It might be a catchphrase, an arched eyebrow, an affected accent of uppercrust Northeasterners, or a performer’s memorable persona. Whatever it is, actors have created iconic television characters since the medium exploded in popularity in the 1950s.
24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of the most iconic TV characters of the 60s by consulting sources such as IMDb (Internet Movie Database) as well as websites dedicated to the television culture of the 1960s. We chose our characters based on the last impact he or she has had on television culture in America. Some of the characters on the list were not necessarily the stars of the show.
Some of the characters originated as archetypes created in vaudeville, movies or on the radio and made the transition into television.
Don Adams as the bumbling spy Maxwell Smart made the phrase “Would you believe…” part of the television lexicon. Agnes Moorehead put her stamp as a witch on the sit-com “Bewitched” with her arched eyebrow and condescending attitude directed at her mortal son-in-law. TV viewers know Jim Backus as the voice of cartoon character Mr. Magoo but he also affected the highbrow accent of a to-the-manor born financier stranded on “Gilligan’s Island.” Shirley Booth played the spunky and willful maid in the sit-com “Hazel.”
Some other notable icons include the cantankerous Granny (Irene Ryan) on “The Beverly Hillbillies,” the manic Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) on “The Addams Family,” neurotic space-travel stowaway Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) on “Lost in Space,” and the eternally befuddled Sgt. Schultz (John Banner) on “Hogan’s Heroes.”
Lucille Ball is on our list as Lucy Carmichael in “The Lucy Show,” who is forever getting into trouble of her own making. Whether her last name is Carmichael, Carter or Ricardo in the shows she starred in, Lucy is always playing the zany redhead destined for catastrophe, to the delight of generations of television audiences. (These are the most likable characters of all time.)
Scroll below to see the most iconic TV characters of the 60s.
Dr. Zachary Smith
- Played by: Jonathan Harris
- TV show: Lost in Space
- Time on air: 1965-1968
Jonathan Harris was the cowardly, neurotic spy/stowaway who accidentally sends the Robinson family spaceship off course.
Patty Lane/Cathy Lane
- Played by: Patty Duke
- TV show: The Patty Duke Show
- Time on air: 1963–1966
Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Patty Duke (“The Miracle Worker”) played dual roles as American teen Patty Lane and her sophisticated British cousin Cathy whose identities are often mixed up and hilarity ensues.
Sgt. Joe Friday
- Played by: Jack Webb
- TV show: Dragnet
- Time on air: 1967-1970
Sgt. Joe Friday was the sardonic, no-nonsense Los Angeles cop portrayed by Jack Webb who just wanted the facts.
Lucy Carmichael
- Played by: Lucille Ball
- TV show: The Lucy Show
- Time on air: 1962–1968
Lucille Ball returned to the small screen by getting into misadventures when her schemes went awry.
Uncle Martin
- Played by: Ray Walston
- TV show: My Favorite Martian
- Time on air: 1963-1966
Ray Walston played a visitor from Mars rescued by a newspaper reporter who tries to keep his visitor’s true identity a secret by calling him Uncle Martin.
Hazel Burke
- Played by: Shirley Booth
- TV show: Hazel
- Time on air: 1961-1966
Shirley Booth played the strong-willed, live-in maid who keeps the family that employs her in line.
Mr. French
- Played by: Sebastian Cabot
- TV show: Family Affair
- Time on air: 1966–1971
Sebastian Cabot was one of the most recognizable faces on television screens in the 1960, but he was most famous for his role as the valet nurturing the nieces and nephews of his employer in the sit-com “Family Affair.”
Mr. Haney
- Played by: Pat Buttram
- TV show: Green Acres
- Time on air: 1965-1971
A veteran of television westerns and rural-themed series such as “Wagon Train” and “The Real McCoys,” Pat Buttram played recurring character Mr. Haney who was constantly trying to pass along hairbrained ideas to city slickers-turned farm owners Oliver and Lisa Douglas.
Mr. Spock
- Played by: Leonard Nimoy
- TV show: Star Trek
- Time on air: 1966–1969
Mr. Spock was the half Vulcan/half human science officer aboard the USS Enterprise played with understated gravitas by Leonard Nimoy.
Barney Fife
- Played by: Don Knotts
- TV show: The Andy Griffith Show
- Time on air: 1960-1968
Don Knotts starred as the easily rattled, loopy deputy in the sleepy North Carolina town of Mayberry. Knotts first established the nervous-man character on the man-on-the-street segments on “The Steve Allen Plymouth Show.” in the 1950s.
Endora
- Played by: Agnes Moorehead
- TV show: Bewitched
- Time on air: 1964-1972
Film veteran Agnes Moorehead (“Citizen Kane,” “The Magnificent Ambersons”) created the memorable character Endora, the condescending witch on “Bewitched” who is constantly putting down her mortal son-in-law.
Sgt. Schultz
- Played by: John Banner
- TV show: Hogan’s Heroes
- Time on air: 1965-1971
John Banner, a Jewish actor from Austria whose family perished in the Holocaust, was cast as the utterly confused but endearing German guard at a prison of war camp in “Hogan’s Heroes.”
Illya Kuryakin
- Played by: David McCallum
- TV show: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
- Time on air: 1964-1968
Before playing Donald Mallard in the NCIS television series, David McCallum first gained TV fame as Soviet spy and teen heartthrob Illya Kuryakin on the Cold War-era spy series “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”
Thurston Howell III
- Played by: Jim Backus
- TV show: Gilligan’s Island
- Time on air: 1963-1967
Jim Backus gained everlasting TV fame as the WASP-ish, entitled banker stranded on a deserted island with six other castaways on “Gilligan’s Island.”
Granny
- Played by: Irene Ryan
- TV show: The Beverly Hillbillies
- Time on air: 1962–1971
Irene Ryan appeared in many movies in the 1930s and 1940s and television series in the 1950s and 1960s, but her character as the cantankerous Granny in the newly rich “Beverly Hillbillies” made her a star.
Uncle Fester
- Played by: Jackie Coogan
- TV show: The Addams Family
- Time on air: 1964-1966
Jackie Coogan first achieved stardom as a child actor opposite Charlie Chaplin in the silent film “The Kid” in 1921. His performance as the manic Uncle Fester on the laughably macabre series “The Addams Family” ensured him lasting TV fame.
Julia
- Played by: Diahann Carroll
- TV show: Julia
- Time on air: 1968-1971
“Julia” is Julia Baker, an African-American woman nurse and widow (her husband died in Vietnam) trying to raise her son alone. Diahann Carroll played the title role, the first TV series that starred an African-American.
Gomer Pyle
- Played by: Jim Nabors
- TV show: Gomer Pyle, USMC
- Time on air: 1964-1969
“Gomer Pyle: USMC” is a spinoff of “The Andy Griffith Show,” whose title character’s naivete inadvertently exasperates his drill sergeant (Frank Sutton).
Chief Wild Eagle
- Played by: Frank DeKova
- TV show: F Troop
- Time on air: 1965-1967
Frank DeKova carved out a strong career as cold-blooded gangsters, killers, gunfighters and Native Americans in motion pictures. It wasn’t until he played the scheming and untrustworthy Native American Chief Wild Eagle in the TV romp “F Troop” that he had a knack for comedy.
Maxwell Smart
- Played by: Don Adams
- TV show: Get Smart
- Time on air: 1965-1970
The Mel Brooks/Buck Henry-created Cold War-era sit-com featured Don Adams as the dim spy Maxwell Smart who tried to navigate difficult situations by prefacing explanations with the phrase “Would you believe…“