Brett Halsey

Brett Halsey (born Charles Oliver Hand; June 20, 1933) is an American former film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He appeared in B pictures and in European-made feature films. He was the 2nd actor to play the role of John Abbott on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (from May 1980 to March 1981).

Halsey is a great-nephew of the United States Navy Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., also known as Bull Halsey, commander of the Pacific Allied naval forces during World War II. Universal Pictures selected Brett Halsey's acting name from the admiral.

Career Interested in acting since he was a child, young Brett was employed as a page at CBS Television studios, where he met Jack Benny and Benny's wife, Mary Livingstone, who presented him to William Goetz, the head of Universal-International Pictures, who placed him in a school with other aspiring actors for the studio.

Halsey served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, working as a disc jockey.

Halsey appeared as Swift Otter, a Cheyenne Indian in the 1956 episodes "The Spirit of Hidden Valley" and "The Gentle Warrior" of the CBS Western series, Brave Eagle. In that same year he played "Elser" (a troubled teen cowboy) in James Arness's TV Western series Gunsmoke. In 1958, Halsey guest-starred several times as Lieutenant Summers in Richard Carlson's syndicated Western series, Mackenzie's Raiders, a fictional account of cavalry Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, set at Fort Clark, Texas. That same year, Halsey had the lead role of a life-saving sailor in an episode of another syndicated series, Highway Patrol. He also appeared in Harbor Command, a military drama about the U.S. Coast Guard. He appeared as Robert Finchley in the 1958 Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Cautious Coquette", and starred in the Roger Corman teen flick The Cry Baby Killer. In 1959, he had a co-starring role in the science-fiction film The Atomic Submarine. Halsey appeared in the episode "Thin Ice" in 1959 of Five Fingers.

Halsey played supporting and co-starring roles in Hollywood, having appeared in such films as Return of the Fly (1959), Jet Over the Atlantic (1959), The Best of Everything (1959), Return to Peyton Place (1961) and Twice-Told Tales (1963). By the early 1960s, he relocated to Italy where he found himself in demand in adventurous films such as Seven Swords for the King (1962) or The Avenger of Venice (1964), being often cast a swashbuckling hero. He also appeared in a few Spaghetti Westerns and Eurospy films, including Espionage in Lisbon (1965), Kill Johnny Ringo (1966), Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! (1968), All on the Red (1968), Twenty Thousand Dollars for Seven (1969) and Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970), sometimes using the name Montgomery Ford.

He returned to the United States in the early 1970s and worked in film and television. He appeared in the serials General Hospital and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and films such as Where Does It Hurt? (1972) with Peter Sellers. He had supporting roles in higher-profile films such as Ratboy (1986) and The Godfather Part III (1990), and worked with Italian horror director Lucio Fulci on The Devil's Honey (1986), Touch of Death (1988), A Cat in the Brain (1990) and Demonia (1990). He also appeared as the captain of a luxury space liner in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Cruise Ship to the Stars", and the Columbo episode "Death Lends a Hand". Later roles include Beyond Justice (1992), starring Rutger Hauer, Expect No Mercy (1995), and the TV movie Free Fall (1999). Charles was murdered in prison while serving a 25-year sentence for drug-related crimes.

From 1960 to 1962, Halsey was married to Italian actress Luciana Paluzzi. They had one son, Christian. In 1961, they co-starred as a newlywed couple in the film, Return to Peyton Place. In 1964, Halsey married German actress and singer Heidi Brühl. They had two children, son Clayton Alexander Siegfried and daughter Nicole. They were divorced in 1976. Toward the end of the 1990s, Halsey moved to San José, Costa Rica, to teach film acting. , he was living in Laguna Hills with his fourth wife, Victoria (née Korda), granddaughter of Alexander Korda. At that time he was still writing and making occasional film appearances.

Filmography Film

The Glass Web (1953) as Lou, TBC Receptionist (uncredited) Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (1954) as Elwin Kettle To Hell and Back (1955) as Saunders High School Hellcats (1958) as Mike Landers The Cry Baby Killer (1958) as Manny Cole Lafayette Escadrille (1958) as Frank Baylies Submarine Seahawk (1959) as LT (j.g.) David Shore Speed Crazy (1959) as Nick Barrow Blood and Steel (1959) as Jim Return of the Fly (1959) as Philippe Delambre The Best of Everything (1959) as Eddie Harris Jet Over the Atlantic (1959) as Dr. Vanderbird The Atomic Submarine (1959) as Dr. Carl Neilson Jr. The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960) as Bix Dugan Four Fast Guns (1960) as Johnny Naco Desire in the Dust (1960) as Dr. Ned Thomas Return to Peyton Place (1961) as Ted Carter The Seventh Sword (1962) as Don Carlos di Bazan The Magnificent Adventurer (1963) as Benvenuto Cellini Twice-Told Tales (1963) as Giovanni Guasconti The Avenger of Venice (1964) as Rolando Candiano Berlin, Appointment for the Spies (1965) as Bert Morris The Hour of Truth (1965) as Fred Espionage in Lisbon (1965) as George Farrell, agent 077 Kill Johnny Ringo (1966) as Johnny Ringo Congress of Love (1966) as Stefan Abonyi Anyone Can Play (1967) as Norma's husband Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die! (1968) as Bill Kiowa All on the Red (1968) as Mike Chapman Wrath of God (1968) as Mike Barnett Twenty Thousand Dollars for Seven (1969) as Fred Leinster Roy Colt & Winchester Jack (1970) as Roy Colt Four Times That Night (1971) as Gianni Prada Where Does It Hurt? (1972) as Dr. Paolo Quagliomo The Devil's Honey (1986) as Dr. Wendell Simpson Ratboy (1986) as Mr. Manes Touch of Death (1988, Video) as Lester Parson A Cat in the Brain (1990) as Human Monster The Godfather Part III (1990) as Douglas Michelson Demonia (1990) as Professor Paul Evans Beyond Justice (1992) as Sal Cuomo Expect No Mercy (1995) as Bromfield First Degree (1995, Video) as Alonzo Galeno

Television

+ Year Title Role Notes 1956 Gunsmoke Elser Episode: "Helping Hand" 1957 Highway Patrol Brian Meeker Episode: "Temptation" 1958 Perry Mason Robert Finchley Episode: "The Case of the Cautious Coquette" 1958 Harbor Command Paul Garland Episode: "Killer on My Doorstep" 1958 Highway Patrol Jim Newman Episode: "Breath of a Child" 1959 Five Fingers Iban Ahmed Episode: "Thin Ice" 1961–1962 Follow the Sun Paul Templin 30 episodes 1971 Columbo Ken Archer Episode "Death Lends a Hand" 1973 Love is a Many Splendored Thing Spencer Garrison 1 episode 1974 Search for Tomorrow Clay Collins 10 episodes 1977 General Hospital Dr. Adam Streeter 3 episodes 1978 Bionic Woman Dr. Hamilton 1 episode 1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Cruise Ship Captain Episode "Cruise Ship to the Stars" 1979 The Dukes of Hazzard Dunlap Episode: "The Rustlers" 1980–1981 The Young and the Restless John Abbot #1 1982 The Dukes of Hazzard Carter Episode: "Enos in Trouble" 1983 Knight Rider Clark Sellers 1 episode 1984 The Dukes of Hazzard Jason Dillard Episode: "Dukes in Hollywood" 1984 Airwolf Jason Darius Episode: "Sins of the Past" 1991 Counterstrike Senator Episode: "Native Warriors" 1993 Gregory K Judge Thomas S. Kirk TV movie 1993 Secret Service John Kinckley Sr. 1 episode 1994 TekWar Frederick Braymar 1 episode 1994 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Tom Jackson Episode: "The Possessed" 1995 Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story Sen. Paul Laxalt TV movie 1995 Kissinger and Nixon Secretary of State William P. Rogers TV movie 1995–1996 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Commissioner Kincaid 5 episodes 1999 Free Fall Chief of Security Tom Mason TV movie 2008 Cold Case Rowland Hughes '08 1 episode