Celebrity Nooz: Kent McCord

Kent McCord (Actor) - Adam-12

Updated: 8/10/18

Name: Kent McCord

Birth Name: Kent Franklin McWhirter

Born: September 26, 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Claim To Fame: Kent McCord is an American actor best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series Adam-12.

Family Life: Married his high school sweetheart Cynthia Lee Doty. They have three children together: Kristen McCord (who appeared on his show, Adam-12 (1968), Megan McCord (who appeared in Pine Canyon Is Burning (1977), and son Michael.

Info: McCord planned to become a physical education instructor and football coach.

In 1961, he transferred from Citrus Junior College to the University of Southern California in 1961 where he met Ricky Nelson during a football game. They became good friends which lead to his numerous appearance on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Is a fan of auto racing, especially the Indianapolis Speedway.

Elected to the Screen Actors Guild's National Board of Directors in 1972 and served on the Board for 11 years. He was twice elected First Vice President. He also chaired the Children's Committee, the Guild's Publications Committee, the Agents Relations Committee and represented the American acting community to The Federation Internationale des Acteurs (FIA).

Has narrated commercials for Home Depot, Clorox, Saturn, and more.

In October of 2000, Kent, along with Adam-12 co-star Martin Milner, received The Jack Webb Award given by the LA Police Historical Society for their support of the LAPD and the community it serves.

In 2003, he ran for president of the Screen Actors Guild, but lost to Melissa Gilbert by 42%-50%.

Trivia: He has played the same character (Officer Jim Reed) in four different series: Dragnet 1967 (1967), Adam-12 (1968), The D.A. (1971) and Emergency! (1972).

Appeared in over 40 episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952) as one of Ricky Nelson's fraternity brothers. He got his start on that show because he was one of Ricky's bodyguards.

Won the Screen Actors Guild's prestigious Ralph Morgan Award in June of 1999.

Where Are They Now: McCord hasn't been featured in any film or television productions since 2005, but these days he keeps himself busy with voiceover work for commercials and documentaries.

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