He, too, appeared in all 241 episodes!
Had Philip Abbott lived, he would have turned 98 on Sunday, 20 March. The OTHER regular actor besides Efrem Zimbalist Jr. who appeared in all 241 episodes seems to get a little overlooked. But his background shows that he did fine work indeed.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska as Philip Abbott Alexander, he had already appeared in movie and on such television shows as The Twilight Zone and Perry Mason when he was selected for the role of FBI Assistant Director Arthur Ward. His appearances were sometimes sparse, though he did occasionally have a much more active role in which he really shone. He brought a special gravitas to the show, and it ultimately didn’t hurt that his real life counterpart in the Bureau was none other than Mark Felt, the “Deep Throat” whose information helped to bring down the administration of Richard Nixon.
Unlike some of the other series regulars, Mr. Abbott kept on working right up to his death on 23 February 1998. He was married to Jane Dufrayne (1925-2017) and had two sons and a daughter. One of the sons, David Abbott Alexander (who goes by Abbott Alexander) is also an actor. Father and son worked on the movie Starry Night, released after Mr. Abbott’s passing.