Severn Darden
Acting
- Born:
- 1929-11-09
- Died:
- 1995-05-27
Biography
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
Filmography
The Telephone
Beauty and the Beast
Take Five
The Princess Who Had Never Laughed
Back to School
Real Genius
Half Nelson
Quarterback Princess
Cheers
Faerie Tale Theatre
Rooster
The Fall Guy
Saturday the 14th
Evita Peron
A Cry for Love
Hopscotch
In God We Tru$t
Why Would I Lie?
A Small Circle of Friends
Beyond Westworld
Orphan Train
Love for Rent
Once Upon a Midnight Scary
Rendezvous Hotel
Wanda Nevada
Outside Chance
Flying High
Never Con a Killer
Victory at Entebbe
The Disappearance of Aimee
Mother, Jugs & Speed
Jackson County Jail
City of Angels
The Practice
Laverne & Shirley
The Bionic Woman
I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?
Starsky & Hutch
Barbary Coast
Barney Miller
Baretta
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Harry O
Lincoln
The Legend of Hillbilly John
Skyway to Death
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Day of the Dolphin
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
The Man Who Died Twice
Dirty Little Billy
Play It as It Lays
Playmates
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
The War Between Men and Women
Cisco Pike
The Last Movie
Getting Together
The Man and the City
The Hired Hand
Werewolves on Wheels
Vanishing Point
Alias Smith and Jones
Barefoot in the Park
Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You
The Movie Murderer
Bongo Wolf’s Revenge
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Fearless Frank
To See or Not to See
Justine
The Mad Room
Model Shop
The Virgin President
The Name of the Game
P.J.
The President's Analyst
Luv
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
Point of View
Occasional Wife
The Monkees
The Double-Barrelled Detective Story
I Dream of Jeannie
Honey West
Goldstein
Daniel Boone
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Hallmark Hall of Fame