Donald Moffat was born on December 26 1930 in Plymouth, Devon. He attended King Edward VI School there. His national service was in the Royal Artillery from 1949 to 1951. Afterwards he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his stage debut in London at the Old Vic in MacBeth in 1954. In 1955 he appeared in Richard II, Henry VI Part I, and Henry VI Part II. He made his movie debut in The Battle of the River Plate in 1956. In 1956 Donald Moffat migrated to the United States. He made his debut on Broadway in Under Milk Wood in 1957. In the Fifties he also appeared on Broadway in Much Ado About Nothing, The Tumbler, and Duel of Angels. Mr. Moffat made his television debut in an episode of Naked City in 1958. In the late Fifties he also guest starred on The DuPont Show of the Month, The United States Steel Hour, and CBS Repertoire Workshop.
In the Sixties Donald Moffat appeared on Broadway in A Passage to India, The Affair, You Can't Take It With You, The School for Scandal, Right You Are If You Think You Are, The Wild Duck, You Can't Take It With You, War and Peace, The Cherry Orchard, Cock-A-Doodle Dandy, and Hamlet. He guest starred on television in the shows Look Up and Live, The Defenders, Coronet Blue, One Life to Live, Here Come the Brides, Room 222, Lancer, The High Chaparral, Hawaii Five-O, and The Young Rebels. He appeared in the films Rachel, Rachel (1968) and R.P.M. (1970).
In the Seventies Mr. Moffat played the android Rem on the short-lived science fiction TV series Logan's Run. He had a major role in the mini-series The Word. He guest starred on such shows as Mission: Impossible, Bonanza, Night Gallery, Mannix, The Snoop Sisters, Gunsmoke, Ironside, The New Land, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Family, and The Chisholms. He appeared in the films The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972), Showdown (1973), The Terminal Man (1974), Earthquake (1974), Land of No Return (1978), Promises in the Dark (1979), On the Nickel (1980), HealtH (1980), and Popeye (1980). He appeared on Broadway in Father's Day.
In the Eighties he guest starred on the TV shows Dallas; The Mississippi; Murder, She Wrote; The Twilight Zone; Buck James; Tattingers, L. A. Law; and China Beach. He appeared in the films The White Lions (1981), The Thing (1982), The Right Stuff (1983), Alamo Bay (1985), The Best of Times (1986), Monster in the Closet (1986), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Far North (1988), Music Box (1989), and The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). He appeared on Broadway in Play Memories and The Iceman Cometh.
In the Nineties Donald Moffat appeared in the films Class Action (1991), Regarding Henry (1991), HouseSitter (1992), Love, Cheat & Steal (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994), Trapped in Paradise (1994), The Evening Star (1996), A Smile Like Yours (1997), The Sleep Room (1998), and Cookies Fortune (1999). On television he appeared in the mini-series Tales of the City. He had a regular role on the 2000 TV series Bull. He guest starred on Columbo and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. He appeared on Broadway in The Heiress. In the Naughts he guest starred on the TV shows The West Wing and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
Donald Moffat was an immensely talented actor. Over the years he played a wide array of different parts. Over the years he played diverse historical figures, including Lyndon B. Johnson in The Right Stuff, poet Walt Whitman on the TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and Ulysses S. Grant in the off-Broadway play A Few Stout Individuals. He played a wide variety of different sorts of characters, a station commander overwhelmed by an alien in The Thing to the corrupt president in Clear and Present Danger to the intellectual lawyer Jack Palmer in Cookie's Fortune. Mr. Moffat could play a wide variety of roles and, what is more, he always gave a good performance.
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