Who is Kent McCord?
The police officer Jim Reed came into the Los Angeles Police Department as a young rookie, and his partner was veteran Pete Malloy. The two of them handled cases from serious to humorous, and the fans of the series enjoyed their adventures. Yes, you are right, we are talking about the series “Adam-12”, which brought Kent McCord international recognition.
Starring as Jim Reed in 174 episodes of this Primetime Emmy-nominated crime drama, Kent was one of the most popular TV actors during the late ‘70s. He has 75 acting credits, but is perhaps still known best for his role in “Adam-12”.
Early life, family, and education
His birth name is Kent Franklin McWhirter, and he was born on 26 September 1942, in Los Angeles, California USA, he holds American nationality and his ethnicity is Caucasian.
He was raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Baldwin Park town, by his parents Laura and Bert McWhirter, two hard-working people who taught him responsibility from an early age. When he was eight years old, they bought him his first horse, which he had to take care of all by himself. He was ten when he began working at his father’s gas station, and two years later, he was working at Brackett Field Airport in La Verne. Since it was illegal to pay him, he was instead given flying lessons; Kent worked at the airport until he was 17.
Speaking of his educational background, he attended Baldwin Park High School, where he played for the school’s football team. Upon matriculating in 1960, Kent enrolled at Citrus Junior College, and then transferred to the University of Utah after he accepted a football scholarship.
In 1961, Kent was asked to participate in a touch football game, and his team captain was Ricky Nelson, a famous musician and actor, while the other team was captained by the legendary Elvis Presley. After the game, Kent became friends with Ricky, who helped him launch his acting career.
There is no information regarding his college graduation.
Roles in series
Kent made his acting debut portraying a Student in the family comedy-drama “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”, and made appearances in 28 episodes from 1962 until 1966. Concurrently, he had uncredited roles in “The Lieutenant” and “The Man from U. N. C. L. E”, both in 1964.
In the following years, he mostly performed stunts, and then in 1967, he was cast to play Officer Reed in “Dragnet 1967”, starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan. His most notable role as Officer Jim Reed came in the spin-off from the “Dragnet 1967”, entitled “Adam -12”, which was aired from 1968 until 1975.
The early ‘80s saw Kent as Captain Troy in “Galactica 1980”, a science-fiction adventure series, also starring Barry Van Dyke and Robyn Douglass, which was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series.
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After numerous support roles, his next significant part came in 1989, when he was cast to play Alan in “Unsub”, a mystery thriller, which followed the story of a special forensics team of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who were experts in investigation and solving violent crimes and murders.
Kent also had numerous support roles in the early ‘90s, and worth mentioning is his recurring role as Commander Scott Keller in “SeaQuest 2032” (1994-1995). He followed with his role as Marshal Jack Hendricks in “Renegade” (1995-1997), concurrently playing District Attorney Craig Alexander in “Silk Stalkings” (1996-1998).
Before he retired, Kent was seen as Jack Crichton in ten episodes of the adventure drama series “Farscape” from 1999 until 2003. Concurrently, in 2000 he had the recurring role as Captain Henry Delario in “JAG”, a three-times Primetime Emmy-awarded action crime-drama that followed the cases of former Navy fighter pilot, Harmon Rabb, and his fellow lawyers who served in the US Navy Judge Advocate General’s office.
Roles in movies
Kent made his first movie appearance in the epic 1964 musical drama “Viva Las Vegas”, starring Elvis Presley, but Kent’s role as a Casino Patron was uncredited.
In the same year, he had another uncredited role in two-times Oscar-nominated (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White) movie “Seven Days in May”, a thriller drama based on the novel of the same title by Charles W. Bailey II and Fletcher Knebel.
Kent also made an appearance in the 1964 musical romantic comedy “Kissin’ Cousins”, another Elvis Presley movie, but this role was also uncredited. Again, he was cast to play an uncredited role as a Soldier in “The Americanization of Emily”, starring James Garner and Julie Andrews, also in 1964, and continued that year in other uncredited roles in “Roustabout” and “The Disorderly Orderly”.
The following year was also marked with uncredited roles in “John Goldfarb, Please Come Home”, “Girl Happy”, “Billie”, and “The War Lord”, and 1966, saw him in “Frankie and Johnny”, again as a stuntman.
Finally, in the 1967 movie “The Young Warriors” Kent was cast to play Lieutenant and was credited by his birth name. He followed in the same year with his role as Officer Dutton in the TV movie “The Outsider”,.
Next, Kent was seen in “Jigsaw” and “Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?” (1968), “Breakout” (1970), and “Beg, Borrow…or Steal” (1973).
In the early ‘80s, Kent was seen in numerous TV movies, then his most notable movie role came in 1982, when he was cast to play Unger in the science-fiction comedy “Airplane II: The Sequel”, starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty and Lloyd Bridges. This saga about Ted Striker who this time needs to get the shuttle back on track had no nominations, but it was well accepted by the audience, and was rated as one of the funniest movies in the ’80s.
Another significant role for Kent was in the 1990 movie “Predator 2”, seen as Captain Pilgrim in this science-fiction horror directed by Stephen Hopkins, which was nominated for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA Saturn Award for Best Science-Fiction Movie.
Next, Kent played Doctor Halperin in “Illicit Behavior” (1992), followed by his role as Colonel John Reynolds in “Return of the Living Dead III” in 1993, which was his first lead role.
In the following years, Kent had some support roles in several TV movies, and then in 2000, he was seen in Gary Conway’s movie “Woman’s Story”, about how life can change in the blink of an eye; critics said that Kent’s performance was amazing.
Kent’s last movie role before he retired was his portrayal of Vice Admiral Sommerville in “Tides of War” in 2005.
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Love life, wife, and children
Kent hasn’t been the subject of any gossip, and his fans know that since 14 July 1962 he’s in a marriage with his high school sweetheart, Cynthia Lee Doty. They have two daughters, Megan and Kristen, and son Michael. Megan followed in her father’s footsteps, and is an actress, while Kirsten and Michael prefer to keep their lives away from the public eye.
What is he doing now?
After he retired from acting, Kent devoted his time to his website which he established in 2007. There you can keep track of his appearances at various conventions related to his roles in science-fiction series and movies, such as ‘Galaxycon’.
He has interactive live streams on which you can talk to him, and most recently he was available on Looped, on 12 June 2022.
Net worth
During his more than 40-year-long career, Kent had numerous roles and perhaps people think that he earned an enormous amount of money thanks to his acting talent. However, according to sources, his net worth has been estimated at $1.3 million.
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