Severn Darden

Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appearances for playing the human leader Kolp in the fourth and fifth Planet of the Apes films. His live comedy improv skit under the character of "Walther von der Vogelweide" was influential with two generations of comic performers. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he attended the University of Chicago, where he was a "campus legend" according to poet Paul Carroll. Darden’s offbeat and intellectual sense of humor was a major element in the style of The Second City at that time, and is evident throughout his work. Carroll described him as a combination of surrealistic New Orleans and tough, caustic "Chicago Style" comedy. An example of his offbeat humor is the way he squeezed the phrase "Know thyself" into the seven-character limitation of a New Mexico license plate: NOYOSEF. Darden was a core comedian in Paul Sills' Compass Players, the first improvisation theater in the US; it performed around the Chicago area during the mid-1950s. Sills went on to found The Second City in 1959 and brought in many of the comedians from Compass Players, including Darden.

Known For: Acting

Born: null, 1929-11-09

Died: 1995-05-27

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1965	Goldstein	Doctor	50
2	1965	The Double-Barrelled Detective Story	H.S. Stevens	0
3	1966	Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round	Miles Fisher	52
4	1967	Luv	Vandergist	41
5	1967	The President's Analyst	Kropotkin	58
6	1968	P.J.	Shelton Quell	52
7	1968	The Virgin President	U.S. President / Fillmard Millmore	70
8	1969	Model Shop	Camera Shop Owner	66
9	1969	The Mad Room	Nate	61
10	1969	Justine	Bathazar	41
11	1969	To See or Not to See		52
12	1969	They Shoot Horses, Don't They?	Cecil	76
13	1969	Fearless Frank	The Good Doctor / Claude	48
14	1970	Bongo Wolf’s Revenge		0
15	1970	The Movie Murderer	Jimmy Apache	65
16	1970	Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You	Dr. Fahrquardt	47
17	1971	Vanishing Point	J. Hovah	71
18	1971	The Hired Hand	McVey	61
19	1971	Werewolves on Wheels	One	46
20	1971	The Last Movie	Mayor	57
21	1971	Cisco Pike	Lawyer	57
22	1972	The War Between Men and Women	Dr. Harris	64
23	1972	Conquest of the Planet of the Apes	Kolp	62
24	1972	Playmates	Roger, Man in Gallery	0
25	1972	Play It as It Lays	Hypnotist	62
26	1972	Dirty Little Billy	Big Jim McDaniel	49
27	1973	The Man Who Died Twice	Harry	0
28	1973	Battle for the Planet of the Apes	Kolp	57
29	1973	The Day of the Dolphin	Schwinn	58
30	1974	Skyway to Death	Steve Kramer	43
31	1974	The Legend of Hillbilly John	Mr. Marduke	53
32	1975	I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?	Mr. Fletch / Dr. DeHart	28
33	1976	Jackson County Jail	Sheriff Dempsey	56
34	1976	Mother, Jugs & Speed	Moran	54
35	1976	The Disappearance of Aimee	S.I. Gilbert	80
36	1976	Victory at Entebbe	Moshe Meyer	51
37	1977	Never Con a Killer	Cap	0
38	1978	Outside Chance	Sheriff Dempsey	20
39	1979	Wanda Nevada	Merlin Bitterstix	57
40	1979	Rendezvous Hotel	Albert Church	0
41	1979	Once Upon a Midnight Scary	Jonathan Barnavelt	92
42	1979	Love for Rent	Fred Hallem	15
43	1979	Orphan Train	Mr. Barrington	58
44	1980	A Small Circle of Friends	Art Professor	65
45	1980	Why Would I Lie?	Dr. Barbour	60
46	1980	Hopscotch	Maddox	69
47	1980	In God We Tru$t	Priest	62
48	1980	A Cry for Love	Paul	0
49	1981	Evita Peron	Alfredo Suero	0
50	1981	Saturday the 14th	Van Helsing	50
51	1982	Rooster	Conway	20
52	1983	Quarterback Princess	Mr. Hobart	69
53	1985	Half Nelson	Morgue Attendant	0
54	1985	Real Genius	Dr. Meredith	67
55	1986	Back to School	Dr. Barazini	63
56	1988	The Telephone		42

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame	S.I. Gilbert, Aimee's lawyer	86
2	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Franklin	77
3	1964	Daniel Boone	Sir Hubert Spencer	69
4	1965	Honey West	Dr. Gregory Ames	70
5	1965	I Dream of Jeannie	Milton	78
6	1966	The Monkees	J.B. Guggins Jr.	65
7	1966	Occasional Wife		75
8	1968	The Name of the Game	Cameron	68
9	1970	Barefoot in the Park		50
10	1971	Alias Smith and Jones		69
11	1971	The Man and the City		50
12	1971	Getting Together		50
13	1974	The Six Million Dollar Man	Apploy	73
14	1974	Harry O		46
15	1974	Kolchak: The Night Stalker	Dr. Aaron Pollack	76
16	1975	Baretta		63
17	1975	Barney Miller	Randolph Cook	73
18	1975	Barbary Coast		50
19	1975	Starsky & Hutch	Mr. Wheeler	73
20	1976	The Bionic Woman		70
21	1976	Laverne & Shirley		73
22	1976	The Practice		75
23	1976	City of Angels	Winnie	60
24	1978	Flying High		45
25	1980	Beyond Westworld	Foley	54
26	1981	The Fall Guy		76
27	1982	Faerie Tale Theatre	Farmer Silas	81
28	1982	Cheers	Professor DeWitt	76
29	1987	Take Five		0
30	1987	Beauty and the Beast		75

Severn Darden

Film

Television