1970s and 1980s, Gautier was a frequent game show panelist, appearing on Match Game, Family Feud, Tattletales, Showoffs, You Don’t Say!, Liar’s Club, Password Plus, Body Language, Super Password, Win, Lose or Draw, and the TV version of Can You Top This?

Batman

In 1973, when Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig reprised their Batman roles (as Robin and Batgirl respectively) for a TV public service announcement about equal pay for women, Adam West, who was trying to distance himself from the Batman role at the time, declined to participate. Gautier filled in for West as Batman on this occasion.

Voice-over roles

Gautier performed several voice-over roles in animation, including Rodimus Prime in the third season of The Transformers animated series from 1986–1987, as well as Serpentor in the G.I. Joe series, Louis from the 1986 cartoon Foofur, Spike the Dog in Tom & Jerry Kids, some additional voices in Hanna-Barbera’s The New Yogi Bear Show, Wooly Smurf in The Smurfs, several voices for Inhumanoids, including Crygen and Pyre and their combined form Magnakor.

Caricatures of celebrities

Gautier was known for his caricatures of celebrities, and wrote several instructional books on caricature, drawing, and cartooning.

Other

Gautier attended TFcon 2013 as a guest where he reprised his role as Rodimus Prime from the Transformers series for a voice play.

Personal life

Gautier was first married to Beverly J. Gerber, ending in divorce after they had three children together. He was divorced from his second wife, actress Barbara Stuart, and his final marriage was to Tess Hightower, a psychologist. He has three children, Chrissie, Randy and Denise, six grandchildren as well as stepdaughter, Jennifer and her two children.

Gautier died January 13, 2017 at an a*sisted living facility in Arcadia, California, following a long illness.

Filmography