Humanitarian of the Year
Kent McCord
Kent McCord, perhaps best remembered for his seven years as Officer Jim Reed on Adam-12, has returned to the beat, this time as the first reserve officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department.
A native of the Los Angeles area, Kent began acting in 1961, oddly enough through a touch football game. The captains of the opposing team were Ricky Nelson, one of the sons on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and Elvis Presley. Kent’s friendship with Nelson led to five years as a regular on the show. This experience led to Kent’s decision to pursue acting and for more than 40 years, Kent has worked on a multitude of films and television shows as a featured performer, guest star or producer and director.
Kent’s early list of credits includes several Elvis Presley films such as Viva Las Vegas, Girl Happy, Kissin’ Cousins and Roustabout, and television series such as McHale’s Navy, The Virginian and Dragnet.
It was these appearances on Dragnet that lead actor and producer Jack Webb to cast Kent in Adam-12. From 1968 to 1975, Kent, alongside partner Martin Milner, filmed 174 episodes. In a 1997 Daily Variety interview, Kent said Adam-12’s influence was that “police work became something people aspired to. It wasn’t a propaganda tool for the LAPD. What we were trying to portray was two good cops.”
Kent’s other career television appearances include Galactica, UNSUB, Seaquest DSV, Renegade, Silk Stalkings, Pacific Blue, Farscape, JAG, Marcus Welby, Ba Ba Blacksheep, The Love Boat, MacGyver, 21 Jump Street, Murder She Wrote, and Diagnosis Murder.
His movies include The Young Warriors, Conquest of Earth, Airplane II – the Sequel, Predator II, Illicit Behavior, Return of the Living Dead III – Ashes, and Megiddo – The Omega Code 2.
However, it was during his run as Officer Reed in Adam-12 where Kent had the opportunity to pursue part of his life that he enjoys to this day — giving something back to the public. Working alongside Martin Milner, Kent has hosted numerous telethons across the country. He has also supported various other charities as a member for 10 years of the Celebrity All-Stars Basketball Team. Recently, he has again joined Milner to host a blood/bone marrow drive for Milner’s daughter in San Diego.
Kent has also worked for his fellow actors, having served on The Screen Actors Guild’s Board of Directors as its first Vice President and Chair of the Children’s Committee, which helped fashion protections for child performers throughout the world.
Today, Kent is enjoying his new role with the Los Angeles Unified School Police, where he promotes safety and a nurturing environment for the almost one million students and school personnel on 950 campuses in the Los Angeles area. As a piece of trivia, Kent wears badge number 2430, the same number he wore for seven years on Adam-12.
For his lifelong representation of positive law enforcement in the community, the Golden Badge Foundation is honored to bestow its 2004 Humanitarian Award on Kent McCord.
