When the Uniform Fits

William Boyett (1927-2004) was an American actor best known for his television roles in law enforcement dramas on television. Aside from a handful of uncredited film roles early in his career, he was a mainstay of television from the 1950s through the 1990s. The handsome actor was known for his tight, frontal baritone vocal delivery and looking right at home in a uniform.

Harry William Boyett was born in Akron, Ohio, and showed an interest in theater at a young age. He won a Shakespeare competition in high school, which led to acting jobs in radio. After his service in the Navy during World War II, he performed on the stage in both New York City and Los Angeles. By the mid-Fifties, his career was jump-started with recurring roles in over sixty-five episodes of Highway Patrol. Boyett also portrayed a policeman in such diverse series as Bat Masterson; Batman; and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He had roles on Sea Hunt in ten episodes, eight episodes of Perry Mason, and nine episodes of Dragnet 1967. But by far his most visible role was as Sgt. "Mac" MacDonald on 129 episodes of Adam 12.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, Boyett found steady work on such diverse series as Laramie, I Spy, The Andy Griffith Show, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, The Rockford Files, Gunsmoke, Emergency!, Knight Rider, Murphy Brown, and Night Court. Boyett's final visible role, not surprisingly as a desk sergeant, ended his career on a low note in the direct-to-video live-action comedy, Theodore Rex (1995).