Richard Norman Anderson (born August 8, 1926) is an American actor in film and television.
Anderson was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, the son of Olga (née Lurie) and Harry Anderson. He is probably best known for his role as Lee Majors's and Lindsay Wagner's boss, Oscar Goldman in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their 3 subsequent made for TV movies. In the 1990s, his fame continued as he served as narrator of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Beginning in the early 1950s, Anderson appeared in a number of TV shows including Zorro. The 1960s found Anderson making appearances in The Rifleman, Perry Mason (a recurring role as police lieutenant Steve Drumm, replacing the character of Lt. Tragg), Death Valley Days, I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Bonanza, and The Big Valley among others. In addition to his appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman in the 70's, Anderson also guest starred on Gunsmoke, Ironside, and The Love Boat. Anderson was just as busy in the 1980s guest starring on Charlie's Angels, Knight Rider, Remington Steele, Cover Up, The Fall Guy, Simon & Simon, and Murder, She Wrote. Anderson also had a recurring role as Sen. Buck Fallmont on Dynasty from 1986-1987.
Anderson may also be remembered as a commercial spokesperson for the Shell Oil Company in the United States known as the "The Shell Answer Man". Created by the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, "The Shell Answer Man" appeared in commercials from 1976 to 1982.
Richard Andrew Anderson (born November 19 1960, in San Pedro, California) is a retired American basketball player in the NBA. A 6'10", 240 lb. power forward, he played collegiately at University of California, Santa Barbara from 1978 to 1982.
He was selected with the 9th pick in the 2nd round of the 1982 NBA Draft by the San Diego Clippers. His NBA career lasted until 1990; his last season being with the Charlotte Hornets.
In the 1991 offseason he was signed by the Miami Heat but was waived prior to the 1991-92 season.
Richard Anderson appeared in high school plays, served a hitch in the Army and, upon his discharge, began doing summer stock, radio work, a movie bit part (a wounded soldier in Twelve O'Clock High (1949)) and all the other minor jobs required of your basic struggling actor. He did comedy scenes on a "screen test"-like TV series called "Lights, Camera, Action!" (1950) and impressed the right people at MGM, who offered him a contract. After leaving MGM he continued to dabble in movies while at the same time becoming a huge presence on TV. He was a regular (Police Lt. Drum) during the last season of TV's "Perry Mason" (1957); in the series' last episode, he interrogates witnesses to a murder in a TV studio--the witnesses being played by the "Perry Mason" crew. In the high-rated last episode of "Fugitive, The" (1963) he plays Richard Kimble's (David Janssen (I)) brother-in-law, and is briefly suspected of being the real killer of Kimble's wife. A regular on "Six Million Dollar Man, The" (1974), Anderson has more recently produced the TV-movie reprises of that series.
