Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter (April 25, 1925 – November 12, 2003) was an American character actor who enjoyed a five decade-long career. Along the way, he played a wide variety of characters, ranging from Satannote to Santa Clausnote to Dr. Seussnote , and he appeared in everything from Sabrina (1954) to Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Born to a showbiz family (his father was Hollywood art director Leo K. Kuter, his mother The Silent Age actress Evelyn Edler), Kuter began acting in The '50s. By the mid-Sixties, he was playing his best-known role: Newt Kiley, one of the Hooterville farmers in Green Acres and Petticoat Junction. (He also started using a middle initial because of his Gender-Blender Name.) He had something of a career renaissance in The '80s and The '90s following his appearance in The Last Starfighter; he was cast in prominent guest roles on popular series such as The X-Files, The Twilight Zone (1985), Baywatch, Charmed (1998), and two Star Treks (Next Generation and Deep Space Nine). He also got into voice acting, doing everything from Animated Series to Video Games to Advertising, where he was best known for his candy commercials ("Little Hershey's Kisses... big chocolate taste!"). He was active until a few weeks before his death in 2003 at the age of 78.
It's worth noting that Kuter was there at pivotal moments for two tropes. He appeared in the Bonanza episode "The Julia Bulette Story', which was the series' Ur-Example of the Cartwright Curse. And of course, his appearance in the Seinfeld episode "The Conversion" made him the Trope Namer for Kavorka Man.
Kuter passed away in 2003 from pulmonary disease — only four months after his mother passed at the age of 103.
Notable Live-Action Film Roles:
- Babe: Man Sitting in Crowd at Sheep Trial (uncredited)
- Guys and Dolls: Calvin
- In Search of Dr. Seuss: Dr. Seuss (voice only)
- The Last Starfighter: Ambassador Enduran
- Mary Poppins: Man in Bank (uncredited)
- The Mole People: Priest (uncredited)note
- Sabrina (1954): Ernest - Houseman (uncredited)
- Warlock (1989): Proctor
- Watermelon Man: Dr. Wainwright
Notable Live-Action Television Roles:
- Arli$$: Unnamed character (in "Honoring Our Past")
- Baywatch: Henry (in "Shelter Me" and "The Drowning Pool")
- Beauty and the Beast (1987): Alain Viso (in "Fever")
- Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction: Anatole (in "Anatole")
- Bonanza: Mr. Finch (in "The Julia Bulette Story')
- Boy Meets World: Herbert (in "Turkey Day")
- Brimstone: Man at Elevator (in "Mourning After")
- Cannon: Motel Manager (in "Lady in Red")
- Charmed (1998): Keeper of the Fairy Tales (in "Happily Ever After")
- Dallas: Andy Sampson (in "The Road Back")
- ER: Seaton (in "Tell Me Where It Hurts")
- Far Out Space Nuts : Kayla- Mad Professor (in "Robots of Pod" and "Fantastic Journey")
- Frasier: Wino (in "Love Bites Dog")
- Green Acres and Petticoat Junction: Newt Kiley
- Gunsmoke: Warren (in "Sarah") and McCurdy (in "The Town Tamers")
- Harry O: Albert Black (in "The Confetti People")
- I Dream of Jeannie: Edgar Crawford (in "Jeannie for the Defense")
- The Jack Benny Program: Lem (in "Hillbilly Act")
- Kung Fu (1972): Vinnie (in "Blood of the Dragon, Part 1") and Marshal (in "Ambush")
- Laredo: Emie Venner (in "Sound of Terror")
- Lassie: Sam (in "Wishing")
- Matlock: Uncle Roy (in the two-part episode "The Witness Killings")
- Maverick: First Creditor (in "Marshal Maverick")
- Mayberry R.F.D.: Man (in "Millie's Egg Farm")
- Mister Ed: Toothpick (in "Be Kind to Humans")
- Nichols: Jensen (in "Man's Best Enemy")
- The Outer Limits (1963): Limbo Being (in "The Premonition")
- Perry Mason: Deputy (in "The Case of the Bashful Burro")
- The Pretender: Mr. Kleinman (in "Angel's Flight")
- Quincy, M.E.: Mr. Ferrar (in "No Way to Treat a Body")
- The Rifleman: Rafe Coleman (in "Sins of the Father") and Charv Banner (in "The Lonesome Bride")
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Father Christmas (in "Christmas Amnesia")
- Seinfeld: Older Priest (in "The Conversion")
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Sirah (in "The Storyteller")
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Cytherian (in "The Nth Degree")
- The Twilight Zone (1985): Maestro Barbieri (in "Grace Note")
- V (1983): Richards (in "The Overlord")
- The Virginian: Razz Benton (in "A Bald-Faced Boy"), Jonah Sills (in "The Runaway") and Will (in "Experiment at New Life")
- The Wild Wild West: Caged Man (in "The Night of the Howling Light"; uncredited)
- The X-Files: Calusari #1 (in "The Calusari")
Notable Animation Voiceover Roles:
- Aladdin: The Series: Hamed (in "Lost and Founded")
- Annabelle's Wish: Santa Claus
- Biker Mice from Mars: Merlin (in the two-part episode "Biker Knights of the Round Table")
- Fantastic Four: The Animated Series: Ego the Living Planet (in "To Battle the Living Planet")
- The Legend of Prince Valiant: Blind Man (in "The Death of Arthur" and "The Hinge of Fate") and unknown role (in "The Treaty")
- The Little Mermaid (1992) and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea: Sir Grimsbynote
Notable Video Game Voiceover Roles:
- Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura: K'an Hua
- The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery: Werner Huber
- The Curse of Monkey Island: Griswold Goodsoup
- Grim Fandango: Dockmaster Velasco and Croupier
- Heretic II: Siernan
