Joseph A. Flynn

Joseph A. Flynn (November 8, 1924 – July 19, 1974)

Flynn spent three years in the Army Medical Corps during World War II attaining the rank of staff sergeant before moving west, in 1946, to pursue acting and to complete his education. He was best known for his role in the 1960s ABC comedy McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows, such as Batman, and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies. He also starred in several episodes of the syndicated 1957-1958 series The Silent Service, a show dedicated to the US Navy's submarine service during World War II. He played Mr. Kelley in 15 episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and other classics like The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Twilight Zone, and Make Room for Daddy. He appeared at least twice on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. From 1962 to 1966, Flynn played the irascible Captain Wallace "Wally" Burton Binghamton (also known as "Old Leadbottom") on ABC's McHale's Navy. Flynn's career in feature films included the 1963 comedy Son of Flubber, in which he had a small part as a television announcer; Flynn would later star in the sequels of the Flubber series as Medfield College's Dean Higgins in a trio of Disney Studio films, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975), his final live-action film.

He made a dozen appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1972 and 1973. He hosted a revised edition of It Pays to Be Ignorant and was a guest panelist on the hit game show series Match Game '74 on January 17, 1974, in what was his final game show. Shortly after completing voice-over work as Mr. Snoops for Walt Disney's 23rd animated feature, The Rescuers (released in 1977), 49-year-old Flynn was discovered by family members in the swimming pool of his Beverly Hills home, the victim of an apparent drowning accident on July 19, 1974. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.