David Huddleston

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David Huddleston (born in Vinton, Virginia on September 17, 1930) is an American actor.

He was briefly an officer in the United States Air Force before beginning his formal education in acting at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Huddleston's first major role was in the 1968 drama A Lovely Way to Die; shortly afterward the actor began honing his reputation as a frequent guest star on several of the leading television series of the 1960s and 1970s, among them, Adam-12, Then Came Bronson, Gunsmoke, Bewitched, Bonanza, Cannon, McMillan and Wife, The Waltons, The Rookies, Medical Center, Kung Fu, Emergency!, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Police Woman, Hawaii Five-O, "Sanford and Son" and The Rockford Files.

Among Huddleston's notable feature film credits prior to Santa Claus: The Movie are his co-starring roles in Blazing Saddles (1974); Billy Two Hats (1974); Breakheart Pass (1975); The Greatest (1977); The World's Greatest Lover (1977); and Smokey and the Bandit II (1980).

Huddleston resumed his television career with roles in various television movies, among them Heat Wave! (1974); The Oregon Trail (1976); Shark Kill (1976); Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (1978); Family Reunion (1981); Computercide (1982); and M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (1983). For much of the 1980s, Huddleston also starred in a series of television commercials for the Citrus Hill brand of orange juice.

Huddleston's post-Santa Claus career has found him making occasional co-starring roles, in Spot Marks the X (1986); Frantic (1988); Life with Mikey (1993); The Big Lebowski (1998); and G-Men from Hell (2000). David's eldest son, Michael Huddleston, is also a longtime actor and performer.