This Kent McCord Biography was updated on March 17, 2001.
Kent McCord was born "Kent Franklin McWhirter" on September 26, 1942 to Bert and Laura McWhirter in Los Angeles, California. Kent attended Baldwin Park High school in Los Angeles. He played on the football team and worked after school feuling and washing planes at a local airport. He started this job when he was 12 years old and, until he started high school, he was paid in flying lessons. By the time he entered high school he had logged over 100 hours of flying time. After graduating from Baldwin Park High School, McCord attended Citrus Junior College and the University of Utah with intentions of becoming a physical education instructor and football coach (he was offered 20 football scholarships after graduating from high school).In 1961, McCord transferred from Citrus College to the University of Southern California where he met singer/actor Rick Nelson during a football game. He became good friends with the Nelson family, hanging around the "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett" set on his days off from school. Kent first worked as Rick's stand-in, then began to get small parts on the show. He later appeared as one of Rick's fraternity brothers in 45 episodes of the show.
McCord signed a contract with Universal Studios in 1965 and began appearing in various television series, including The Virginian and Dragnet." His appearance in the Dragnet episode "The Big Interrogation" led Jack Webb to seek McCord out for the role of "Officer Jim Reed" in his new series, Adam-12. McCord co-starred with actor Martin Milner on Adam-12 from 1968-1975.
Since Adam-12, McCord has appeared in films such as Predator 2 and Illicit Behavior and has appeared on various TV series such as JAG, and Seaquest DSV. He currently appears as "Jack Crichton, Sr" on the Sci-Fi Channel series Farscape and has made guest appearances on MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, and Diagnosis Murder (with Adam-12 co-star Martin Milner).
McCord is an active member of the Screen Actors Guild. In June 1999 he received the Screen Actors Guild's "Ralph Morgan Award" for distinguished service. He also participates (with Adam-12 co-star Martin Milner) in LAPD fundraising events and autograph shows.
On October 14, 2000, Kent and Martin Milner received the Los Angeles Police Historical Society's "Jack Webb Award."McCord and wife Cynthia (the former Cynthia Lee Doty) began dating in high school and married in 1962. They reside in Southern California and have 3 children: Kristin (who appeared in the Adam-12 episode "Victim of the Crime"), Megan (who appeared with her father in the film Pine Canyon is Burning, and Michael.
