--- name: "Roger C. Carmel" canonical: "https://film.one/person/roger-c-carmel" fi1m_id: "roger-c-carmel" imdb_id: "nm0138354" tmdb_id: 122004 wikidata_id: "Q2481925" roles: ["Actor"] born: "27 September 1932" died: "11 November 1986" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-04T16:54:05.014147+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Roger C. Carmel ## Identity Roger C. Carmel - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/roger-c-carmel - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** roger-c-carmel - **IMDb ID:** nm0138354 - **TMDB ID:** 122004 - **Wikidata ID:** Q2481925 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_C._Carmel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2481925, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138354/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/122004 Actor. Born 27 September 1932 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Died 11 November 1986. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 27 September 1932, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 11 November 1986 - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_C._Carmel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2481925, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138354/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/122004 ## Fi1m on Roger C. Carmel > A big man with a bigger moustache, Roger C. Carmel spent nearly thirty years being the loudest thing in other people's shows. Television used him well and often; the one film of his we have reviewed asks him only to be exasperated, which he does with skill. Carmel played men who talked too much and knew it. The handlebar moustache, the chest, the voice that assumed the room was already listening: he was cast again and again as the flamboyant supporting man, the con artist or the camp villain who turned up for one episode, took everything that was not nailed down, and left before anybody could stop him. He did not do small. He did not often do sincere. He did noise, and he did it with care. He started on Broadway in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in *The Power and the Glory* (1958), *Caligula* (1960) and *Purlie Victorious* (1961), and in 1959 he stood, tall and uncredited, in a crowd in *North by Northwest*. Television found a use for him that film never quite did. The part people remember is Harcourt Fenton Mudd, the galactic con man, in two episodes of *Star Trek* (1966 and 1967) and once more in the animated series; a Mudd series of his own was discussed and never made. The same years gave him Colonel Gumm on *Batman* (1967) and a season as Roger Buell on *The Mothers-in-Law* (1967), which he left after the first year. After that the work was guest spots and supporting parts, and it stayed that way. The films are thinner. There is a supporting role in Clint Eastwood's *Breezy* (1973), and there is *Hardly Working* (1980), where Jerry Lewis cast him as Robert Trent, the brother-in-law. We scored that film 45 and found it slack and sentimental, with a score that instructs us to pity Lewis before he has earned it. Carmel's job is to be exasperated, and he is good at it. We were grateful for him: for a few minutes at a time, somebody on screen is as fed up as we were, and his irritation is the nearest the film comes to a point of view. It is a small part. He does not try to make it a large one, which is to his credit and the film's loss. The last phase was voice work, for cartoons and commercials: Cyclonus in *The Transformers*, Smokey Bear in the adverts, and the Quintesson Leader as well as Cyclonus in *The Transformers: The Movie* (1986), the year he died. It made sense. Take away the moustache and the chest and the voice was always the thing doing the work. Start with Mudd, who is what he was for. *Hardly Working* is a smaller matter: one exasperated brother-in-law, played well, in a film that has no idea what to do with anybody. ## Biography Roger C. Carmel (1932–1986) was an American actor. He originated several roles on Broadway from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, including parts in *Caligula* (1960) and *Purlie Victorious* (1961). He appeared in numerous guest roles on television series including *The Dick Van Dyke Show*, *Batman*, *Hogan's Heroes*, *The Munsters* and *Hawaii Five-O*. Carmel played Harcourt Fenton Mudd in two episodes of the original *Star Trek* (1966–1967) and starred as Roger Buell in the first season of the sitcom *The Mothers-in-Law* (1967). He appeared as Robert Trent in Jerry Lewis's film *Hardly Working* (1980) and provided voices for animated series including *The Transformers* (1984–1986). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, watch.plex.tv.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Hardly Working* (1980), Fi1m 45, as Robert Trent — [page](https://film.one/film/hardly-working.md) ## Complete filmography (59) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *DuckTales* (1987), series, as Sultan / Emir of Somnambula (voice) - *The Transformers: The Movie* (1986), as Cyclonus / Quintesson Leader (voice) - *Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears* (1985), series, as Sir Tuxford / Town Crier / Charm Teacher, Sir Tuxford / Town Crier (voice), Sir Tuxford (voice), Charm Teacher (voice) - *The Transformers* (1984), series, as Ancient Autobot (voice), El Presidente (voice), Abdul Ben-F'aisal (voice), Menasor (voice) - *Terror at Alcatraz* (1982), as Lawrence Brody - *Fitz and Bones* (1981), series, Actor - *Hardly Working* (1980), as Robert Trent — Fi1m 45, [page](https://film.one/film/hardly-working.md) - *Hart to Hart* (1979), series, as Walter Brent - *Anatomy of a Seduction* (1979), as Harry Jackson - *B. J. and the Bear* (1979), series, Actor - *The San Pedro Beach Bums* (1977), series, Actor - *Thunder and Lightning* (1977), as Ralph Junior Hunnicutt - *Three's Company* (1977), series, as Merl Denker - *The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries* (1977), series, Actor - *Laverne & Shirley* (1976), series, Actor - *Switch* (1975), series, as Private Investigator Belasco - *Chico and the Man* (1974), series, Actor - *Breezy* (1973), as Bob Henderson - *Star Trek* (1973), series, as Harcourt Fenton Mudd (voice) (uncredited) - *Banacek* (1972), series, as Oliver Garson - *The Paul Lynde Show* (1972), series, Actor - *Anna and the King* (1972), series, as French Ambassador - *The Telephone Book* (1971), as Analyst - *Getting Together* (1971), series, Actor - *All in the Family* (1971), series, as Mr. Ligway — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/all-in-the-family.md) - *Myra Breckinridge* (1970), as Dr. Randolph Spencer Montag - *Skullduggery* (1970), as Otto Kreps - *McCloud* (1970), series, Actor - *My Dog, the Thief* (1969), as McClure - *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), series, as Misha the Bear - *It Takes a Thief* (1968), series, as Paz - *The High Chaparral* (1967), series, as Gen. Jose Casados - *The Mothers-in-Law* (1967), series, as Roger Buell - *Ironside* (1967), series, Actor - *Gambit* (1966), as Ram - *The Venetian Affair* (1966), as Mike Ballard - *Alvarez Kelly* (1966), as Capt. Angus Ferguson - *Star Trek* (1966), series, as Harcourt Fenton Mudd — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/star-trek-1966.md) - *The Silencers* (1966), as Andreyev - *Batman* (1966), series, as Colonel Gumm - *Blue Light* (1966), series, Actor - *Hogan's Heroes* (1965), series, as General Karl Schmidt - *The Art of Love* (1965), as Zorgus - *Goodbye Charlie* (1964), as Inspector - *The Munsters* (1964), series, as Laszlo Brastoff - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Captain Cervantes - *Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea* (1964), series, as Admiral Halder - *A House Is Not a Home* (1964), as Dixie Keeler - *Act One* (1963), as Hotel Clerk (uncredited) - *The Patty Duke Show* (1963), series, Actor - *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1963), series, as Kirov - *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962), series, as Farnum Mullett - *Everglades* (1961), series, Actor - *Car 54, Where Are You?* (1961), series, as Mr. Cochran (uncredited) - *Route 66* (1960), series, as Man in the Shower, Otis Tiffin - *North by Northwest* (1959), as Tall Man in Crowd (uncredited) — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/north-by-northwest.md) - *Naked City* (1958), series, as Harry Staples, Fitch, Lowell F. Newton, Al Buxley, Alfred Gurdine, Qwist - *Stage Struck* (1958), as Stagehand (uncredited) - *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, as McClure ## Gallery - ![Roger C. Carmel](https://film.one/media/person/346896/gallery-a95c4ad4a02d.jpg) Roger C. Carmel — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Mothers_in_law_parents_%28cropped%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Photo of Robert Culp as Kelly Robinson and guest star Roger C. Carmel from the television program I Spy. The episode is "Red Sash of Courage". (1967)](https://film.one/media/person/346896/gallery-1548fbd89fb3.jpg) Photo of Robert Culp as Kelly Robinson and guest star Roger C. Carmel from the television program I Spy. The episode is "Red Sash of Courage". (1967) — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Robert_Culp_Roger_C._Carmel_I_Spy_1967.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Roger C. Carmel](https://film.one/media/person/346896/gallery-aae35a21c915.jpg) Roger C. Carmel — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/roger-c-carmel