Pat Corley
Pat Corley, born "Cleo Pat Corley," was an American actor who portrayed bar owner Phil on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown from 1988 to 1996. He also had a recurring role as Chief Coroner Wally Nydorf on the television drama Hill Street Blues and supporting roles in a number of films, including Night Shift, Against All Odds, and Mr. Destiny.
Early life
Cleo Pat Corley was born in Dallas, Texas, on June 1, 1930, the son of Ada Lee and R.L. Corley. He got his start in the entertainment business as a teenage ballet dancer for the Stockton Ballet where he performed for three seasons. While serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Corley helped put on entertainment shows for the brass while stationed in France. After his honourable discharge, he entered Stockton College on the G.I. Bill where he met his future second wife, Iris Carter, a younger student, champion debater and a locally acclaimed actress.
Career
After moving to New York City he worked as a waiter, attended the American Theatre Wing, studied under Uta Hagen and auditioned for plays. Corley and his wife toured in summer stock in Indiana and New Jersey with his young daughter Troy in tow. His first Broadway appearance was in James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie, a production by the Actors Studio, where Corley had been accepted as a member. Early in his career he shared the stage with future stars Al Pacino and James Earl Jones in the Off-Broadway play The Peace Creeps. In the 1970s, Corley appeared in several Broadway productions including Of Mice and Men with James Earl Jones and Sweet Bird of Youth with Christopher Walken.
Corley's Hollywood career began in 1969 in TV with a small role in N.Y.P.D. and a few television commercials. His first feature film roles were in Gordon Parks' The Super Cops and the comedy Law and Disorder with Carroll O'Connor and Ernest Borgnine. He also appeared in Coming Home and in an early Oliver Stone feature, The Hand, with Michael Caine.
Corley appeared on dozens of TV shows, among the earliest of which were: The Wackiest Ship in the Army, Get Christie Love and Kojak. Other series on which Corley has guest-starred include Starsky and Hutch, Barnaby Jones, Hill Street Blues, Hart to Hart, St. Elsewhere, Simon & Simon, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I., Cagney & Lacey, Night Court, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, and Hey Arnold!. Corley also had roles in two mini-series, Roots and Fresno. He provided the voice of Sheriff McGee in Tom Sawyer.
Death
Corley died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on September 11, 2006, at age 76. His wife, actress Iris Corley, had died the year prior.
Filmography
The Super Cops as Captain BushLaw and Disorder as KenGet Christie Love! Kojak as Mr. MillerDelvecchio as MannyThe Blue Knight as The ManRoots as RefereeAudrey Rose as Dr. WebsterMartinelli, Outside Man as SallyAlexander: The Other Side of Dawn as MartyThe Quinns as Eugene CarmodyThe Bad News Bears in Breaking Training as Morrie SlaytorThe Betty White Show as TV RepairmanThe Night They Took Miss Beautiful as RomanBarnaby Jones as Sid Markham / Sam PowellComing Home as HarrisA Death in Canaan as Judge VincentStarsky and Hutch as Ben MeadowsThe Paper Chase as PlumberThe Amazing Spider-Man as IFMM receptionistAnd I Alone Survived as KaminskyFamily as "Driver" / "Umpire"The Best Place To Be Nightwing as VetThe Onion Field as Jimmy's Lawyer #2Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker Flesh and Blood The Last Word as Chief NorrisThe Two Worlds of Jennie Logan as RealtorThe Rose as Police Chief MorrisonThe Gift The Waltons as The BartenderLou Grant as OrganizerThe Black Marble as Itchy MitchCity In Fear as Supermarket ManagerOn the Nickel Loving Couples as Delmonico ClerkAct of Love as Sgt. WatersonMark, I Love You as Bucky SimsThe Hand as SheriffThe Best Little Girl in the World as Store ManagerTrue Confessions as Sonny McDonoughCallie and Son as Deputy SheriffMr. Merlin as Roy OaklandOf Mice and Men as CarlsonDarkroom as Colonel / SheriffHart To Hart as MontyFlamingo Road McClain's Law House Calls Hanky Panky as PilotKiss My Grits as Sheriff Joe CozyNight Shift as Edward KoogleThe Executioner's Song as Val ConlanCagney & Lacey as Sheriff Craddock / TomHill Street Blues as Coroner Wally NydorfThe Powers of Matthew Star as DonzelliSt. Elsewhere as Norman WylerThe Fall Guy as Sheriff Nick BakerStarflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land as Joe PedowskiI Want To Live as BartenderCurse of the Pink Panther as Lt. PalmyraBay City Blues as Ray HoltzAgainst All Odds as Ed PhillipsCalendar Girl Murders as Lt. TonyDomestic Life as CoachScorned and Swindled as Ty JenkinsHawaiian Heat as CharlieSimon & Simon as Sheriff Brian McKenzie / Don Burton / Mayor K.K. DrinkmanRobert Kennedy & His Times as Andy McLaughlinScarecrow and Mrs. King as Detective TuggeyMoonlighting as Farley Wrye / Frankie TateStormin' Home as BrokerStark as Wichita Police Chief WaldronHardcastle and McCormick as Buzz BirdSilent Witness as Brad HuffmanMurder, She Wrote as Frank KelsoMagnum, P.I. as Dennis MackenzieJoe Bash as Ernest JanowitzStark: Mirror Image as Wichita Police Chief WaldronFalcon Crest as James SaundersFresno as Earl DukeA Year in the Life as George BilzarianThe Christmas Gift as Bud SawyerHe's the Mayor as Chief Walter PadgetThe Stepford Children as Sheriff WestonL.A. Law as Uncle Willard SabrettPoker Alice as MccarthyCBS Summer Playhouse as BobMr. Belvedere as Mr. FranklinJ.J. Starbuck as Cactus JackNight Court as Otis EdwardsMurphy Brown as Phil the BartenderMr. Destiny as Harry BurrowsIn Defense of a Married Man as Det. Brendan BradleyCarol Leifer: Gaudy, Bawdy, and Blue as Lucky HerbSaved By The Bell: Wedding In Las Vegas as Sheriff Myron ThorpeMurder One as Marvin SiegalsteinAll Dogs Go to Heaven 2 as Officer McDowell Coach as JebWhen Time Expires as TV car salesman, Becks InterfaceWalking Across Egypt as Sheriff TillmanTom Sawyer as Sheriff McGee Hey Arnold! as Mr. Camacho Purgatory Flats as RoyCome Early Morning as Papa