Biography
Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appearances for playing the human leader Kolp in the fourth and fifth Planet of the Apes films. His live comedy improv skit under the character of "Walther von der Vogelweide" was influential with two generations of comic performers. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he attended the University of Chicago, where he was a "campus legend" according to poet Paul Carroll. Darden’s offbeat and intellectual sense of humor was a major element in the style of The Second City at that time, and is evident throughout his work. Carroll described him as a combination of surrealistic New Orleans and tough, caustic "Chicago Style" comedy. An example of his offbeat humor is the way he squeezed the phrase "Know thyself" into the seven-character limitation of a New Mexico license plate: NOYOSEF. Darden was a core comedian in Paul Sills' Compass Players, the first improvisation theater in the US; it performed around the Chicago area during the mid-1950s. Sills went on to found The Second City in 1959 and brought in many of the comedians from Compass Players, including Darden.
Movie Credits
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
1972-06-29
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, a chimpanzee named Caesar resurfaces after almo
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1973-06-15
The fifth and final episode in the Planet of the Apes series. After the collapse of human civilizati
Saturday the 14th
1981-10-30
After his family moves to a new house, a young boy discovers a mysterious book that details a curse
Jackson County Jail
1976-03-31
A young woman stumbles into a nightmare land of hijacking and humiliation while driving cross-countr
Victory at Entebbe
1976-12-22
The film is based on an actual event: Operation Entebbe and the freeing of Israeli hostages at Enteb
Justine
1969-08-06
In Alexandria, in 1938, Darley, a young British schoolmaster and poet, makes friends through Pursewa
The President's Analyst
1967-12-21
At first, Dr. Sidney Schaefer feels honored and thrilled to be offered the job of the President's An
Vanishing Point
1971-01-15
Kowalski works for a car delivery service, and takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to drive fr
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1969-12-10
In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marat
Why Would I Lie?
1980-08-10
Cletus is a compulsive liar. He prefers the term 'fabrication' to lie though. When Cletus becomes a
The Day of the Dolphin
1973-12-19
A marine biologist teaches his dolphins to communicate in English but shady characters plan to kidna
Wanda Nevada
1979-06-01
In the American Southwest of the 1950s, middle-aged vagabond Beaudray Demerille survives as a cardsh
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
1966-10-12
A sophisticated con man mounts an intricate plan to rob an airport bank while the Soviet premier is
Playmates
1972-10-03
Two divorced men meet and become friends, but unbeknownst to each other, start dating each other's e
Cisco Pike
1971-11-02
A down on his luck former drug dealer is forced by a corrupt LAPD policeman to sell 100 kilos of con
The Man Who Died Twice
1973-04-13
A painter who surfaces after having disappeared for seven years finds himself contending with art fo
I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?
1975-12-01
Oliver is in trouble. He's been caught embezzling money from his father's company, and unless he can
Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You
1970-03-25
An American playwright living in Rome consults a quack psychiatrist to combat his fears of balding a
Quarterback Princess
1983-12-03
The Maida family has moved to Oregon, and daughter Tami wants to play quarterback for the high schoo
Rendezvous Hotel
1979-07-11
A madcap family caters to assorted unpredictable guests availing themselves of the title resort's ad
The Double-Barrelled Detective Story
1965-12-31
Interesting and sometimes funny adaptation of a Mark Twain short story. Hatfield is a carpetbagger w
The Legend of Hillbilly John
1974-02-01
A roaming hillbilly, on a quest to defy the Devil, encounters several supernatural characters and do
Back to School
1986-06-13
Self-made millionaire Thornton Melon decides to get a better education and enrolls at his son Jason'
The Disappearance of Aimee
1976-11-17
In 1926, celebrated evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson mysteriously disappeared. She turned up severa
A Small Circle of Friends
1980-03-12
In the late 1960s, three Harvard students Jessica, Leo and Nick grow close as they undergo personal
Evita Peron
1981-02-23
Aspiring actress Eva Duarte rises from a minor celebrity to the wife of a powerful Argentine dictato
Dirty Little Billy
1972-11-01
Clearly influenced by the darker, more sinister style of spaghetti westerns, Dirty Little Billy offe
Never Con a Killer
1977-05-13
Pilot to the short-lived TV series "The Feather and Father Gang" has Detective Feather Danton and he
Real Genius
1985-08-07
When teenage geniuses Mitch Taylor and Chris Knight, working on an advanced laser project, learn tha
P.J.
1968-03-27
Reluctant New York City private eye P.J. Detweiler is hired as a bodyguard to protect Maureen Preble
The Movie Murderer
1970-02-02
An experienced arson investigator takes along his young associate as they try to find an arsonist wh
Outside Chance
1978-12-02
An advertising executive finds herself in a small-town jail after being terrorized on a drive from L
A Cry for Love
1980-10-20
Divorcee Susan Blakely, with no alimony and two kids to support, begins turning to amphetamines. Whi
The Mad Room
1969-05-01
Ellen Hardy gets a rude awakening when she discovers that her brother and sister are scheduled to le
Half Nelson
1985-03-24
Rocky Nelson is a New York cop, who after making a major bust and selling the rights of his story to
Luv
1967-07-26
Depressed by the direction his life is taking, Harry decides to take his own life by jumping off the
Mother, Jugs & Speed
1976-05-26
To beat out competing ambulance services, an ace driver, an office secretary/paramedic and a suspend
Orphan Train
1979-12-22
A dedicated social worker organizes a train trip for a group of slum orphans in 1894, taking them fr
The Telephone
1988-01-22
Crazy out of work actress Vashti Blue spends all her time in her small apartment with her pet owl an
The War Between Men and Women
1972-06-01
A sarcastic near-sighted cartoonist, averse to commitment, falls for a single mother of three — the
Skyway to Death
1974-01-19
The passengers in an aerial tramway are trapped when the tramway breaks down 8,500 feet in the air.
Hopscotch
1980-09-26
When CIA operative Miles Kendig deliberately lets KGB agent Yaskov get away, his boss threatens to r
Goldstein
1965-05-07
A fable about an old man with an odd effect on those he encounters.
Once Upon a Midnight Scary
1979-10-21
"Once Upon a Midnight Scary" is a 1979 television program that aired as part of a CBS television ant
Fearless Frank
1969-12-10
A country boy arrives in Chicago, gets killed by some gangsters, and returns to life with superhuman
To See or Not to See
1969-10-10
A scientist develops an unusual pair of eyeglasses which allows the wearer's mind to see things obje
Play It as It Lays
1972-10-19
Burned-out B-movie actress Maria, depressed and frustrated with her loveless marriage to an ambitiou
The Hired Hand
1971-08-11
Harry Collings returns home to his farm after drifting with his friend, Arch. His wife, who had give
In God We Tru$t
1980-09-26
A naive monk, named Brother Ambrose, is sent by the abbot on a mission to raise $5,000 in order to s
The Last Movie
1971-09-29
After a film production wraps in Peru, an American wrangler decides to stay behind, witnessing how f
Model Shop
1969-02-11
While trying to raise money to prevent his car from being repossessed, George is attracted to Lola,
The Virgin President
1968-11-18
The President of the U.S. is suceeded by his naive, wide-eyed son, and his advisors try to take adva
Love for Rent
1979-11-11
Two small-town sisters go to Hollywood and find themselves seduced by the glamor of the big time and
Werewolves on Wheels
1971-08-11
A biker gang visits a monastery where they encounter black-robed monks engaged in worshipping Satan.
Rooster
1982-08-19
A physically small police psychologist and a physically large insurance detective team up on an arso
Bongo Wolf’s Revenge
1970-01-01
An oddball picture about legendary kooky and colorful Los Angeles fringe eccentric cult figure Bongo
The Princess Who Had Never Laughed
1986-08-11
There was once a very serious kingdom. So serious, that the King demanded to be addressed as Your Se