Lyle Talbot (born February 8, 1902 as Lisle Henderson, died March 2, 1996), was a Hollywood actor best known for playing Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and also well-known to B-movie aficionados for his long career of film from 1931 to 1963.
Most notable among his film work: his appearance in the classic noir Three on a Match with Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis, working with the Three Stooges in The Stooges Go West, his portrayal of Lex Luthor in 1950's Superman vs. the Atom Man, as Commissioner Gordon in the 1949 serial Batman and Robin, and playing opposite rockers like Jerry Lee Lewis in 1958's High School Confidential.
Talbot also guest starred on such classic TV series as Leave it to Beaver, The Lone Ranger; The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok; Topper; The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin; Perry Mason; Rawhide; Wagon Train; The Beverly Hillbillies; Green Acres; Charlie's Angels; Newhart; The Dukes of Hazzard; St. Elsewhere and Who's the Boss?.
The largest portion of his oeuvre, however, consists of low-budget B-movie work, spanning the gamut from playing cowboys, pirates, detectives, cops, surgeons, psychiatrists, soldiers, judges, newspaper editors, storekeepers, and boxers in almost 200 movies until his retirement in 1963. Among these are two infamous Ed Wood, Jr. films: Jail Bait and Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Talbot made a meager attempt at a comeback in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with guest roles on some of the aforementioned TV shows like Charlie's Angels, and a short-lived anthology series called This is the Life. In 1986 he appeared in George Carlin's Playin' with your Head TV special, then vanished from the scene once again.
He died in 1996 at his home in San Francisco.
