Ernest Truex

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Ernest Truex(born September 19, 1889, died June 26, 1973 in Fallbrook, California) was an American character actor of stage and film. He started acting at age 5 and was toured through Missouri at age nine as "The Child Wonder in Scenes from Shakespeare." His Broadway debut came in 1908 and he performed in several David Belasco plays and portrayed the titled role in the 1915 musical Very Good Eddie. He made his film debut in 1913, but did not work in film full time for another twenty years. He tended to play "milquetoast" characters and in "The Warrior's Hudband" he played a "nance."

In later life he became known for playing elderly men on television in works like Mr. Peepers and had the main role in the Kick the Can episode of Rod Serling's original The Twilight Zone. In another Twilight Zone episode, he played a traveling peddler who just happened to have what people needed to buy (see What You Need).