SANTA FE, N.M., Aug. 4, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Character actor David Huddleston has passed away at 85.
Huddleston was known for his roles in many films including “The Big Lebowski,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Breakheart Pass,” “Rio Lobo,” “Billy Two Hats,” “Capricorn One,” and “The Producers.”
According to his bio, Huddleston’s first major role came in the 1968 drama “A Lovely Way to Die.” The actor was frequent guest star on several of the leading television series of the 1960s and 1970s, among them, “Adam-12,” “Then Came Bronson,” “Gunsmoke,” “Bewitched,” “Bonanza,” “Cannon,” “McMillan & Wife,” “The Waltons,” “The Rookies,” “Medical Center,” “Kung Fu,” “Emergency!,” “Spencer’s Pilots,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Police Woman,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Practice” and “The Rockford Files.”
Huddleston had an impressive TV career which spanned over 30 years. He was seen in TV series and made for TV films such as “Heat Wave!” (1974); “The Oregon Trail” (1976); “Shark Kill” (1976); “Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid” (1978); “Family Reunion” (1981); “Computercide” (1982); and “M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers” (1983).
For much of the 1980s, Huddleston also starred in a series of television commercials for the Citrus Hill brand of orange juice. Huddleston also had a recurring role as Albert “Gramps” Arnold, the paternal grandfather of the protagonist in “The Wonder Years.” The actor even appeared on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as the train conductor in the episode “Emergence”.
He appeared twice on “The West Wing” as Max Lobell, a Republican senator who allies with Jed Bartlet on the issue of campaign finance reform.
In 2009 he appeared in the thriller “Locker 13.” Huddleston was also featured in the 2010 special “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It’s a Very Sunny Christmas” released directly to DVD.
But it was Huddleston’s character as the mayor of Rock Ridge in the film “Blazing Saddles” and as the title character in the 1998 film “The Big Lebowski” that he is most noted for.
