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In Remembrance: Lloyd Bochner
Born on July 29, 1924 in Toronto, Canada, Bochner studied at the University of Toronto and earned a bachelor of arts degree from University College in 1947. Before graduation he had made his first film appearance in the Canadian produced drama The Mapleville Story (1946). Bochner received steady work in both television and on stage. He briefly traveled to Los Angeles to join the cast of the soap opera One Man’s Family in 1952, but returned to Canada after his stint on the show ended. He joined the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada for its inaugural season in 1953 and stayed with the company for six years, appearing in productions of Hamlet, Twelfth Night and Measure For Measure.
In 1960, Bochner traveled to Hollywood to star with Rod Taylor in the television series Hong Kong, which only lasted a year on ABC. This time he decided to stay in the United States and soon began appearing in guest shots on numerous television series.
Bochner starred in his first Hollywood film, the B-grade Drums Of Africa with Frankie Avalon, in 1963. As the decade progressed, the quality of the films that Bochner appeared in climbed from the William Castle cheapie exploitation thriller The Night Walker (1964) to thrillers like Tiger By The Tail and The Detective (both 1968). He also appeared in such films as the bio-pic Harlow (1965), the crime drama Tony Rome (1967) and the Disney comedy The Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit (1968).
Through the 1970s, Bochner appeared more and more in made-for-television projects over theatrical films. In 1981, he began a year long stretch on the nighttime soap Dynasty as Cecil Colby, the show’s hero’s rival.
One of Bochner’s most memorable television appearances was in a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone called “To Serve Man.” Bochner played the friend of a scientist who attempts to decode a book entitled To Serve Man presented to humanity by visiting space aliens who promise the secret to world peace. In the episode’s closing moments, Bochner is seen boarding the alien’s craft presumably to journey to their world, while his friend dashes forward to warn him that the alien’s book is a cookbook. Bochner would parody the scene in the 1991 comedy The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell Of Fear.
Other films Bochner appeared in include Ulzana’s Raid (1972), The Man In The Glass Booth (1975), Mr. No Legs (1981), Millennium (1989) and Legend Of The Mummy (1997). His last feature film appearance was in 2003’s The Commission.
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Lloyd Bochner, the character actor who appeared in such films as
Point Blank with Lee Marvin and Tony Rome (both 1967)
with Frank Sinatra, has passed away on October 29, 2005 in Santa
Monica, CA. He was 81.