Actor. He is best remembered for his roles as station manager Arthur Carlson in the 1980s sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati", as Chief of Police Tinkler in the 1970s comedy "Soap," and for his commercial work as the lonely Maytag appliance repairman from 1989 to 2003. He began his career in radio and television working in the small markets of Manhattan and Topeka, Kansas, after graduating with a degree in journalism from Kansas State University. He first appeared as a local weatherman at station WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas, and also performed as an actor and host on a Saturday morning children's program called "Wib the Clown." Following a return to his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, he worked briefly as a television producer and on-air talent, before becoming interested in a career in acting. In 1963 he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked in local theater productions to fund his acting pursuits. He worked on a handful of motion pictures, most notably the "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" in 1972 and the "Fury" in 1978, but spent the majority of his acting career working in the field of television. His notable television appearances include: "Daniel Boone," "Get Smart," "Lancer," "Here Come the Brides," "Green Acres," "Mannix," "The Doris Day Show," "The Brady Bunch," "The New Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Paul Lynde Show," "Love American Style," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "McCloud," "The Partridge Family," "Kojak," "Harry O," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Alice," "Starsky and Hutch," "The Bionic Woman," "The Rockford Files," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "Lou Grant," "The Incredible Hulk," "Different Stokes," "Who's the Boss?," "Night Court," "Simon and Simon," "The Love Boat," "Murder She Wrote," "The Golden Girls," "Growing Pains," "The New WKRP in Cincinnati," "Baywatch," "Empty Nest," "Married with Children" "Seinfeld," and a number of made for TV motion pictures. He died from heart and respiratory failure at the age of 71, as a result of the obstructive lung disease pulmonary fibrosis.